Picture this: a world where the voices that guide, educate, and inspire our synagogues start to disappear. This isn't some far-off hypothetical scenario—it's the real deal facing Jewish communities all across the US. We've got a serious shortage of rabbinic, cantorial, and Jewish educator candidates, but hardly anyone is talking about it. At least, not out in the open.
Sadly, these professional shortages have a parallel in our established Progressive youth groups, both NFTY and USY. For the past decade or more, these key youth organizations have been struggling. Yes, COVID sped up the decline of NFTY and USY, but many of us could see that our Movement youth orgs were having real struggles long before that. Truth is, BBYO, the competition, has been crushing it for decades now. And the decline in NFTY and USY has had a terrible effect on our recruitment efforts in the rabbinic, cantorial, and educator spaces. It's a decline in engagement that's straight up impacting our pipeline of future Jewish leaders.
But BBYO could definitely be an asset to the greater Jewish Community as we develop a roadmap for serious engagement in these professional paths.
It could include mentorship programs, leadership development opportunities, and exposure to the wide range of career paths in Jewish communal service. It could include real partnerships with The Rabbinical Assembly, Hebrew Union College, Hebrew College, and other programs that make sense. By identifying and nurturing these talented young people early on, BBYO can help ensure a steady flow of committed, skilled professionals into our community's leadership roles.
Why should we care? Because these leaders are the heart and soul of our communities. They're not just job titles. They're the ones who carry our culture, our traditions, and our spirituality forward. They shape the minds and souls of our next generation. If their numbers keep dwindling, we're looking at a potential crisis in keeping our Jewish communities vibrant and resilient.
(Would it be easier, and sometimes nicer, to run the synagogue with just executive directors? Sure it would :). But the reality is that we need them just like they need us. And today, it is easier to find a good, quality executive director than it is to find some of the other professionals.)
But here's the thing—we're not talking about solutions nearly enough. It's time to move beyond just acknowledging the problem and start actively looking for answers.
How can we breathe new life into these professions? What kind of innovative strategies can we use to attract and keep the next generation of Jewish leaders?
The answer is out here, but we need to bring the conversation out into the open. We need to come together and start an honest dialogue. We need to create spaces for discussion, pour resources into engaging our youth, and reimagine what the path to leadership in the Jewish community looks like.
We can't afford to wait until the silence becomes irreversible. It's time to speak up, get involved, and take action.
#JewishLeadership #YouthEngagement #CommunityResilience #InnovativeSolutions #TimeForAction
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