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Worship Without Music?!
By Jerry Kaye
Can you imagine a worship service these days without a cantor, a song leader, or even a band? There is nowhere in the liberal Jewish community where music isn't an integral and heartening part of worship. Today, Jewish music is readily available on CDs and MP3s, and even on YouTube, which hosts thousands of new Jewish music recordings as well as the classics.
Were worship and music always intertwined? Is music as important in the traditional community? Can you pray without a guitar or keyboard? As far back as biblical times, Psalms describes praising God with the harp, lute and timbrel, thus giving us a great musical inheritance. However, we don't know the melodies that David sang or the songs that surrounded Solomon.
The Music of N’ilah – Part One
By Cantor Barbara R. Finn
Slam Dunk: Fantasy Sports as a Portal to New Youth Group Models
The Journal of Youth Engagement is an online forum of ideas and dialogue for those committed to engaging youth in vibrant Jewish life and living. Join the discussion and become a contributor.
By Beryl Trauth-Jurman
Fantasy Basketball. That is how Northern Virginia Hebrew Congregation in Reston VA, decided to solve two problems.
I had just started as the Youth Activities Coordinator here at NVHC and after our first two or three events, I noticed that there was a certain group of kids who were never coming to events. These kids were interested in sports, but the synagogue was not able to host sports activities. That meant these kids never came to events. We knew we weren't going to reach them with our existing menu of programming, and I wanted to find a way to include them in something, meaning we would probably need something new.
I had a conversation with the education director and the rabbi, and we decided to start a fantasy basketball league—the logic being that, if we could not hold actual sports activities the next best thing would be fantasy sports. The idea worked: the league is made up entirely of kids who do not come to other events and one kid who is unable to attend other events at the synagogue due to scheduling conflicts. The league has given us some common ground—a Jewish community for these young teens who do not otherwise participate in one, and an opportunity for me to connect with them, even remotely. The league now accounts for twenty percent of the total participants in youth programming. That is the first problem that fantasy basketball solved.
NFTY: Never Forget Those Years ...or Friendships
Tania Levy Medney, LIFTY '73, continues to find ways to stay in touch with her NFTY peers.
Three Stories: URJ & Ramah Camps Come Together To Learn
The URJ Service Corps program is designed to engage young URJ Camps staff and alumni, who will apply their experience, talents, and skills to create experiential, camp-style programming for families and youth in synagogue communities around the country. Working in partnership with the National Ramah Commission, the program seeks, over three years, to have a total of 80 young adult educators engaged in part-time youth leadership roles in Conservative and Reform communities throughout North America, working actively to recruit for camp and to help reenergize the communities they serve through innovative, inspiring, and immersive Jewish programming.
In early January, Ramah and URJ Service Corps Fellows met in California, where they learned, shared, and explored this new and exciting role in the Jewish community. URJ Service Corps Fellows from three of our camps shared their stories:
It Happened After Two Full Years (Genesis 41:1)
The Journal of Youth Engagement is an online forum of ideas and dialogue for those committed to engaging youth in vibrant Jewish life and living. Join the discussion and become a contributor.
By Rabbi Jack P. Paskoff
(While this article reflects the experience of my congregation, proper credit should be given to Rabbi Bennett Miller at the Anshe Emeth Memorial Temple. The model my congregation uses is based on what I learned as Rabbi Miller’s assistant and associate from 1988-1993.)
“I’m not sure I see myself being involved Jewishly in college.” “I’m not sure I believe in God.” “Should I have children when I get older, I know I’ll raise them as Jews.” “The first time I left for Camp Harlam/went to Israel/went to a NFTY event/attended a L’Taken seminar/confronted anti-Semitism/dealt with the death of a peer, I felt a deeper attachment to my faith.”The first time I suggested changing Confirmation to 12th grade, it seemed as if I had thrown down the first set of tablets received at Sinai. There were those concerned about my tampering with tradition and others who were convinced that we would see a huge drop off in enrollment after Bar/Bat Mitzvah. At the beginning of 12th grade Confirmation, I ask our students to write an essay addressing two basic questions:
- What have been the most meaningful milestones in your Jewish life to date?
- What exactly are you “confirming” for your Jewish future?
MINCHA: Committing to the Whole Teen
The Journal of Youth Engagement is an online forum of ideas and dialogue for those committed to engaging youth in vibrant Jewish life and living. Join the discussion and become a contributor.
By Ellie Klein Goldman
In the fall of 2013 Temple Shalom in Newton, MA launched a new weekly program for 7th and 8th graders called MINCHA. The evening includes dinner, time with friends, creative Jewish learning and leadership development. In designing MINCHA we had a number of goals in mind:
- Create a safe and supportive environment for teens.
- Foster positive connections with one another and with enthusiastic staff.
- Introduce teens to Jewish living in creative and active ways.
- Develop teens’ skills as leaders.
- Convey an appreciation that their schedules are complicated, their interests varied and that every commitment demands to be the top priority.
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week: A Call to Action on COVID-19 Relief
Against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the crises of hunger and homelessness in the U.S. are more urgent than ever. It is our imperative to understand the scale of these injustices and demand much-needed relief for those most vulnerable.
Crispy Rice Cakes with Three Sauces
Jewish food traditions are inspired by the regions throughout the world. Sephardic Jewish cuisine, including North African Jewish dishes, is influenced by neighbors along the Mediterranean.
Wholly Jewish: Noa: The Beauty of Taking Up Space
On the season finale of Wholly Jewish season 2, we are joined by NYU student and college organizer Noa Baron (they/them). Noa shares the personal and Jewish and significance of their name (and their Jewish name-changing ceremony), the importance of deep listening to the queer community, their aspirations as a trans Jewish leader, and the beauty LGBTQ+ Jews bring to the Jewish community.