Jewish Teens Meet in LA for NFTY Convention 2013

On the weekend of Feb. 15, 2013, a group of 850 Jewish teenagers congregated in Los Angeles, CA for North American Federation for Temple Youth’s Convention (NFTY).  This biannual event attracts teenagers from all of North America to learn leadership skills, explore their religious identity, sing, and make a change.  A major part of NFTY Convention is empowering young people to advocate for causes they care about.

“My favorite day of convention was the off-site day because we got to explore LA, and my off-site service project was really cool,” said senior Miranda Siler, who is the Religious and Cultural Vice President of Missouri Valley, the Midwest region.

On the third day of Convention, the whole group ate lunch at the beach then broke up into smaller groups to do an off-site project.  Groups visited organizations that help a large variety of causes like preventing genocide, world hunger, and violence.  Siler worked on a project called Hope Chronicles.

“Hope Chronicles is an organization that asks people what their hopes are and express [those hopes] in an art project,” said Siler. “We painted rocks for a hope garden.”

After the off-site project, the entire group met at Universal Studios.  They went on a private Studio Back-lot tour to see the outdoor sets of famous movies and TV shows.  As the park closed to the general public, convention participants moved to an area of a park reserved for them, where they could ride roller coasters, eat dinner, and dance to music provided by a DJ.

A big part of NFTY Convention is music.  THere were concerts by popular Jewish musicians such as Dan Nichols and Alan Goodis.  Participants also got involved by song-leading, entering song-writing contests, and singing along at concerts and song sessions.

“There were a lot of great opportunities for songer leaders.  You could pariticipate as much as you wanted,” said Siler.

English teacher Melissa Pomerantz’s son, Benjamin, is a member of NFTY in Shaare Emeth Temple Youth Group.

“I think [NFTY] widens his group of friends ands gives him a chance to learn more responsibility and meet kids from around the country,” said Pomerantz.

Written by Molly Thal – Centerspread Editor