Resilience & Mental Health
Our community’s educators and clergy have developed tremendous resilience over the past five years. Jewish LearningWorks is proud to support them with knowledge, tools, skills and community.
Jewish Resilience Roundtable
For Bay Area professionals and lay leaders working with Jewish adolescents
The roundtable will again meet monthly during 2025-26 to strengthen our Bay Area network of professionals invested in Jewish educational and engagement opportunities for teens. Participating organizations are eligible to send their chosen team to online and in-person learning sessions focused on support for professionals working at the intersection of adolescent well-being and Jewish education. Membership is open now.
Navigating Israel in Crisis
For Jewish educators working with children of all ages
October 7, 2023 changed our community forever. Since the war began, our staff has continued to curate resources to explore current events and foster empathy and resilience in Jewish learning spaces. You can learn more about our commitment to Israel education, and explore our curated list of resources.
Youth Mental Health First Aid: Training & Certification
For teachers, school staff, parents and caregivers of adolescents
Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) is an accessible training program to support teen’s mental health. It is designed to teach youth professionals, parents, caregivers, teachers, school staff, neighbors and other caring citizens how to help an adolescent (age 12–18) who is experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis, and to assess when a professional should be consulted.
Training includes a two-hour self-paced program that must be completed by all participants before group training. Group training takes place online over five hours. Once both elements are complete, participants are certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid.
Please reach out to us to schedule a Youth Mental Health First Aid training for your staff team. Please contact Alisha Pedowitz at alisha@jewishlearning.works.
Grief & Growing: A Healing Program for the Bereaved
For clergy, lay leaders, educators and others who assist in the process of mourning
Jewish LearningWorks is proud to have been a partner in the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center’s (BAJCC) powerful Grief and Growing camp. For nearly two decades, these annual Grief and Growing weekends provided a supportive Jewish environment where people of all ages and backgrounds could connect with others who had experienced similar losses. The weekends were facilitated by specially trained staff members who offered tools, such as creative projects, Jewish rituals, and discussion groups, to assist in the mourning process.
Following the closure of BAJHC, we are honored to serve as a home for many of the materials developed by the Grief and Growing staff. If you would like to learn more about these materials, and how to use them, please contact Dana Sheanin at dana@jewishlearning.works.