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 The NFTY logo | |
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| Abbreviation | NFTY |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1939 |
| Type | Youth Organization |
| Purpose | Religious |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Location |
|
Region served | North America |
| Membership | 8,500 |
President | Lillian Spratt |
Parent organization | Union for Reform Judaism |
| Affiliations | Reform JudaismNetzer Olami (snif) |
| Website | nfty |
The North American Federation for Temple Youth orNFTY, formerly known as theNational Federation for Temple Youth, is an organizedyouth movement ofReform Judaism inNorth America (also known as The Reform Jewish Youth Movement). Funded and supported by theUnion for Reform Judaism (URJ), NFTY supplements Reform youth groups at the synagogue level.
Founded on January 15, 1939, by theUnion of American Hebrew Congregations (now called theUnion for Reform Judaism), the then-titled National Federation of Temple Youth was a program to encourage college students to engage in synagogue life.[1] NFTY was originally focused in just three regions - New York City, Chicago, andPennsylvania, but it soon expanded to all areas of the UAHC.[2] The first national officers were Richard Bluestein (president), Bernard Sang (first vice-president), Lewis Held (second vice-president), Daniel Miller (third vice-president), and Lenore Cohn (secretary.) The executive committee of NFTY met in June 1939 in New York and discussed college activities, publications and social justice, while also confirming cooperation with theUAHC as an affiliate and to cooperate with theNational Conference for Community and Justice in interfaith work.[3]
Rabbi Sam Cook organized one of the first regional Labor DayConclaves of theUnion of American Hebrew Congregations (UAHC) Pennsylvania State Federation, held atPinemere Camp in 1939.[4] The February 1940 convention in Chicago featured former President Herbert Hoover as keynote speaker.[5] National conventions continued every two years until 1948 and the organization began to focus onHigh School aged students.
In the 1950s, NFTY began to focus onsocial action andmitzvah themes. Local, regional, and national social action efforts were commonplace on issues ranging from the releases ofRussian Jews to the fight against poverty to hunger. Mitzvah Corps groups were established in many regions.
In 1952, NFTY beganJewish summer camping in the newly purchased facility inOconomowoc, Wisconsin, later called the Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute Camp (or OSRUI). In 1964, theKutz Camp inWarwick, New York, became NFTY's North American leadership camp and the site of North American board meetings.[6] The successfulJewish camping movement expanded under the UAHC/URJ and NFTY to Jewish camps around the United States.[7]
In 1961, NFTY began Israel programming with the URJ Heller High School[8] (formerlyEisendrath International Exchange) semester in Israel. NFTY summer trips to Israel, often attended between sophomore and junior years of high school have been attended by thousands of Reform Jewish teenagers. Trips toEurope, mitzvah trips to locations such asPuerto Rico andMexico, andarchaeological digs have also been sponsored by NFTY in recent decades.
From 1962 to 1965, NFTY focused on innovation in international programming. The NFTY Summer Antiquities Tour brought NFTYites to see the sights and meet the Jewish youth of Europe and Israel. The NFTY Bible Institute provided a thorough touring experience in Israel. Mitzvah Corps programs sprung up in Puerto Rico, Israel, and Mexico, as well as in New York and Chicago. Today, almost every NFTY Region has a Mitzvah Corps Program.
In 1965, NFTY acquired a new summer address: its own national camp—the URJ Kutz Camp in Warwick, NY. Beginning that summer, Kutz became the site for NFTY's Leadership Institutes, Board Meetings, and other national programs. It continues to be the headquarters for NFTY Leadership Training.
In 1983, NFTY reintroduced theNFTY Convention in Washington, D.C. Every other year onPresident's Day weekend, hundreds to thousands of Reform Jewish teenagers gather for study, prayer, music, and socializing in a major North American city. A youth advisor's professional training conference was added to run concurrently in 1999 with a youth clergy track added in 2001. Convention typically alternates between the East and West coast.
In the late 1980s at Mechina, a leadership training and policy setting gathering of the NFTY General Board, NFTY officially recognized itself as a North American movement, in response to a growing and influential Canadian population.
In February 2005, the biennialNFTY Convention inLos Angeles formalized NFTY’s role as the North American branch ofNetzer Olami, the global Progressive Zionist youth movement.[9][10]
In 2020, the URJ sold the property that Kutz Camp operated on to the town of Warwick, New York.[11]
In 2014, about 750 local youth groups were affiliated, representing over 8,500 members.[12][13]
Past NFTY members and leadership[14] can be found as numerousrabbis,cantors, educators,social workers, synagogue leaders, and active Reform Jews across the world.
Throughout the 2014–2015 NFTY year, the Regional Presidents Network drafted a new mission statement to reflect the cohesive values, aspirations, and goals of the North American Federation of Temple Youth. This mission statement was formally adopted by the NFTY Board, General Board, and adult leadership after being presented at the 2015 NFTY Convention in Atlanta. The mission statement reads as follows:
NFTY is divided into three levels:[15] Temple Youth Group (TYG), Regional, and North American. At each level, authority is divided between elected youth boards and supervisors employed by the URJ or local synagogue. Boards vary widely between youth groups and regions, but typically include positions such as: President, Programming Vice-President, Social Action Vice-President, Religious & Cultural Vice-President, Membership Vice-President, Communications Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary.
TYGs, or Temple Youth Groups, are individual youth groups affiliated with Reform congregations and are the foundation of NFTY. TYGs are youth-run and offer participants educational, social, action, and religious programs. Most TYGs have a youth group board and an adult advisor appointed by the congregation. The youth group advisor or director is sometimes a volunteer in the congregation, a parent, a part-time staff person, or, in a small, but increasing number of synagogues, a full-time position. While the board structure is at the direction of each group, most are modeled after the regional or North American board.[citation needed]
NFTY is divided into nineteen regions[16] which hold events to bring together different TYGs based on geographical distribution. For example, NFTY-STR (Southern Tropical Region), the most populous region,[17] includes around 30 TYGs and over 600 members.
Relations between regions range from friendly "rivalry" to "alliance" and are subject to combinations and divisions that occur due to membership fluctuation. For example:
As of 2004[update] regions are:
The NFTY board[19][20] is elected each year to establish general policy and themes for the organization as a whole, as well as lead the various leadership networks. The board members are typically recent high school graduates, although there are occasional exceptions to this trend.
In 2021, an article by New Voices investigated how safe participants in US Jewish youth groups, including NFTY, were from sexual harassment and assault.[21] Lev Mosbacher, president of NFTY at the time, issued a statementNFTY Remains Committed To Creating A Safe and Accepting Community describing past and ongoing work by NFTY to enhance youth safety from sexual harassment and violence. The statement referred to a 2017Resolution Affirming NFTY's Stance on Preventing Sexual Violence.
