Editor's Letter

The Future Is Now

T

he five Conservative synagogues in Metro Detroit are
peering into the future and combining resources to
tailor a hip new Monday-night program designed to
educate and energize teens.
It's called ATID: Alliance for Teens in Detroit. The daring
high school program aims to kindle appreciation of lifelong
Jewish living and learning. Ruach will
provide the spark for teens to learn,
mingle and grow as Jews.
Teens go where teens are.
The ATID curriculum includes the
study of Jewish texts and tradition, the
pursuit of social action, the embrace
of Israel and its people, and the prin-
ciples and practices of Conservative
Judaism. Electives will include cook-
ing, music, yoga, Israeli sports, drama
and other offerings that teens request.
Confirmation is part of the program.
So is a travel component to places like Chicago and New York.
In a world where the tug of assimilation
"00.0",..N
is so strong, I applaud ATID organizers
for trying something edgy. To stand pat is
no way to engage teenagers, who are at a
highly impressionable age in their spiritual
growth. MID aims to set the tone for par-
ticipants through college and beyond.
What the synagogues see through their
collective periscope is something special.
Rabbi Miller
ATID is set to launch in September. Time
will tell whether it attains its synergistic
objectives. But it's off to a good start with a catchy name for
its target audience: Conservateens. Teens certainly will have to
feel that ATID is cool before they begin to buy into it.
ATID is an acronym for Amitat Tichon 1'Yaldei Detroit
— the Consolidated High School for the Teens of Detroit. Atid
is Hebrew for "future' The future of the Conservative move-
ment, in transition amid an ark full of super-charged issues
rooted in Jewish identity, like intermarriage and homosexual-
ity, hinges on its post-b'nai mitzvah teens.

Hillel Connection
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit, and its newly reno-
vated facilities in Farmington Hills, will host this Monday-
night school for students in grades 8-12 who attend Shaarey
Zedek, Adat Shalom, B'nai Moshe, Beth Shalom and Beth
Ahm. Also welcome are teens in public and private schools,
Hillel Day School and the Frankel Jewish Academy as well as
unaffiliated teens.
ATID will reach a larger teen population than any of the
synagogue high schools now enroll. The inter-synagogue
experience and the exposure to all the rabbis are important
byproducts. Beth Ahm especially will benefit because it cur-
rently does not have a high school. ATID's initial enrollment is
projected at 200 teens.
Speakers — whether debating a hot teen topic in the news,
promoting Federation's Teen Mission to Israel or soliciting
writers for the JN's Teen2Teen magazine — will have a central
place to go to reach our Conservateens. An ongoing series of
events is building teen anticipation for ATID. An April 7 mega
concert at Hillel, featuring Israeli musician Michael HarPaz
and his band, will officially open the enrollment period.

Together But Apart
The Conservative congregations aren't merging. But there is
strength in numbers. ATID will hold a graduation ceremony,
but each congregation will have the option to do so as well.
"You get more with more says Jason Miller, a Conservative
rabbi serving as MID interim director. He brings experience,
having served on the high school faculty at Adat Shalom and
Shaarey Zedek, as well as a reputation for innovative thinking.
The ATID steering committee includes clergy and educa-
tors from Shaarey Zedek and Adat Shalom. Those large shuls
will bear the largest share of the cost, which includes renting
Hillel. Consider the cost a prudent investment. Faculty will be
hired from among the teachers at each synagogue. Organizers
insist that ATID isn't a response to a crisis among the syna-
gogues — and I see no evidence that it is. Says Shaarey
Zedek's Rabbi Eric Yanoff, "The synagogues aren't scrambling.
We'll just all be better and stronger working together."
Let's hope ATID delivers on its pledge to help bolster the
Conservative youth movement of United Synagogue Youth.
For its part, USY must assure that it speaks to under-involved
teens through upbeat social programming.
USY, like the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization,
has a local pool of 7,000 kids ages 13 to 17 to
potentially draw from.

Future Echoes
I like the diversity of opportunity with ATID.
I also like the promise to not turn any teen
Rabbi Yanoff
away because of inability to pay the still-
unannounced tuition. Scholarships will be
available through Federation's Alliance for
Jewish Education. ATID will strive to involve parents as well.
Their passion for Judaism and learning, and a willingness to
express it, will help define the ATID journey.
The synagogue and clergy bridge building is refreshing —
and a break from the tendency among congregations to func-
tion separately. But instilling a love of mitzvot and community
within our Conservateens would be even nicer. Those are twin
pillars of the movement in the eyes of Dr. Arnold Eisen, chan-
cellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York.
Sustaining those pillars for the next generation will be
tough. Says Eisen, "We know, particularly in Conservative
Judaism, that unless you fashion a message that speaks with
the authenticity of carrying on a tradition, you don't get
people to our doors and keep them once they are there. In a
sense, we don't deserve to keep them:'
Teenagers especially feel the need to carve their own path.
That's where ATID comes into play. As Rabbi Yanoff puts it, "It
will put a fresh face on the next generation of Conservative
Jews:'
In that spirit, I hope MID not only proves to be enriching
and fun, but also an exciting national model for synagogue
collaboration. LI

More on ATID: page A20

0 : Will ATID help reinvent Conservative
1 — •
fr Judaism?
Li

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a. a-

Are teens responsive to the call
of Jewish "cool"?

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February 28 • 2008

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