Service & Leadership

Identify social issues, devise ways to effect change, and fulfill the Jewish imperative to do tzedakah u'mishpat (justice and righteousness).

Programs

Children's Village builds relationships between Pittsburgh teens and families with at-risk Israeli children and teens.

Jewish Civics Initiative Jewish Civics Initiative is a course on public policy and Jewish values, including a four-day seminar in Washington D.C. designed to educate, energize, and inspire students to apply their knowledge of Jewish civics to the real world.

Panim el Panim Panim el Panim invites Jewish high school students from all across the country to spend several days in Washington, D.C. exploring the connection between community service, political activism, and Jewish values.

Samuel M. Goldston Teen Philanthropy Project Samuel M. Goldston Teen Philanthropy Project brings together kids in the year of their Bar/Bat Mitzvah to learn about philanthropy and Jewish values by awarding grants to nonprofit organizations of their choosing.

Other Service & Leadership Classes


SPOTLIGHT: Alana Rudkin

Alana Rudkin, a senior at The Ellis School, received the 51st Annual Louis Caplan Human Relations Award, awarded by the American Jewish Committee, to a high school student who works to fight prejudice. Alana and other Ellis students raised enough money to build a school in Afghanistan for 1,200 girls. Alana was motivated to start the sister school project after hearing a former resident, Fahima Vorgettes, speak about the deplorable conditions for female Afghani students. Alana and the Ellis students organized a school assembly, an awareness event, and a sale of Afghan rugs and jewelry. The girls from both schools keep in touch by exchanging letters and small gifts. Alana explains that the project "connects two schools, two cultures, two countries, and two groups of average teenage girls!" Alana enjoys listening to 80s and 90s music, maintaining her polar bear collection, and the color purple.