Temple Israel Youth
646.292.9476
Danielle Black
dblack to templeisraelnyc period org
Our Youth Groups
Temple Israel has an active and vibrant Youth Department staffed by our full time Youth Director (Danielle Black) and two part time Youth Group Advisors. As well as regular Youth Group meetings, we also offer a range of special events during the year which focus on Jewish culture, informal education and social interaction. We also offer trips both national AND international throughout out the year for Grades 7-12 in conjunction with our NEW program The Academy. These are opportunities truly not to be missed!
ManhaTI (Grade 9-12 Youth Group)
Comprised of students in grades 9-12, ManhaTI is part of a larger community of Reform Jewish youth groups across North America. As a member of NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth), we work to create programs throughout the year to engage students in Jewish learning. Events range from social activities such as ice skating and the famous Iron Chef competition night, to more serious and social actions based events like making sandwiches for local food pantries and midnight runs. It is a self-governed board, made up of elected student board members. We meet once a month for our regular Youth Groups, but also offer special events throughout the year including trips to Washington DC with The Religious Action Center, a Civil Rights Tour to the South and a trip to Europe! Students are encouraged to participate in multiple NFTY’s New York region events several times a year.
ESTI (Grade 7-8 Youth Group)
Our unusually-named Youth Group (Eights and Sevens Temple Israel) is especially for Grades 7 and 8. Our Youth group meetings are fun, informal and focus on offering a Jewish social experience. Special events occur throughout the year and our regular Thursday meet-ups partner the teenager’s formal education track within the Junior Academy – both are equally valuable! We hope that ESTI will lead to future leadership roles in our senior youth group, ManhaTI!
The 56ers (Grade 5-6 Youth Group)
Our Youth Group for Grades 5 and 6 which is run by our two fantastic Youth Advisors Matt Lerner (mlerner@tinyc.org) and Sara Stupay (sstupay@tinyc.org), has a friendly, unintimidating atmosphere and is a perfect introduction into Jewish youth groups. We generally meet once a month on Sunday or on Mondays after Religious school. We also have a Sleep-out event where we have a fantastic night of activities, as well as sleeping over in the Temple!
TIY Drop-in (Religious School age)
Hang out before Religious School: come to the TIY Drop-in in the Youth Lounge! (Room 63). Nintendo Wii, board games and time with friends, all fully supervised. Quiet homework rooms available during this time on the 5th floor. Our Drop-in will be available on all days that Religious School meets, Monday - Wednesday, for all ages.
TIY Tech Team (Grade 8-12)
Are you good with technology, computers and graphics? Are you a whiz with Photoshop or editing software? Are you an expert with social networking sites and programming? We are looking for a small team of 8th-12th Graders to form an elite group for the TIY Tech Team. This group will help tech Youth Group events, troubleshoot, help make branding and posters, and generally be a technological forum for Temple Israel Youth. Training opportunities, good fun, great for the resume/portfolio and very few meetings - we will keep in touch using whichever method of communication suits your life best.
DramaTIc (Grade 4-6 Drama Club)
After a successful pilot year, our improvisation-based drama club will be returning to Temple Israel. Please check out the Temple Israel calendar for the dates of our workshops that will be on Monday after Religious School for Grades 4-6. No drama experience necessary! The participants will learn theatrical skills, gain confidence and have fun! The workshops will be led by Danielle Black (Youth Director) who majored in Drama at college and has extensive experience in teaching drama, directing and scripting children's theater.