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NFTY NAR: A Region That Stole My Heart
I didn’t expect to become so engulfed in my college community. But as the weekend drew near, and with it, a NFTY New York Area (NAR) event, I began to dread leaving my new home at college.
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Teen-Adult Partnership: Stronger Together
Outside of NFTY, relationships between adults and teens can be rather one-sided. Whether it’s in politics, school, or extracurriculars, we often see adult leaders with the authority over their teen counterparts.
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Finding Differences and Similarities at the AIPAC High School Summit
In October, I attended the AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) High School Summit to represent NFTY along with other leaders from around North America. Before attending the High School Summit, I didn’t know exactly what it would entail.
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How Growing Up Jewish in the Bible Belt Helped Me Find my Faith
I live in a very small town in west Tennessee, right in the middle of the Bible-Belt region of the United States. Growing up as the only Jewish kid for miles around definitely had its fair share of challenges.
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NFTY TOR: Big State, Louder Voices
Everything really is bigger in Texas: the Whataburger drinks, the spiders, the attitudes, the campfires (one of which literally lit up the sky Saturday night), the weather, the list I made after visiting NFTY TOR (Texas Oklahoma Region).
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NFTY SAR: The Place I Needed to Be
This past weekend, NFTY SAR (Southern Area Region) welcomed me into their community with open arms. Following the Pittsburgh shooting, I was scared.
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Be Inspired! Reform Jewish Teens Take Action
URJ congregations, camps, and NFTY programs offer a safe and familiar environment in which to explore Reform Jewish values. Living those values in the world is more challenging, and requires courage, perseverance, and resilience in the face of setbacks and disappointment.
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How I’m Taking Action After Pittsburgh (Even Though I’m Not Old Enough to Vote)
I believe that we are Stronger than Hate. If you do, too, and want to wear a necklace like the ones my friends and my communities are wearing, I hope you’ll order one and join me in channeling passion into action.
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Discovering the Power of Love in NFTY Central West Region
The “region of love” welcomed me warmly this weekend at their first event of the year, C-Dub Smash. NFTY CWR, for those who are unaware, is in their second year away from home, following the Bay Area fires that destroyed Camp Newman’s physical property last year.
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Now is the time to show up, together.
As members of NFTY, we know so personally what it means to grow up in a synagogue. We’ve sung Oseh Shalom on a Friday night, swaying back and forth with our arms around new friends; we’ve danced at late-night Saturday night socials in temple social halls; we’ve slept curled up in sleeping bags at youth group shul-ins; we’ve read the Torah for the first time with shaky knees and wobbly voices at our home congregations.
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