The National Council for Mental Wellbeing tells us that 1-in-6 youth and adolescents will experience a mental health condition in any given time, nearly half of teens (44%) report feeling persistently sad and hopeless and 50% of all mental illnesses begin by age 14.
According to “Strength, Stress, and Support: A Portrait of American Jewish Teen Well-Being,” a study conducted by Jewish Federations of North America’s BeWell initiative, greater frequency in participation in Jewish programming correlates with increased teen optimism, one of the five key factors influencing well-being. Teens who said that being Jewish is important to them also reported higher levels of overall well-being. Yet the mere sense of belonging, which undoubtedly can contribute to one’s happiness, does not erase the possibility of anxiety, depression, substance misuse or personal crisis.
Too often, we rely on adults alone to notice warning signs and intervene, when in reality teens are usually the first to clock when something is wrong with their peers. They see the changes in mood, the missed classes, the alarming social media posts, the risky behavior at parties. Without guidance, they may freeze, minimize what they are noticing or carry the burden alone. With the right tools, teens can help their peers.
This is exactly what Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA), a national evidence-based training for students in grades 9–12, sets out to do. Developed by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, tMHFa is facilitated in communities that are also training adults to work with youth in Youth Mental Health First Aid. BeWell has been running tMHFA since 2022 through a Jewish lens. We have supported the certification of 70-plus facilitators and helped train almost 2,000 teens in collaboration with federations, Jewish Family Service agencies, camps, youth movements and other organizations, including The Jewish Education Project.
Importantly, tMHFA does not task teens with attempting to diagnose or “fix” their friends; rather, it teaches them how to recognize when a peer may be struggling, how to start a supportive conversation and how to involve a trusted adult when needed. They learn to identify warning signs related to mental health and substance use, understand the impact of bullying and violence and recognize if someone is in crisis.
These tools are framed as a reflection of communal responsibility, and they are not expected to be used by teens in isolation. Participants are connected with a Jewish adult — often an education director, rabbi or youth professional — who is certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid (another training for adults through National Council of Mental Wellbeing) to serve as a caring, supportive and knowledgeable adult. In the course of training, teens work through real-life scenarios, engage in honest conversation and leave with clear action plans. They gain language, confidence and clarity, often for situations they are already encountering.
For the Jewish community, this work is not ancillary to education or engagement; it is foundational. Mental health is inseparable from learning, identity formation and connection to Jewish life. Teens who feel seen and supported are more likely to thrive in classrooms, camps, youth movements and congregations. When teens are empowered to look out for one another, the entire community becomes stronger.
In this sense, tMHFA is both a public health intervention and a Jewish one. It reflects the values of pikuach nefesh, the significance we place on the imperative to save a life, and areivut, our responsibility for one another; and it reinforces kehilla, community — that none of us stands alone.
Through a partnership between The Jewish Education Project and BeWell, Jewish teens across North America have been able to access this training virtually. This accessibility is especially important for communities where such resources would otherwise be unavailable. Mental health challenges do not respect geography, denomination, or community size.
The program’s positive outcomes encourage us to do even more, particularly as we see teens who complete tMHFA bring it back into their daily lives. One participant advocated to offer the training to classmates at their school. Another sought guidance on helping peers cope with finals stress. Still another went on to train as a Teen Advisor on the Teen Talk App, a free, anonymous platform for teens to get peer support from trained teen advisors, supervised by licensed professionals, expanding their reach even further. And in one particularly sobering moment, a teen used the recovery position they learned in training to help a peer who had passed out from drinking too much at a party — knowledge translated directly into lifesaving action. Participants tell us that they now know how to step forward instead of staying silent or what to do in an overdose situation and use these skills in daily life.
Our next Teen Mental Health First Aid training for Jewish teens will take place in March 2026. The decision facing our community is whether we treat this as an optional enrichment opportunity, or as essential preparation for the realities our teens are already navigating.
We cannot shield adolescents from every challenge, but we can give them the tools to face those challenges together. In doing so, we affirm a simple, powerful truth: in the Jewish community, we notice, we respond and we take care of one another.
Erica N. Hruby is the senior manager of national teen education and engagement at The Jewish Education Project.
Beth Lipschutz is the director of education and training at Jewish Federations of North America’s BeWell initiative.