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Essay
Securing Its Future
Reform movement committed to
re-invigorated teen engagement.
T
eens tend to drop out of syna-
"By offering high impact-high quality
gogue youth programs after bar or programs:' said Rabbi Jen Lader, Temple
bat mitzvah because
Israel's youth engagement rabbi,
regular schoolwork, college
"we believe we can impart the
preparation and after-school
same amount of personal con-
sports have become so time-
nection and Jewish content, but
consuming, says local teen
with a less-demanding schedule
leader Ashley Schnaar.
for teens and their parents:"
Typically over-pro-
Roots sessions are self-con-
-
grammed, they look to rel-
tained. They're tailored to intro-
evance to their lives when
duce teens to identity-building
deciding what must go. How
experiences — art, music, ritual,
to bring teens back to orga-
God, sports, sexuality and ethics
Robert Sklar
nized Jewish life has reached
— through a Jewish lens.
Contrib uting
a national state of urgency
"They are each run by clergy
Edit or
in the eyes of the Union for
and experts in the field — and
Reform Judaism (URJ), the
give an authentic look at what it
Reform movement's leadership umbrella.
means to be Jewishly connected in the 21st
"Teens are forced to prioritize, and
century:' said Lader, a human energy cell
many Jewish teens and preteens feel
when it comes to all things youth.
Hebrew school is simply an added school
Since arriving at Temple Israel, a
experience forced onto them by their
3,500-family synagogue, in June 2012,
parents:' Schnaar, a Bloomfield Hills High
Lader has led trips to Israel to reinforce
School senior and a youth leader at Temple the Zionist conviction among teens and to
Israel in West Bloomfield, told the IN.
Belize as part of a teen humanitarian expe-
"For this reason, when Monday night
dition. Teen trips to Toronto, Los Angeles,
high school is proposed to teens as an
Cincinnati, Chicago and Washington,
option after bar or bat mitzvah, they
D.C., were meant not just to strengthen
decline. What these teens do not under-
bonds among teens and clergy, but also to
stand is that Monday night high school
build on Jewish life experiences away from
post bar/bat mitzvah is now very different
home.
at Temple Israel than the Hebrew school
Fostering a love of
taught in bar/bat mitzvah preparation
Israel is a YFTI pillar.
years:'
Lader is preparing to
Schnaar, 18, daughter of Sara and Dr.
accompany upwards of
Daniel Schnaar of Bloomfield Township,
50 teens ages 14-18 to
should know. She has served on the Youth
Israel on this summer's
Federation of Temple Israel (YFTI) board
Sue and Alan J. Kaufman
for three years and is current president.
Family Jewish Federation
Rabbi Lader
of Metropolitan
Rooted In Change
Detroit-hosted teen
Until this school year, Monday night high
mission, a biennial experience.
school for Temple Israel teens involved
"The trip helps teens build strong con-
selecting a Jewish-based class from a list
nections to Israel and its people, to their
each synagogue semester, then attending
rabbi and temple, and to the Detroit
the class on Mondays.
Jewish community:' Lader said. "It has
Despite considering the class an "eighth
become a pinnacle experience for Temple
period" of her normal school day, Schnaar, Israel youth:'
a lifelong Temple Israel member, stayed
Lader was a BBYO intern before mov-
a part of Monday night high school. She
ing to youth director for a Bethesda
cited the fun trips that not only created
synagogue. It was there she felt a calling
social bonds, but also "deepened our bond
to youth engagement;
with Judaism through informal services,
so she switched career
accompanied by catchy songs and mean-
gears from science to
ingful Jewish programs:'
Jewish studies.
Monday night high school took a bold
One of Lader's men-
turn this school year. It was renamed
tors is Temple Israel
"Roots" and the class calendar was cut to
Rabbi Paul Yedwab, a
front-line visionary in
two Mondays a month. Enrollment is up
Rabbi Yedwab
URJ's re-imagining of
25 percent thanks to the change.
112
May 22 • 2014
11111111"-
Youth Federation of Temple Israel teens Gabby Harvey of Farmington Hills and
Hannah Schnaar of Bloomfield Hills, both 16, dance with JARC resident Lorraine
Schwartz of Bloomfield Township at a Chanukah party YFTI hosted in December.
teen engagement. In the fall 2013 issue of
Reform Judaism magazine, Yedwab talked
as part of a panel discussion about how
research shows "youth groups are one of
the most effective ways to nurture Jewish
identity and involvement in young people,
along with day school, Israel trips and
Jewish camping — and it is by far the least
expensive:'
He posited that funding limits were
"the only thing stopping us from engaging
many more young Jews who are orbiting
around, but not yet engaged in the syna-
gogue:'
Forging Ahead
Roots the program is all about lower
access fences, multiple engagement points
and having teens gather as part of a big,
vigorous group.
Roots energized Ashley Schnaar. "When
the program was disconnected from a
classroom-type setting:' she said, "its
appeal for teens became much greater."
Roots teens have taken a twilight tour of
Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale to hear
from Josh Tobias of Ira Kaufman Chapel
in Southfield about death and dying ritu-
als while also learning about the lives of
deceased leaders who left a rich legacy for
Jewish Detroit. Teens took a Skype tour
of political graffiti in Tel Aviv with Israeli
street art and pop culture expert Guy
Sharrett. And they joined in a workshop
on finding God through music and prayer
led by Jewish singer/songwriter Dan
Nichols.
Schnaar, who soon will be off to
Michigan State University to major in
social work, said: "I hope my peers appre-
ciate the teenage community that exists
within Temple Israel and decide for them-
selves that it is a community they desire to
be part of:'
A Timely Vision
At its biennial convention in San Diego
in December, URJ, which according to its
website represents 1.5 million Jews and
900 congregations in North America, took
the wraps off a new strategy to engage
youth in what the movement and con-
gregations are serving up, wherever the
setting. Called "Inspired Engagement:' it's
inclusive, dynamic and nimble — and not
building-driven.
In a key move, the National Federation
of Temple Youth (NFTY), the URJ national
youth group, is promoting that it will be
open to any teen, not just those affiliated
with a synagogue, beginning in 2015. The
move is intended to minimize obstacles
inhibiting teen participation and encour-
age participants to bring along friends.
This fall, NFTY will offer programming
to sixth graders — a critical age following
b'nai mitzvah.
URJ initially seeded the new strategy
with $1 million. Further funding is antici-
pated from outside sources. As a charge,
Inspired Engagement integrates all URJ
youth work: camps, NFTY, Israel connec-
tions, Mitzvah Corps. URJ Kutz Camp in
Warwick, N.Y., is the flagship of Inspired
Engagement.
New York-based URJ estimates that
North America is home to 500,000 Jews
Securing on page 113