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“This means going to the school
play, meeting teens at the Menchies
frozen yogurt store, attending
graduation parties and providing the
Compelling new report speaks to key benchmarks.
opportunity for a study break during
AP testing,” Harr said.
ewish teens embrace their Jewish
Based on the study, released in
“Once our teens feel we are truly
identity, but less as a religious journey April, Bryfman imagines a new
invested
in them as people, and not
and more as a pathway to Jewish lit-
paradigm for how the Jewish
Robert Sklar
only
as
Jews,
the dynamic shifts and
eracy, experiences and connections.
community views teen education Contributing Editor
the
door
opens
so that we can help
Initiatives that truly engage will yield
and engagement.
reach
the
Jewish
Education Project
teens with: a strong sense of self; a sense of
“We should develop Jewish
outcomes.
”
pride about being Jewish; values and ethics
opportunities in concert with teens and that
Weavers routinely share with each other
expressed in relation to Jewish principles
address all aspects of their lives,” Bryfman
what
works during the school year; they’re
and wisdom; the desire and commitment to maintains. “As a whole, teens want to learn,
not
limited
by turf.
be part of the Jewish people; and a positive
want to be challenged, value family and
relationship to the land, people and state of
friends, and they often seamlessly blend all
BOLSTERED PATH
Israel.
facets of their identity and personality.”
In
addition to hiring a weaver last year,
Teachers, mentors and role models mat-
Temple
Israel of West Bloomfield is large
ter for Jewish teens. So do family traditions. IN CONTEXT
enough
to dedicate a full-time rabbi,
Jewish teens see “doing good” as a universal Torah learning, Jewish history and Israel as
Jennifer
Lader, to teen engagement via its
value. And they like spending time with
the Jewish ancestral homeland are pillars of
Roots
high
school program.
their parents.
Judaism. JEP’s study found teens are more
Via Roots, the Reform
Against this wide-ranging backdrop, our
apt to respond if such pillars are presented
synagogue
has increased
teens are peeking beyond the margins of
in language “commonly associated with eth-
its
number
of engaged
organized peer engagement to find mean-
nicity, culture, heritage or tribal affiliation”
teens
by
more
than 25
ing, purpose and expression as young Jews.
as opposed to religiosity.
percent
in
the
last
two
So reveals a new Jewish Education Project
Some of the biggest names in Jewish
years
(from
157
to
204)
(JEP) report on Jewish teens and their feel-
philanthropy — Jim Joseph Foundation,
thanks
to
a
vision
of
ings about Jewish life. The national findings Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family
youth work affirmed by
underscore the importance of family, knowl- Foundation, Lippman Kanfer Foundation
JEP’s target outcomes,
edge and challenge to Jewish teens — they
for Living Torah, Marcus Foundation — are Rabbi Lader
Lader says.
want to be uplifted and make a difference.
behind the study, elevating its value as teen
Temple
Israel
teen
initiatives include:
Making Jewish life inviting for teens, who engagement data.
•
Creating
a
high
school
program that
are at a pivotal formative stage, is one of the
In the study’s wake, Bryfman challenges
features
Jewish
learning,
leadership
training
North American Jewish community’s tough- the Jewish community — “our organiza-
and
relationship
building
while
deepening
est obstacles, especially amid the glare of the tional leaders, our funders, our visionaries.”
connections with clergy, friends and com-
well-documented drop-off in Jewish involve- He urges working alongside Jewish teens to
munity.
ment post-b’nai mitzvah.
create Jewish moments that appeal, resonate
• Understanding the value of identity-
and empower.
building
travel experiences such as the teen
NOVEL OUTLOOK
Anyone active in teen engagement
mission
to
Israel and the Alternative Spring
That drop-off is “entirely revers-
should echo the question he deems
Break,
which
this year went to Prague and
ible,” writes the catalyst behind
critical: “What do we need to con-
Poland
to
explore
their Jewish heritage.
the JEP report “Generation Now:
sider if we want to engage a Jewish
Understanding and Engaging
teen today?”
FORGING AHEAD
Jewish Teens Today.”
“Generation
Now” recommendations
In a JTA commentary, David
WEAVING ANEW
acknowledge
there’s no guarantee to engag-
Bryfman, chief innovative offi-
Barrett Harr, Jewish Federation of
ing
a
teen
Jewishly.
Teamwork is the best
David Bryfman
cer for the New York-based JEP,
Metropolitan Detroit’s teen engage-
approach.
Effective
initiatives, according
writes that change will come
ment coordinator, first heard about
to
Bryfman,
will
engage
teens intellectu-
provided “the Jewish community
Bryfman’s research while attend-
ally,
physically
and
socially;
will be relevant
approaches teen engagement in a
ing the Summit on Jewish Teens, a
to
their
lives;
will
offer
something
worth
new way — one that recognizes
national gathering in Baltimore, in
sharing
with
friends;
will
enrich
everyday
the whole teen and values her or
February.
skills; and will instill pride in being Jewish.
him as an equal partner in creat-
She believes the recent addition of
Initiatives also will help make the world a
ing experiences that add meaning
three Jewish Teen Network Weavers
better place.
to her or his life.”
better positions the Detroit Jewish
In pursuit of a new attitude toward teen
Locally, Jewish day schools,
community to accomplish much of
Barrett Harr
engagement,
let’s remember current teen
synagogue schools, youth groups,
what Bryfman envisions. Temple
leaders
may
be
prime candidates to sit at the
summer camps, mentorships and the bien-
Israel and Temple Beth El, both Reform
Jewish
communal
leadership table. They’re
nial teen mission to Israel all help link our
synagogues, have each added a weaver.
bound
to
be
a
positive
influence on peers.
teens to their Jewish and ancestral roots.
The Conservative movement weaver serves
Hitting
on
a
fundamental
and pressing
“Generation Now” and its 14 Jewish edu-
Shaarey Zedek and Beth Shalom and as
dynamic,
David
Bryfman
insists
real change
cation and engagement outcomes serve as
United Synagogue Youth’s local adviser.
in
teen
engagement
“will
come
from
exist-
a guidepost for the Jewish world as it mines
The positions are funded by a Federation
ing
organizations
that
can
adapt
and
do
innovative ways to engage teens through
two-year matching grant awarded through
things differently, and from the creation of
initiatives and outreach and to enable them
the Hermelin Davidson Center for
new organizations ready to engage 21st-
through programming and opportunities.
Congregation Excellence. The match calls
century Jewish teens.”
To formulate meaningful teen engage-
for congregations and Federation to split the
ment metrics, JEP researchers not only
cost of each weaver.
More on “Generation Now: Understanding and
arranged focus groups, but also conducted
Weavers aim to be where teens are and
Engaging Jewish Teens Today” is available online at
hundreds of teen interviews across North
to treat them as whole persons, not just as
JewishEdProject.org/GenerationNow.
America over 2½ years.
Jewish teens, Harr told the JN.
Engaging Our Teens
J
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