Hagigah is an exciting new event for Jewish 8-12th graders to celebrate and explore Judaism through songleading, social justice, and creative arts. Pick one of these three tracks to dive into on Saturday, spend Shabbat together, and meet teens from across the Northeast!

Hagigah is for any Jewish 8-12th grader interested in attending. This event is is powered by NFTY and supported by the regional teens leaders from NFTY-GER and NFTY-PAR, but it is open to all teens, regardless of where they are from and whether they have been to NFTY/URJ programs in the past! If you’re interested in songleading, social justice, or creative arts, this event is especially for you to meet other Jewish teens with the same passions!

As part of the registration for Hagigah, you will select one of three tracks. Please email nftyger@urj.org if you wish to change your track before the event. We may not be able to accept changes later than November 18th. 

Songleading Training

Aspiring and seasoned songleaders alike are invited to participate in Hagigah’s songleading training track. The Songleading track is sponsored by Sing Unto God, and taught by one of their expert songleading staff. In addition to learning technique and repertoire, and songleading during the event, participants in the track will have the option of continuing on through the rest of the year in SUG’s Teen Songleader Fellowship, meeting with other songleading teens, songleading in home communities, and receiving ongoing mentorship from songleaders in the field. 

Social Justice

Passionate about building a better world? Join Hagigah’s social justice track, in partnership with the Religious Action Centers of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, to explore issues you’re passionate about, volunteer in the Philadelphia community, and learn how to advocate with your Newish values, even after the event is over. 

Creative Arts

If you love music, dance, visual arts, or just being creative, participate in Hagigah’s creative arts track. In partnership with Six Points Creative Arts Academy, this track will be an opportunity explore your Judaism through the arts and share your creations and creativity with our whole community!

Buses will begin arriving for Hagigah at 4:30 on Friday. We will have mixer programs to get to know each other and catch up with old friends, celebrate Shabbat, and begin our track programming that evening.

Saturday morning and afternoon is the main “tracked” portion of the program. Host families will treat participants to dinner on Saturday night and then bring everyone back together for Big Fun (a big social program to be announced later) and havdalah before ending the night.

On Sunday, each track will have opportunities to showcase what they’ve spend the weekend working on to the rest of the participants before we head back home at 11:30!

Hagigah is hosted primarily by Congregation Rodeph Shalom in Philadelphia with support from congregations in the greater Philly area. There will be buses provided from locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the DMV. More information will be provided during the registration process and closer to the event. If you choose to travel by train, we will have designated volunteers to help transport participants to and from the train station in Philadelphia. If you choose to arrive by plane, we are unable to accommodate transportation from any of the region’s airports. You must either secure your own transportation from airport, directly to the event or to one of the bus stops. You may also take a train directly from either Philadelphia Airport or Newark Airport to the Philadelphia train station where our volunteers can assist you from there.

Participants may not drive themselves to or from the event.

Registration closes on November 18th to allow us enough time to process our housing system. Register early to guarantee a spot!

The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) has implemented a tiered pricing system for its events to ensure that financial barriers do not prevent participation. The cost to fully run this program is $525, and participants are welcome to register at any of the price points listed below.

• Participant: $375
• Patron: $450
• Benefactor: $525

Limited scholarship funds are available for this event, and those interested in learning more should contact nftyger@urj.org with the subject line “Scholarship for Hagigah” prior to registering. All scholarship must be processed BEFORE registration is complete, so please consider inquiring early

By registering at the higher price points, participants can help expand the reach of the URJ and enable the organization to serve all who wish to participate.

Additonally, teens are welcome to sign up to join us just for Friday night. This Friday night program has a cost of $36.

All participants will be housed at volunteer host homes. Some hosts may be parents of participants while others are community members excited to support the event. Each host home will have between 3-8 participants and each family will have all of the instructions they need about when participants need to be where, and how many meals they have to provide and whether their guests have any dietary restrictions. Participants will be able to request up to two friends with whom they would like to be housed. We cannot guarantee you will be housed accordingly, but we will try our very best!

Our housing system is separated by gender except where participants request non-gendered housing in reflection of their gender identities. Our comprehensive housing request page in the Hagigah registration will help most participants navigate this type of housing accommodation as needed, but please reach out to nftyger@urj.org with any additional questions or information regarding housing accommodations.

All participants must be housed as part of our program’s housing system. If you have friends or family in the Philly area with whom you would like to stay and they are Jewish, encourage them to participate in Hagigah or become a host family. Participants may not stay at homes that are not part of the Hagigah program.

Thanks for asking! There are a few ways people can support Hagigah. If you live in the greater Philly area and are interested in hosting 3-8 teens for two nights, we are looking for host families! More information will be coming soon, but you can email nftyger@urj.org in the meantime to express your interest!

You can also donate to help support regional scholarship funds that help teens participate in events like Hagigah. NFTY-GER, NFTY-PAR, NFTY-MAR.

If you are an alum, synagogue staff member, or parent in the Greater Philly area and are interested in volunteering your time, including helping with transportation or providing supervision during the program, please email nftyger@urj.org!