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Nearly four years ago, I walked into the youth lounge at The Community Synagogue, excited to spend one of our monthly “lounge nights” with a small and mighty group of POWTY (Port Washington Temple Youth) teens. I observed the members of our program as they sat, surrounded by the embrace of our safe and cozy space, happily expressing their thoughts and feelings over shared snacks and treats. I saw them laughing and enjoying the company of Jewish friends, developing their identities as people, and as Jews.
While reflecting on our small community that met one Tuesday per month for “lounge night” – bonding time that supplements our larger youth events and programs – I saw an opportunity to expand and enrich programs we were already providing our members. If the teens were happy to spend their evenings with their Jewish friends, committing their personal time to a relaxing evening spent breaking bread and learning and laughing together, why was I hosting a lounge night on a Tuesday? Why wasn’t I able to find a way to adjust these evenings so that they provided more Jewish content, more meaning, and more fun? Why shouldn’t I be hosting a POWTY Shabbat program on a Friday?
Switching POWTY’s monthly lounge nights to POWTY Shabbat–our monthly youth Shabbat program—was one of the greatest risks I’ve ever taken as Director of Youth Engagement at The Community Synagogue, and it was all it took to transform our evenings into opportunities for meaningful Jewish ritual, prayer, and rejoicing. The POWTY Shabbat program completely revitalized our teen community, providing new learning opportunities, and chances for our participants to make connections to their heritage, religion, and Jewish selves.
What began as a handful of members who were excited to spend Shabbat evenings with POWTY is now an established monthly POWTY Shabbat program that our teens look forward to and enjoy. Upon the great success of our POWTY Shabbat programs, I have spoken with many of our current members and alumni about their POWTY Shabbat experiences. I am constantly learning from the Jewish youth I work with, and I think that their stories about their own experiences are rich with important lessons for my goals of meaningfully engaging them with Judaism. I hope these words of wisdom from our POWTY members and alumni will encourage other professionals working with Jewish youth to consider the opportunities that Shabbat can give us to engage today’s Jewish youth.
Teens get to connect with people they may never have had a change to get to know.
Jesse Epstein, Current POWTY Co-President:“POWTY
Shabbat is one of my favorite events to attend. It feels great when we are all sitting around the table in the youth lounge, talking and engaging in all our special POWTY traditions. These events have definitely brought me a lot closer to other young people in the community that I might have not have otherwise gotten to know, and I know that my life would be very different without them.”
When Shabbat is celebrated with friends, it becomes a priority for teens.
Emily Shlafmitz, a POWTY alum:
“As a teenager in high school there were a number of ways I could have chosen to spend my Friday nights—however, attending POWTY Shabbats was always a top priority. Going to POWTY Shabbats was meaningful for me because I got to participate in reciting prayers and performing various rituals, such as the blessing over the challah, and new rituals that we as a POWTY created together. These dinners have provided me with so many amazing experiences, great friends, and intelligent conversations that I will carry with me as I enter college this coming fall, and for the rest of my life.”These cherished POWTY family rituals Emily references, such as shouting “Oh, what a beautiful challah!” as we prepare to say the motzi, and sharing the best part of each of our weeks as we enjoy our meal together, define our community, and become traditions that our members find themselves longing to hold onto.
Creating Shabbat rituals helps us to instill a positive foundation for teens, who will continue to seek out Shabbat experiences.
Miles Kurtz, a POWTY alum:
“POWTY Shabbat has allowed me to develop a meaningful relationship with Shabbat. With POWTY, Shabbat was no longer an intangible holiday, but an experience that involved some of my best friends and the synagogue where I grew up. It became a genuinely relaxing way to end my week, and that is the first time I really felt peace on Shabbat, which, after all, is what it is supposed to bring.”
Teens learn to be resourseful when it comes to celebrating Jewish holidays; if they can’t find the Shabbat experiences they desire, they’ll have the confidence and knowledge to cultivate their own.
Jenna Lipman, POWTY alum:
“I left home and moved all the way across the country to attend Santa Clara University, a Catholic school. At the beginning of my freshman year, I felt that I had lost my Jewish community. Once I started to meet other Jewish students on campus, it became clear to me that we needed a way to casually get together and stay connected to Judaism. I began inviting all of my Jewish friends, and all of our non-Jewish friends, to Shabbat at my apartment. This was a way for us all to be together and show our friends that being Jewish can be practical and inclusive, and has allowed me to find that same community that guided me through high school. Without the initial experience of POWTY Shabbat dinners, there would be no Shabbat at my apartment, and thus possibly no connection to the Jewish community I left at home. Our monthly Shabbat evenings, that began as pasta dinners for a few teens around a small table, have grown into themed evenings for dozens of POWTY members packed into our youth lounge. Our Shabbat programs now include special meals, programs, and suprises, such as Pinata Shabbata, where we enjoyed Tex-Mex for dinner, and Shabbushi, our sushi Shabbat program. After seeing how accessible I could make Shabbat for our adolescent members, I realized I could create fun, exciting, and unconventional programs built around Shabbat experiences for all of our members. Last year, POWTY hosted our first ever All POWTY Shabbat for grades 4-12, and almost 60 members shared a Shabbat meal before leading services for our entire synagogue community.
Having older teens connect to and mentor younger teens during Shabbat helps in the developmental and engagement processes for both adolescents and children.
Jackie Kindler, a current POWTY Board member and past POWTY Religious Affairs Chair:
“Having Senior POWTY members talk with the younger kids about things they enjoy, while being at a fun themed POWTY Shabbat creates an atmosphere that gives room for kids to get down and deeply explore their religion. I know that being in such an amazing environment has helped me to thrive into the POWTY member that I am, and even learn things from the littler kids.
As a result of the successful implementation of our ALL POWTY Shabbat programs, I introduced JPOW (Junior POWTY) Shabbat programs created specifically for our members in grades 4-6 with “Pump It Up Shabbat”. Thirty of our JPOW members loaded onto a bus and took Shabbat on the road! We spend our Shabbat evening at a local Pump It Up location, before sharing an upbeat, unique Shabbat service and dinner in their party space.
This year, POWTY will be hosting its first ever JPOW Sha-GAGA (Shabbat at Ultimate Gaga!) program, and we plan to make our All POWTY Shabbat for entire group in grades 4-12 even bigger and better than last years.
As I’ve continued to develop our Shabbat programming throughout the past few years, I have been fortunate to see how children and young adults have been meaningfully engaged with Judaism through the program, which has evolved into a central focus of our entire youth engagement program at The Community Synagogue. As our alumni bless me with stories of their continued enjoyment and engagement with Shabbat as reform Jews within our greater community, my inspiration for further innovation and creativity grows.
Moving our monthly Tuesday lounge nights to Friday evening Shabbat programs was a giant risk that has fortunately reaped great rewards for POWTY Youth Programs. Creativity, teamwork, and attentiveness to child and adolescent interests have helped us find ways to make Jewish rituals and observance something our kids enjoy, look forward to, prioritize, and refuse to leave behind. Our POWTY Shabbat program has inspired a new vision for what Jewish youth engagement can look like in our community, and has renewed an excitement for our members’ Jewish futures.
Lindsay Ganci is the Director of Youth Engagement at The Community Synagogue in Port Washington, NY, where she has worked since 2010. She is a recent graduate of the HUC-JIR Certificate in Jewish Education for Adolescents and Emerging Adults, and received her MA in Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She is also a member of the Reform Youth Professionals Association (RYPA).
