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The Secret to Engaging Jewish Youth

Rob Golub (Jewish Chronicle)

There’s a lot of discussion in Jewish circles about how to attract and engage youth. Synagogue leaders implore, please don’t have a b’nei mitzvah and take off – stick around and be a part of organized Jewish life.

Andrew Keene, a graduate of Nicolet High

Creating Opportunities for Every Teen to Matter

Rabbi Michael White

More than four decades after his own tentative step into the world of the Reform Movement's youth programs, Rabbi Michael White reflects on what we can do to inspire and empower today's teens.

One Congregation’s Nip/Tuck on the Face of Jewish Education

Faye Gilman

In the worthy endeavor of making our Religious School programming as meaningful as possible for our children, we struggle with questions. How can we tweak our program to engage more families? How do we compete with other extracurricular activities? How can we

Kulanu: Creating Intentional Community Together

Rabbi David Burstein

The stone passes, from student to teacher and back to the student again. They speak softly and listen well. Seated on meditation pillows in the light of a large candle, they talk about their past week – the blessings they saw, and the challenges they faced

The Value of Our Teens’ Time

Becky DePalma

This is the paradox of youth professionals everywhere: We want to help our teens de-stress from their very busy lives by participating in enriching and restoring activities at their synagogue.  How do we get them here without making their lives busier or adding more to their already over-programmed schedules? Is that even possible?

Conversations with Engagement Innovators: Rabbi PJ Schwartz

  1. How have you engaged your community around youth? We have always had a successful and vibrant youth program, and it continues to grow. Because youth engagement is a passion of mine, I am very involved in programming, both formally and informally. In some

4 Ideas for Engaging Families with Young Children in Jewish Life

Cathy M. Rolland, RJE

Every new parent understands the pressure and stress associated with finding the best ways to create a rich and fulfilling future for their children. Faced with societal expectations, money constraints, and more programmatic opportunities than ever for their

4 Surprising Ways Camp Connects Us All

Rabbi Rick Jacobs
Sports, games, art and science projects. Swimming, hiking, climbing. Laughing, learning, sharing. It’s these activities, and more, that transform summer camp into one of the strongest links in the Reform Movement’s chain of connections. In fact, summertime for the URJ is like one huge game of connect-the-dots. Connecting current campers with alumni. Connecting clergy with worshippers.

9 Jewish Education Lessons from the Field

by Michelle Shapiro Abraham Director of program development for the URJ’s Campaign for Youth Engagement, Michelle Shapiro Abraham, is a 2015 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for Excellence in Jewish Education. Here, she draws on her extensive experience to offer this sound advice to educators and congregational leaders. Every day I feel honored and humbled by the blessing of my work. Creating youth engagement opportunities for the URJ takes me from synagogues, classrooms, and offices, to camps, retreats, conferences, and preschool programs. The settings are varied but the goal is the same. Our purpose as Jewish educators is to connect, empower, and partner. To do this, we need to think beyond and between the traditional boundaries of formal and informal, children and adults, school and camp, and simply look for the best ways to touch minds, souls, and hearts.