points of view

Securing from page 113

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I love her description of how Jewish
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activities that resonate, binding their
interests in and passions for Judaism
to improve the world.
"We want to continue to create
opportunities:' Harr said, "that our
youth 'own' in partnership with me
and our other youth professionals:'

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114

A y

22 • 2014

A Watchful Sage
Rabbi Norm Roman of Temple Kol
Ami, a 350-family West Bloomfield
synagogue, is a wise, longtime
observer and activist in Reform youth
engagement.
"We need to be
risk takers:' he said.
"Youth engagement
has to be a very high
priority. Present-day
synagogue models
are not models young
people are looking
Rabbi Roman
for. I'm not sure they
know what they are
looking for, which is why we must be
open to change'
Reform teens aren't necessarily leav-
ing Judaism, Roman stressed. "Rather;
he said, "they're questioning the
paradigms of the Jewish community,
especially the synagogues. Their world
is different than ours. This generation
is saying, 'Our Jewishness is going to
be different than your Jewishness. Our
definition of community is going to be
different than yours"
This generation will provide for the
next — and shake things up in the
process, Roman says. "It's about rela-
tional Judaism instead of institutional
Judaism:' he said. "It's very exciting:'
Roman pointed to Israel, where
Reform Jews especially in Tel Aviv and
in kibbutzim are searching for inspira-
tion and experimenting with worship
— for example, on the beach, replete
with poetry and song.
"They communicate with each other
instantly, without walls:' Roman said.
"Our teens are essentially saying, 'Why
can't our Jewish expression reflect the
same — outside the context of build-
ings and places'?"
Roman, on the faculty of URJ Kutz
Camp and former chair of the Reform
movement's Central Conference of
American Rabbis youth committee,
isn't casting aside the synagogue as
part of teen culture.
"Yes, we want our teens to feel com-
fortable in synagogue, but we need to
validate that their Judaism is not going
to be the same Judaism that was very
successful for a generation or two or
more. Everything else around us is
changing, too:' said Roman, who plays
the guitar and long ago recognized the

power of music in uplifting congre-
gants of any age.
On the youth front, Kol Ami is
doing joint programming for sixth-
and seventh-graders with similar
smaller Reform synagogues in Flint
and East Lansing. It also has installed
high school students as teacher aides,
buddies and role models for younger
kids, and reinstituted a junior youth
group for middle school age. Another
push will be to get all of Kol Ami's URJ
campers together regularly.
Synagogues should view the Big
3 teen-identity builders — Jewish
camps, Jewish day schools and Israel
trips — "as a challenge, not a threat:'
said Roman, not one to protect his turf
at the expense of reality and moving
the Reform movement forward.
Kol Ami is sending one teen to Israel
on the teen mission. Typically, teens
from Kol Ami and elsewhere visit the
Jewish state through other programs
as well.

The Way Forward
The 2013-2014 Jewish Teen
Engagement Survey commissioned
by Federation's Alliance for Jewish
Education confirms that Jewish teen
engagement presents a challenging
hurdle — with youth group involve-
ment, teen travel to Israel and Monday
night high school all facing a signifi-
cant drop in participation.
"Innovative professionals around
the country are experimenting with
new programs to engage and retain
teens:' the survey's April 3 Executive
Summary states.
The study notes that local educa-
tion directors and youth professionals
agreed that challenges include compe-
tition for student time, staff shortages,
financial issues and parental apathy.
These respondents agreed that with
an unlimited budget, they would plan
more instructional retreats, Israel trips
and service learning experiences.
Clearly, Temple Israel teen Ashley
Schnaar understands that Reform
teens themselves must discover path-
ways that speak to and embrace them,
certainly with adult encouragement
and guidance.
That's how the Reform movement
will sustain its growth, scope and
relevance. The burden shouldn't fall
entirely on their elders.
As Schnaar put it: "For Reform
Judaism to continue, young people
will need to accept and enjoy it so it
becomes embedded in their identity.
The years directly after bar/bat mitz-
vah are so crucial because they follow
the moment young Jews chose Judaism
for themselves:'

❑

Related story on the local Jewish
Teen Engagement Survey: page 12.