Shevet Sample Session for Teen Boys - What does it mean to be a man?

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Content
Lesson
Roles and Responsibilities
Relationship Building
Well-being
Social Emotional Learning
Character Strengths
8 - 12

This opening session of Shevet engages teen boys in critical discussion around the concept of masculinity. Boys watch videos, play active games, and explore multiple messages that they have received about “being a man”—both the positive messages about manhood that they may have received from people, peers, popular media, and elsewhere as well as the messages about being a man that are confusing or reductive. They will ask: What messages are unrealistic, simplistic, or confining? What does it mean to be a Jewish man in an America that celebrates a particular kind of masculinity? What does it mean to be a mensch and how does being a mensch relate to manhood?

By the end of the session, participants will be able to:

  • Establish guidelines for the group as a place where boys can be themselves
  • Identify core models of masculinity in American culture and to begin thinking critically about them, and the messages boys have received about them
  • Raise awareness of the limitations imposed on men by preconceived notions and stereotypes of manhood, and the messages boys have received about them
  • Help teens explore how Jewish wisdom might expand their ideas of manhood.
  • Empower participants to view and consciously express a positive vision of manhood and of being a mensch in their own authentic ways.
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In Moving Traditions’ Shevet groups, teen boys* gather monthly with a trained adult mentor using a dynamic curriculum. Together in a circle of support, participants experience a brave, sacred space for them to articulate their deepest concerns, consider the impact of gender norms on their daily lives, celebrate and support together through joys and challenges, be their authentic selves with their peers, and explore topics that matter most to them.  

*All of our teen groups are safe and inclusive spaces for youth to join as they self-identify. Nonbinary teens are welcome in whatever space they feel most comfortable. 

Moving Traditions’ curricular materials are easy to use, designed to be “plug and play,” with a flexible framework so that sessions can be delivered online or in person as needed. To bring Moving Traditions' programs to your community, visit https://www.movingtraditions.org/take-action/become-a-partner.

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Setting

  • After School and Beyond
  • Day Schools and Yeshivas
  • Teen Engagement

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