Applications are due Sept. 5 for the Center for Israel Education’s free teen Israel education program on consecutive Sundays, Sept. 19 and 26. Both sessions take place from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. CST.

Teen Israel Leadership Institute’s (TILI) interactive presentations enhance 15- to 18-year-olds’ understanding of Israel, its complexity and its role in Jewish identity. TILI participants in person and online the past three years have called the experience empowering and said it provided confidence in speaking about Israel:

• A teen from London wrote that the “brilliant programme” taught her “in both an engaging and informative fashion and helped develop my understanding of Israel’s past and present.”

• A young man from Paraguay said, “I was able to compare perspectives and experiences with people from all over the world who sought to expand their Israel knowledge.”

• A parent from Philadelphia said that for her son, “it was one of the best Jewish/Israel leadership programs attended.”

Center for Israel Education engages teens and adults with Israel learning through context and perspective. TILI focuses on teen interaction and engagement with the sources of Israel’s rich, complex past to deepen appreciation of Israel’s role in shaping Jewish identity. The program provides teens a variety of tools to understand contemporary events with nuance and to share their knowledge with their communities.

Among other topics, the interactive TILI sessions will focus on:

• Zionist and Israeli culture and politics through music.

• Israel’s Jewish and democratic origins.

• Identity and religion in Israeli society.

• Building the state to 1949 — the British-Arab-Zionist triangle.

• Arab-Israeli relations and negotiations.

• Becoming critical consumers of media.

• Israel on campus.

September’s teen institute is for 10th- through 12th-graders. Teens with any level of knowledge about Israel are welcome, but the most successful attendees are willing to engage with their peers and bring an open mind.

Participants who complete the program receive a CIE Teen Israel Leadership Institute Certificate in Israel Education.

The usual $54 registration has been waived, so participation is free. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, and teens are encouraged to apply as soon as possible at centerforisraeled.wufoo.com/forms/z17eulny17aksgp.

For more information, including additional testimonials from some of the hundreds of past participants, visit israeled.org/teens, or contact CIE’s teen program manager, Michele Freesman, at  [email protected].