RJ Blog

by Cantor Sarah Sager As I was gathering my thoughts about the Centennial celebration of the Women of Reform Judaism, the news that former Prime Minister of England, Margaret Thatcher, had passed away flashed across the news screen. Among the initial reports of her death, she was quoted as saying: “If you want something said, go to a man. If you want something done, go to a woman.” While I do not subscribe to the gender dichotomy, the second part of her statement caught my attention. It has been my experience in synagogue life that, in fact, when congregations need [...]

Throughout its history, Women of Reform Judaism has supported the next generation of the Reform Movement. In celebration of WRJ’s Centennial and the significant role that WRJ has played in the life of NFTY, the current National Board members and a staff member of the North American Federation of Temple Youth share their reflections on this vital relationship. Evan Traylor, NFTY President: Women of Reform Judaism (WRJ) was instrumental in the founding of the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) in 1939, and since that date has continued to provide enormous financial and moral support to the organization. WRJ [...]

Exciting news from NFTY! The North American Federation of Temple Youth has elected new North American board members for the 2013-2014 term, who will be formally installed on June 22, 2013, during Mechina, a five-day leadership training event and general board meeting at URJ Kutz Camp. Newly elected board members must be incoming college freshmen and are expected to be excellent role models. As peer advocates, they represent NFTY and its values at regional and North American events. Board members help plan and facilitate a five-day long workshop to teach and prepare regional board members how to be effective leaders [...]

You’ve probably heard a lot about plagues over the past few days, but I hope you’ll take three minutes to learn about a very real one facing half of the world’s population today. (If you don’t have three minutes, click here.) Six years ago the Reform Movement formalized our support of and partnership with Nothing But Nets, a campaign of the UN Foundation that is solely tasked with ridding the world of Malaria – a disease transmitted through the bite of a mosquito. Malaria kills more than 600,000 people a year and cripples Africa’s economy; yet it is preventable and [...]

Walking into PARTY’s BART Shabbat event last Friday, I had no idea what to expect. Little did I know, I was about to witness the coming-together of seven Broward Country reform congregations in food, in song, in prayer, and in welcoming a very special guest.

At NFTY Convention, we presented a program about inclusion of teens on the Autism Spectrum in our NFTY community. We take a moment to reflect on the program and our ongoing initiative.

by Rabbi Dan Medwin Last week, I was given a wonderfully challenging task as the CCAR rabbinic staff member at the NFTY Convention:  Take fifty participants from the Youth Engagement Conference and a two-hour prayer lab session, and plan multiple services for about 900 NFTY Convention participants.  While seemingly impossible, I jumped at the opportunity.   After all, we produce Visual T’filah and all the prayer books for the Reform Movement – I could do this! Working with my colleague Rabbi Noam Katz and Jewish musician Dan Nichols (and joined by rabbis Erin Mason and Ana Bonheim), we were tempted to [...]

Most of the time I see the Jewish world through my Jewish Special educator lens. For me, last week’s NFTY Convention and Youth Engagement Conference were no exception. Three significant things happened: 1.  Rabbi Rick Jacobs spoke of special needs and Jewish Disability Awareness Month from the bimah on Shabbat morning.  He shared the bimah with Evan Traylor, NFTY President, and the focus of their d’var Torah was the gifts that each of us has to offer. (Read the entire d’var Torah here.) Here is a portion of what he said about special needs education:

by Jeffrey Kagan With the 2013 Youth Engagement Conference in the books, I’ve been processing what exactly happened for four days in Los Angeles. Having attended seven previous conferences dedicated to honing the skills of NFTY’s youth workers, I’ve seen many different approaches, all with the best of intentions but with varying degrees of success. One of the issues that consumed me during the conference, and even now in the hours following it, is what it means to be truly “engaged” in working with our teens.I’ve held many roles over the years as a youth group adviser—counselor, mentor, guide, collaborator, [...]

URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs delivered a message to open Shabbat at NFTY Convention 2013 to a crowd of over 1,000 people.

Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs and NFTY President Evan Traylor delivered a joint D’var Torah during Saturday morning T’fillah at last weekend’s NFTY Convention and Youth Engagement Conference, which run concurrently. An abridged text and full video of their address follows; you can also find the full text of Rabbi Jacobs Friday night d’var Torah, “On Top of the World,” here.

by Hope Chernak I’ve spent the last four days at my eighth NFTY Convention/Youth Professional Conference (now known as the Youth Engagement Conference), and I can’t help but reflect on events past. In 1999, there were 13 of us full-time “youth workers.” We came from all over the United States, and this was the first time we had a chance to meet in person. A few sessions were offered to us for professional development, and we attended song sessions and worship with our temple teens who were attending NFTY Convention. I remember vividly a special meeting hosted by J.C. Cohen, [...]

Growing up in the 21st century, it is hard for me to believe that the first woman rabbi was ordained only 40 short years ago. Three out of four rabbis at my temple are women, one of whom was ordained within the first year that women were allowed to do so.

by Lindsey Morgan Youth Advisor A asks, “Are you going to the URJ’s Youth Engagement Conference?” Youth Advisor B answers, “Well, I’m not entirely sure yet. I haven’t talked to my temple, board and it hasn’t been approved. To be perfectly honest, I also have no idea what ‘youth engagement’ really means and whether there’s a comprehensive enough understanding of what it is to meaningfully present a program I’ll get something out of.” Confession, full-disclosure: I was Youth Advisor B.