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 our part time Youth Group Advisor (Shoshie Akren). 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.
ManhaTI (9th-12th Grade 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 on a Thursday for our regular Youth Groups, but also offer special events throughout the year. Students are encouraged to participate in multiple NFTY’s New York region events several times a year.
ESTI (7th/8th Grade Youth Group)
Our newly-named Youth Group (Eights and Sevens Temple Israel) is especially for the 7th and 8th grade. 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 religious school – both are equally valuable! We hope that ESTI will lead to future leadership roles in our senior youth group, ManhaTI!
The 56ers (5th/6th Grade Youth Group)
Our 5th and 6th grade, which is run by our Youth Group Advisor Shoshie Askren and our Youth Director Danielle Black, 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 our Sukkot Sleep-out event where we have a fantastic night of activities, as well as sleeping outside in the Sukkah!
TIY Drop-in (Religious School age) **NEW**
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 (8th-12th Grades) **NEW**
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 (4th-6th Grades) **NEW**
New to our Temple Israel Youth repetoire, we are introducing an informal, improvisation-based drama group. Please check out the Temple Israel calendar for the dates of our workshops that will be on Monday after Religious School for 4th-6th Graders. 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.
May Events
ManhaTI vs. 8th Grade Bowling
8th-12th Grades
Thursday May 24th
5:45pm-8:00pm
Youth Board Voting Picnic
8th-12th Grades
Wednesday May 30th
5:00pm-6:00pm