Jodi Teitelman hasn’t always known what she wanted to do within the Jewish communal world, but she always knew she wanted to be in it.
Growing up in West Hartford, Connecticut, Teitelman did all things Jewish. Today, she has taken on a new role as BBYO’s regional director.
“I loved going to Hebrew school. I was like one of those weird kids who really loved going to Hebrew school. I grew up going to [Jewish] overnight camp in Connecticut … I did BBYO back [in Connecticut],” she said. “There was no question I was going to be doing Jewish things.”
Teitelman said throughout her life she watched her parents and grandparents take on different volunteer roles at The Emanuel Synagogue, a Conservative congregation in West Hartford, where she is a fifth-generation member.
“Being Jewish has always been my identifier,” Teitelman explained. “Everything goes back to it. Both my parents growing up, and my grandparents, volunteered in the Jewish community in different ways. My mom is currently the synagogue president, and I see her volunteer so much of her time to better our congregation.”
She added: “My dad has also served in volunteer roles and it’s just a natural progression for me to be involved Jewishly.”
Teitelman came to Baltimore for her undergraduate degree in family and human services from Towson University. After graduating, she went on to receive her master’s in leadership in Jewish education and communal service.
“I knew [the bachelor’s degree] would give me the foundation to enter the Jewish nonprofit world. I didn’t know that the master’s program that I did even existed when I first came to Towson, but one day, freshman year, I was just exploring the Towson website, and I came across this program, and I’m like, ‘Wow, that’s always what I wanted to do,’ and I had my heart set on doing the program.”
While at Towson, Teitelman was a member of the Towson Hillel governing board, interned and worked part-time at Jewish Community Services, was a part-time sixth-grade teacher at Beth El Congregation and spent the summers working at Camp Louise.
When it was time to graduate from her master’s program, Teitelman took on her first full-time role in the Baltimore Jewish community working for the Macks Jewish Connection Network. In her free time, she found herself drawn to BBYO and so she volunteered as a chapter advisor.
“I’ve been involved with BBYO as … a volunteer chapter advisor for many years and we’ve had some incredible staff,” she explained. “I’ve always loved where I’m at, [but] this job posting opened up and I was like ‘Hmm, maybe this is the time for me to take this jump’ and it was definitely a bittersweet transition.”
Teitelman, a Canton resident, said it is an exciting time to be joining the BBYO team in Baltimore.
“We’re gearing up to host the international convention in February … where we get to welcome … teens from around the world [on] Presidents Day weekend to Baltimore and really show off what makes our community so special,” she added. “Being the professional that gets to work with our Baltimore teens in a year where Baltimore is really being put on a pedestal by BBYO is really exciting.”
mresnicow@midatlanticmedia.com
