Becca Fetterman (centre) on RSY-Netzer camp in the 1990s
Being involved in a Jewish youth movement was the best thing I have ever done (don’t tell my husband).
From the age of 16, as an RSY-Netzer youth worker, I was already responsible for educating other children. I had to think about what I wanted them to learn and what I thought they should be questioning.
When I was 21, together with my best friend, we ran a camp. We spent so much time working out how to create a community for 100+ teenagers and how to inspire them.
In doing this, I took ownership of my Judaism in a way that I hadn’t done anywhere else in my life. By the time I got to university, I had already learned how to build community, lead services and really thought through my personal beliefs.
These are just some of the gifts that growing up in a peer-led ideological youth movement gave me.
At every interview and throughout every job I have had, I have drawn on these experiences and responsibilities, but most importantly I am still best friends with all my camp crew.
Now, as an adult, having the opportunity to support youth movements once again is an absolute privilege.
Last year’s LJY-Netzer Kadimah summer camp
I see how tough life is for young people, with growing mental health needs and the pressures of social media. I also see how the school and university holidays can leave many without the routine, connection and sense of belonging they need.
This is why youth movements matter more than ever.
Summer camp offers two weeks away from social media, in a welcoming environment designed to build self-esteem and a community where participants can talk openly and respectfully about the difficult things in life.
It is a powerful thing when young people show us how to accept different opinions, have respectful conversations across differences and challenge prejudice that wasn’t understood when I was a child.
Camps are a safe Jewish space when young people can feel relaxed to be openly and proudly Jewish. They are infused with Jewish education, prayer services and Shabbat activities. They inspire a curiosity and pride in Judaism. And of course, youth movements now, as always, are leading the community in Tikkun Olam, making the world a better place.
Within the last year, two participants in youth movements embodied this pride and the value of youth empowerment through their actions.
A child in foster care planned and ran a session for every age group on LJY-Netzer’s summer camp to raise awareness of the foster care system. Another young person has led a national campaign and petition to have antisemitism education included in the curriculum of all schools, appearing on the national news to highlight the issue.
These are just two recent examples of the incredible things that our youth community achieves.
Camp has given them the confidence, knowledge, inspiration and sense of empowerment to take those values into the wider world.
It is moments like these that inspire me to keep doing my job.
- Becca Fetterman is Director of Youth for The Movement for Progressive Judaism. This article also runs in The Jewish News.