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  1. The model to beat all models for the kind of Jewish youth empowerment that Maya envisions is, ironically, the one currently heading toward it’s 80th birthday but still energized by the 9-23 year olds who are in charge today. The Habonim Dror Labor Zionist youth movement provides its young chevre with every sort of youth leadership opportunity that Maya talks about and so much more. I don’t have the history of Habonim in Parkchester at my fingertips, but I’ve heard stories about Habonim Dror in the real Bronx, and Brooklyn, and Detroit, and LA and Philly, and Chicago and Cincinnati, and Winnipeg, and Montreal…and…and…and… You can visit the HDNA website (www.habonimdror.org) to glimpse this Jewish leadership development dynamo still humming along. Or their Facebook site.

    Know what the problem is though? Habonim Dror is truly an autonomous youth movement led by youth – running 7 summer camps, 3 Israel programs, year-round activities in 25 North American metro areas, etc. and part of a worldwide network of such organizations all tied to Israel’s “Zionists-of-the-future” youth Movement, Hanoar Ha’oved. But I just don’t know if the American Jewish community has the cahones to empower youth anymore the way Habonim Dror’s support community empowers each succeeding Habonim Dror generation. 50 year-old Jewish professionals planning and running programs “for” pre-Bar Mitzvah youth and families just isn’t the same leadership assembly-line system as a youth Movement where literally everything is done by the youth themselves – including making mistakes and learning from them.

    Transparency disclosure: I’ve been part of the Habonim Dror support system ever since my children (thankfully) began their Habonim Dror careers in the 1980’s, and I currently remain active in that support community. Any Jewish innovator convinced that empowering youth is a sure route to the sustainable regeneration of North American Jewish life would do well to “give a call” and learn more about the tried and tested Habonim Dror youth leadership continuity model that shows no signs of old age, even after 80 years of operating at full speed. Who knows? Maybe there are a few courageous funders out there willing to nourish newly sprouted cells of truly autonomous Jewish youth leaders, even today.

  2. Nachon me’od, Chaver Steve! I can vouch for the tremendous empowerment and Jewish identity that my children have received at Habonim Dror Camp Na’aleh.

    Maya, I think the power of our parents’ Jewish communities (Bronx Park South on my Mom’s side) is that they believed they had no choice but to be Jewish. Today effective programs like Habonim Dror, and those that you suggest, teach that you have to be Jewish, but you can be Jewish in many different ways. That’s the sauce, and personally I like tomato. 🙂