PHOTO: Portland Jewish drag sensation Polly Poptart hypes up the crowd at Jewish Teens of Portland's Drag Show fundraiser Thursday, June 27 at the Eastside Jewish Commons. (Rockne Roll/The Jewish Review)

By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
A year ago, Eastside parents and staff at Congregation Shir Tikvah set off to build a new Jewish youth program on the east side of the Willamette River. 
Today, Jewish Teens of Portland is as vibrant and energetic as their recent fundraiser, a drag performance at the Eastside Jewish Commons headlined by Polly Poptart.
“It was kind of the hope that when I came into the position that I’m in now that we would be able to create an inclusive Jewish youth program,” explained Heather Laffitte, the Youth Program Lead at Congregation Shir Tikvah, which operates JTOP. “So we started from scratch.”
Laffitte explained that parents had been in touch looking for youth group options that weren’t tied to synagogue membership and didn’t have strict attendance requirements or limited membership numbers. 
“We are not tied to membership of any shul and we are inclusive of all movements of Judaism,” Laffitte said.
The groups inclusivity has also stretched outward, organizing a Pride shabbat celebration and this year’s fundraiser. JTOP’s teen membership, ages 13 and up, had a more limited role in the initial planning of the event as it was slated to be ages 21 and over, but when it changed to an all-ages event, the group dove in with both hands, paying particular attention to the preparation of the makeshift green room where the performers prepared. 
“We really invite the kids to lead the group,” Laffitte said, “And that includes such things as having circles where we share pronouns before each meeting, deciding to support different organizations and some of those related to LGBTQIA organizations.”
That support can mean the world to a child – it certainly did to Polly Poptart. While not yet out as a member of a Jewish youth group in the Bay Area, Poptart spoke on stage Thursday night of that group attending San Francisco Pride in solidarity with another member who was openly gay. 
Pride month made a drag performance seem like a natural fundraiser to JTOP’s members. 
“Having the wonderful connection with the Community and Polly Poptart, Ruthie [Prasil, Shir Tikvah’s Executive Director] was able to interface and make that happen,” Laffitte explained.
And while this and other JTOP events are a lot of fun, they definitely connect back to Jewish values. 
“We’ve gone out for fun things like, you know, arcade dates, sushi wheels, and whenever we do meetings, we try to connect them to a Jewish value,” Laffitte said. “For example, when we made treats and food for the Oregon Humane Society, we connected it to the Jewish value of compassion for animals.”
With much of the group’s core membership away at overnight camp, JTOP will reconvene with a pool party in August to embark on their second year.
“The feedback we’ve gotten from parents has been really positive,” Laffitte said. “We have a really clear pathway for the next year and the coming years in terms of what meetings will be, where they’ll be located and how we want to do outreach.”
For more information, contact Laffitte at heatherl@shirtikvahpdx.org.