Netzer Jewish Youth Movement Shabbaton

Last weekend I went away to a Shabbat leadership retreat for high school students through the Netzer Jewish Youth Movement. I was invited to come and facilitate a lesson after I expressed interest in getting involved. Right away I was met with enthusiasm and I was excited to have a whole weekend to learn and share. When I arrived there were only two other learners, the rest came later on Saturday, so we had a nice time just chatting. I guess an overall theme for this weekend was- don’t plan- because the plans kept changing depending on the number of kids who came and also the timing of things around us. This was a great example for the students because even when you plan, plan, plan a leader must expect that something could go wrong.  We had dinner and played a South African board game called 30 Seconds which is similar to Taboo or Trivial Pursuit. It was really fun to just relax and have a good time.  This was a fast paced, competitive game but even so, we all had a good time playing. I was at a clear disadvantage since most of the terms were based on prior knowledge of South Africa but we still had fun laughing at the mistakes we each made and the funny answers we were giving.

After going to bed really late we woke up and got ready for services.  I was able to lead the first part of the service and I was really happy to have that privilege. It was nice to be trusted with so much even though I was just a visitor and overall I would say that the morning went well.  The service consisted of reflection, personal time, prayer and song. I loved the variety and felt really comfortable in that space. In the afternoon the kids participated in workshops to help them learn more about Netzer and being a leader. I was able to lead a session on diversity and how being able to work in diverse groups is tied to leadership. At first I was challenged by a lot of the kids because I had a different perspective on Judaism and I felt diversity was hugely important. That was a learning opportunity for me as I needed to adapt and adjust what I was saying to please the crowd. It was challenging because I was new to this movement and I was just gathering an understanding of the core values so I was apt to mess up occasionally but the expectations were high and high schoolers are critical so I had to watch my tongue. I found it interesting how many of the students did not feel a strong connection to Judaism and I wondered if I acted similarly when I was in high school with so many other distractions in my life. I think overall this experience was really great! It helped me to learn about Judaism somewhere else, meet new people, and share my perspectives.

 After a week of reflecting I have reached a few conclusions. Firstly, being Jewish my way is perfectly fine and I need to learn to respect and appreciate that. Until now, I never though that there was anything wrong about my Jewish upbringing and I quickly realized that there was no reason I should think there was anything wrong. Everyone experiences Judaism in their own way so who says different means bad or wrong? I am so fortunate to have had a wonderful diverse Jewish life and I'm privileged to be able to share my joy and passion with people in many communities. I can't wait to go back and learn more since this has really prompted some much needed self exploration and evaluation!