WEST HARTFORD – Seven years ago, Cyral Sheldon helped found the Teen Leadership and Philanthropy Institute, then a program of Yachad, the Greater Hartford Jewish Community High School in West Hartford. The aim: Over the course of an academic year, teach high-school students how to be involved, committed citizens of a Jewish community. Together with Rabbi Steven Chatinover, a Yachad educator and rabbinic advisor at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford, Sheldon turned the classroom into a Jewish philanthropic organization.

2011 members of greater Hartford’s Teen Leadership and Philanthropy Institute. (Front row, l to r) Molly Borden, Sally Schwartz, Emily Weiser; (middle row, l to r) Carolyn Seiger, Dani Haims, Carina Benadiva, Eliza Pinette, Maddy Shakun, Dan Weinreb, Penina Beede; (back row, l to r) David Mayer, Micah Fiedler, Eli Shakun, Asher Kinyon, Nadav Chatinover, Jason Solinsky.

Now a program of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Hartford, in collaboration with Yachad, the institute aspires to prepare teens to assume Jewish communal leadership roles. In addition to classroom study, students engage in a real-life allocations process, using a $3,000 grant from the foundation to make grants to Jewish causes of their choosing. “This makes for an activist, hands-on, empowering experience for these young teens,” says Cyral Sheldon, institute founder and co-director.
Participants begin the course by studying Jewish texts to understand what the tradition teaches about communal responsibility. They hear presentations by local philanthropists, who share personal stories about why and where they donate time and money, demonstrating how personal values and priorities shape charitable decisions. “Our goal is to expose students to the wide variety of institutions our community supports and show them that there is no wrong decision when it comes to doing good deeds,” says Sheldon. “There is, however, always unlimited need constrained by limited dollars, so students are also taught how to analyze and prioritize to maximize community impact.”
The class then takes weekly field trips to Jewish agencies, where they meet with professional staff, learn about each agency’s mission and activities, and are presented with real-world fundable proposals. This year, the class received 15 such applications, nine of which they decided to fund. In addition to grant-making, students raise funds throughout the year, which they periodically donate to Jewish and secular causes, selected by the group. This year’s class raised almost $l,500, which was then allocated to several local and national charities, as well as to organizations in Israel, Eastern Europe, and the emerging Jewish community in Cuba. “The 24 different donations reflect the range of students’ personal interests and values, coupled with their understanding of Jewish communal responsibility and priorities, Sheldon says.
“My brother, Max, was involved in the project a few years ago, and it sounded so interesting that I wanted to give it a try myself when I was old enough,” says participant Penina Simcha Beede. “I really enjoyed learning about the different levels and types of giving. I never realized how important it is to donate our money to important local causes in order to better our community. This experience has opened my eyes to all the ways a person can give.”
Nadav Chatinover was inspired to join the class by his father, co-director Rabbi Steven Chatinover. “It’s very hands-on, and it’s a great experience helping others, learning about the real world, and gaining these delegating abilities,” he says. “I’ve really enjoyed giving the grants and seeing people’s happy reactions, and deciding how and to whom we delegate money. I’ve learned that the need is unlimited, but no matter where you give, it is the right choice and the right amount.”
Students who complete the two-year program can serve a third year as non-voting members of local Jewish agency boards of directors. This year, three students – Carolyn Seiger, David Mayer and Mollie Pitegoff – served on the boards of Jewish Family Services of Greater Hartford, the Jewish Historical Society of Greater Hartford, and Jewish Association for Community Living, respectively.
Like Beede, Molly Pitegoff also got involved because her older brother had done the program. “I saw how he loved it,” she says. “I also got involved because I love helping people and knowing that I am genuinely making a difference. Although I completed the program last year with its second-year class and moved on to serving as a teen representative at a Jewish organization, I would say what most resonated with me was that donating your time is much better and more philanthropic than donating sums of money. The experience changed me because it allowed me to have the basic knowledge about philanthropic efforts and I was able to use that knowledge at my school as the president of the Jewish Student Union, when I was easily able to set up fundraisers to help children in Israel.”
“This class taught me what tzedakah truly means,” says participant Emily Weiser. “It is not saving up all the pennies you find on the street and giving them to the first charity you can think of. It is not taking a thousand dollars out of your savings and handing it out to the first charity that asks. It is saving up money and giving time to a cause that means something to you. Visiting the Jewish Association for Community Living was one of the greatest experiences the class offered, for it let me know who we were giving our money and time to, and let us know that it was a worthy cause.”