The strength of a Jewish community is evidenced by its commitment to its teens. This is something that Rabbi Ethan Katz, regional director of NJ NCSY, believes very strongly. He strives to ensure that NJ NCSY makes engaging its teens a priority and is hugely gratified to see that local NCSY chapters and partner organizations are following suit.
Never has that commitment been more evident than through the recent MetroWest NCSY Chesed and Leadership Mission to New Orleans. This program was only made possible through a huge collaborative partnership among NJ NCSY, MetroWest Federation, Synagogue of the Suburban Torah Center (SSTC) in Livingston and Congregation Etz Chaim, also of Livingston. While NJ NCSY helmed the organization and planning of the trip, it could not have happened without the vital contributions from its partners. In recognition of the many teens from their respective congregations who participated, both SSTC and Etz Chaim contributed to the mission, providing much of the funding to make it happen. The Jewish Federation of MetroWest (Federation) contributed as well, offering generous grants to help defray the cost of the trip for each of the teen participants.
In addition to its monetary contributions, Federation engaged the teens by organizing meetings both prior to the mission and after its conclusion. The initial meeting offered the NCSYers a glimpse into what they would be experiencing while in New Orleans, while the follow-up meeting was a debriefing, where the teens shared their recollections and discussed the impactfulness of the trip and possible next steps in their involvement in the greater Jewish community. Additionally, each teen committed to participating in an additional Habitat for Humanity program in a local community and also prepared a written summary of their experiences.
“This was a collaborative effort of multiple Jewish organizations working together for the benefit of our teens. That is a beautiful thing,” said Katz. “I am thrilled that we were able to work together in partnership with Etz Chaim, Suburban Torah and MetroWest Federation, as well as Livingston High School and the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, both of which were more than happy to excuse their student participants to allow them to attend and benefit from this mission.”
Katz continued, “The teen participants got so much out of this trip. It affected them so positively to be able to work for the betterment of both the Jewish and non-Jewish community in NOLA, and to feel like they truly made a difference in the shul. Their presence, and the ruach they brought, brightened Shabbos for the Anshe Sfard congregants and the teens felt that very deeply.”
Speaking about the many chesed and leadership missions of this type that NJ NCSY runs, and intends to run, including its other NOLA mission and mission to Omaha, NE, Katz commented, “I look for congregations where our teens can make a difference, shuls whose members may not have seen a teen in attendance for a very long time.”
Katz concluded by tying in the NJ NCSY teen population with the communities these missions serve. “In New Orleans, all denominations have to work very well together; otherwise, the community will not exist. Our missions are also cross denominational; we involve Jewish day school and public school students, which only contributes to the success of these trips.”
By Jill Kirsch
