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What Netflix’s Adolescence Taught Me About Talking to Teens & Why Jewish Wisdom Shows Us a Way Forward

What Netflix’s Adolescence Taught Me About Talking to Teens & Why Jewish Wisdom Shows Us a Way Forward

The new Netflix miniseries Adolescence is haunting. It pulls no punches as it unpacks what it means to grow up today, where the line between online and offline is increasingly invisible, and increasingly dangerous. As the show follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller, who is accused of a horrific act, it forces viewers to confront the social and emotional weight our kids carry. As a parent, educator, and someone who works closely with hundreds of teens each year, it stuck with me. But what stayed with me even more than the plot was the silence. The missed conversations.
Made with Love

Made with Love

Kedoshim contains the two great love commands of the Torah. The first is, “Love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:18). Rabbi Akiva called this “the great principle of the Torah.” The second is no less challenging: “The stranger living among you must be treated as your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt. I am the Lord your God (Lev. 19:34). These are extraordinary commands. Many civilizations contain variants of the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do to you,” or in the negative form attributed to Hillel (sometimes called the Silver Rule), “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; go and learn.”(Shabbat 31a). But these are rules of reciprocity, not love.

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CAJE's Yearly Impact

30,288Number of Adults Served

6,966Number of Children and Teens Served

626Number of Teachers and Youth Professionals Served

40Number of Schools Served