Take Your Place in Jewish Community
Responsibility Lab for Jewish 6th-12th graders is a lab for living our Jewishness and practicing our own power for positive impact among caring and committed Jewish peers.
6th–7th graders will gather with peers to learn how to plan and carry out a meaningful Community Care Project rooted in Jewish values and practice. Teachers and staff will be a resource for project ideation and implementation outside of class, when appropriate. While this program supports the B Mitzvah journey, participation is not limited to students becoming B Mitzvah.
The group meets for 17 sessions from early October through late May, Sundays from 4:30–6:30pm.
Teens in grades 8–12 come together in a supportive, teen-centered space to explore current events and topics that matter in their lives—including wellness, identity, and relationships—guided by our experienced group leaders.
Teen Group meets almost biweekly for 18 sessions from September through late May, Sundays from 6:30–8:30pm, and includes dinner each session.
Responsibility Lab Teachers & Facilitators
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Joshua Mendel is a student at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and will be ordained as a rabbi in 2028. Joshua has a passion for Jewish education and has taught B’nei Mitzvah lessons, Hebrew school, tefillah (Jewish prayer), Hebrew language, and has spent 9 years on staff in Jewish education and teaching horseback riding at camp Ramah in the Rockies. In his free time, Josh enjoys hiking with his dog, snowboarding, mountain biking, and baking.
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Rabbi Ye’ela Rosenfeld is a native Israeli who has lived in Los Angeles since 2006. She currently serves as Rabbi and Cultural Director at Der Nister - Downtown Los Angeles Jewish Center and officiates services and life cycle events for unaffiliated Jewish families all across Greater Los Angeles. She is also serving as Temple Beth Israel of Highland Park’s Director of Education and Community Engagement.
Other than serving as a Rabbi, Rosenfeld is also a film and theater writer and director who is a Graduate of the MFA film directing program of the American Film Institute conservatory in Hollywood. She has directed films and theater in Israel, the Czech Republic and the U.S. Her films screened in festivals worldwide and won numerous awards. For the theater, she has directed the works of Vaclav Havel, Friedrich Durenmatt, Jean Paul Sartre and Howard Zinn. Rabbi Rosenfeld lives in Eagle Rock with her husband David and her children Ori and Libi. She is a passionate teacher and writer, and an unapologetic bookworm.
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Tirosh Schneider (he/they) is an award-winning playwright, actor, comedian and educator. Their plays have been performed at various theatres around New York and LA, and their play Daniel: The He/They play won the 2022 NYU Goldberg Prize for Dramatic Writing. They are a member of the UCB sketch comedy team “Lasers” as part of Maude Night, and have performed regionally, Off-Broadway, and on television. They teach middle/high school theater, film, and human development at the Windward School in Mar Vista. They have a degree in Education and Playwriting from NYU, and have been teaching at the JCC since 2021.