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The Journal of Youth Engagement is an online forum of ideas and dialogue for those committed to engaging youth in vibrant Jewish life and living. Join the discussion and become a contributor. Many congregations engage teens as madrichim (“guides”) in Religious School classrooms to serve as role models of continued Jewish involvement, to assist with administrative tasks, and often to lead activities and discussions with students.  Whether your madrichim program involves 10 teens or 100, one of the most important aspects of building and maintaining a strong program is the quality of training provided to the teens. When developing a madrichim training program, the best place to start is by thinking about what you value in your own professional development. We justify it by saying things like: “Isn’t the important thing that the teens are in the building, engaged in Jewish living and learning?  Don’t ‘required trainings’ provide an unnecessary barrier to participation?”  Well, yes and no.  For most teens, their work in the Religious School is the first job they’ll ever have, especially since many madrichim programs include students as young as 8^th grade.  In addition to prepping for assigned tasks, most teens need help developing basic skills in communication, working under supervision, goal setting, and time management.  These are the foundation to their success.

The Journal of Youth Engagement is an online forum of ideas and dialogue for those committed to engaging youth in vibrant Jewish life and living. Join the discussion and become a contributor. On a Friday night this past spring, 26 families shared Shabbat in 7 homes across New York City. They said the blessings, ate their festive meals, and were joined by synagogue staff, who led the groups in activities and songs. This was the fourth such dinner last year.  Remarkably, these families were satisfying their Religious School requirement. A growing number of families at Temple Shaaray Tefila are taking part in MASA (“Journeys” in Hebrew), our Temple’s multi-generational education program, now in its seventh year. It offers year-long family “journeys” centered on Jewish topics, as an alternative to our religious school. As part of the program, parents study both with their children and separately with our education staff and clergy, as well as participate in Shabbat and holiday celebrations together with the goal of enhancing their own knowledge and their ability to teach and model Jewish practice for their children.

In response to recent controversy over the Metropolitan Opera's production The Death of Klinghoffer, Reform Movement leaders sent the following letter to Metropolitan Opera General Manager Peter Gelb:

Dear Mr. Gelb, We join with other Jewish leaders in expressing our disappointment and dismay about the staging by the Metropolitan Opera of "The Death of Klinghoffer." While we acknowledge steps you have taken to curtail the presentation of the opera to a simulcast audience and to allow the Klinghoffer family to convey their view of the opera to your audiences, we regret your decision to present the opera at the Met.

What did Reform rabbis talk to their congregations about this Rosh HaShanah? Based on my totally non-scientific survey, Israel was far and away the most popular topic. 

The Journal of Youth Engagement is an online forum of ideas and dialogue for those committed to engaging youth in vibrant Jewish life and living. Join the discussion and become a contributor. In March of 2010, our congregation was approached by Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Greater Boston’s Jewish Federation) and invited to begin a process of transforming our synagogue’s learning programs for children in grades K-5.  We eagerly accepted the offer and began our work with two consultants they provided us from Brandeis University – Rachel Happel (now our Director of K-12 Learning) and Dvora Goodman – who were local experts in experiential Jewish learning.  Together we engaged in a process of reflection, visioning, best practices research, and dreaming of what could be.  The result was our decision to close down our old religious school (which we deemed to be beyond repair) and to launch our new learning and engagement model, Mayim, in the fall of 2012.

Rabbi Chaim Halberstam, a distinguished Hasid, told a parable about the Days of Awe of a man who is lost in the woods. Just when he is losing hope, he runs into another person and is filed with joy, exclaiming "Brother, tell me which is the right way. I have been wandering for days." His fellow responds by saying that he, too, has been wandering, and is sure that his way is also the wrong way. He reassures, him however, that working with each other, they can find a new way out – together. This story underscores a core principle of the Days of Awe: They are inherently relational. The word "relational" is in danger of becoming so overused as to become meaningless, but it is critical – and during these days of teshuvah (return, repentance) and s’licha (forgiveness), the central role of relationship in Judaism comes even more into focus. These are the very days in which we reflect deeply on our relationships to others; who have we slighted? With whom must we repair? The focus of these High Holidays is actually a reminder that Judaism calls individuals into relationship all year round.

By Ariel Schwartz NFTY, the Reform Jewish Youth Movement, and BBYO are two incredible Jewish teen movements that aim to engage Jewish teens across the world. Though they are organized and operate differently, cherish different histories, and engage different types of Jewish teens, ultimately they both work to build a stronger Jewish future. I am proud to be an active member of both BBYO and NFTY.

Registration for NFTY Convention 2015 and the Youth Summit for congregational professionals and stakeholders will open Monday, October 6th! To make sure your congregation is ready, here are some helpful reminders:

by Rabbi Ramie Arian Throughout the nearly four decades of my career, I’ve been privileged to serve the Jewish people in a variety of non-congregational rabbinic roles – national director of NFTY, the Reform Jewish youth movement for most of the 1980s, as well as vice president of the Wexner Heritage Foundation, national director of Young Judaea, and founding executive director of the Foundation for Jewish Camp. The Jewish journey of my life has been shaped and molded by many influences; NFTY was among the most important.