Our Movement
NFTY is a movement that builds strong, welcoming, inspired communities through teen-powered engagement. Together, we pursue tikkun olam, personal growth, youth empowerment, and deep connections, all rooted in Reform Judaism.
For over eighty years, NFTY – The Reform Jewish Youth Movement, has offered thousands of young people the opportunity to explore and live Reform Judaism through teen-powered weekends and engaging social justice ventures.
Stemming from a historic tradition of both Jewish and non-Jewish European youth movements, NFTY is the Reform Jewish youth movement that fosters leadership at the North American, regional and congregational level. Today, hundreds of Reform congregations throughout North America sponsor Temple Youth Groups, bringing the NFTY experience to thousands of teens. Through opportunities offered by congregations in the 19 NFTY regions, and on the North American level, NFTYites strive to forge an identity in consonance with the goals and values of Reform Judaism.
NFTY is advised in partnership between teen leaders and adult Jewish youth professionals. NFTY also functions as a youth organization, a program of the Union for Reform Judaism, a ‘snif‘ (branch) of Netzer Olami, the international Reform Zionist youth organization, as well as a partner in the URJ Campaign for Youth Engagement.
Whether functioning as an organization, program, or youth movement, NFTY is a Reform Jewish community for all high school students who are interested in connecting to their Judaism. Teens forge and build friendships, lifelong Reform Jewish identities, and leadership skills through community building, worship, social action, and experiential youth-led Jewish educational programming. Many NFTYites serve as NFTY leaders on the local, TYG, regional, and even North American levels. Many NFTY Leaders continue on to become both lay and professional leaders of the Reform Jewish Movement.
NFTY is Supported by a number of generous organizations and donors. NFTY is able to achieve incredible things thanks to the financial contributions of…
WRJ: Women of Reform Judaism
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago – JUF
Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
…and hundreds of individual donors
Thank you
Our History
NFTY was founded in 1939 as the youth arm of the Union for Reform Judaism. It was created at the urging of the National Federation of Temple Sisterhoods in order to provide an outlet for young people to engage in the life of their synagogues.
Today, NFTY supports the work of hundreds of Temple Youth Groups all across North America, has both regional and multi-regional events hosted at URJ Camps and Powered by NFTY events run by synagogues and supported by NFTY, and has sent tens of thousands of young people to Israel. In the more than eighty years of its existence, NFTY has affected the lives of literally thousands of young American Jews through the programs it runs and the relationships it fosters.
Our Values in Practice
As a part of the Reform Jewish Youth movement, NFTY strives to provide meaningful and engaging experiences. These experiences are inspired by 13 values-based principles, ensuring that our movement’s mission and journey are based on our shared values. Together, these 13 Principles guide us as we create a holistic Jewish environment, allowing NFTY to continuously evolve, and remain a dynamic Jewish Reform Youth movement for years to come.
As a movement, we do our best to welcome participants into the community we shape as teens for teens. We seek to prioritize inclusion in the experiences we offer, upheld by the agreements we make in our shared community covenant – NFTY’s Brit Kehillah.
Listening, acting, and responding are central to our attitude in promoting the wellbeing of fellow teens. While we aim to make our teen spaces one of trust and safety, we will always acknowledge incidents that may make teens feel unsafe or unwelcome. If a teen feels this way at an event, NFTY’s Misconduct Reporting Form is always accessible by a QR code in bathroom stalls and with the link below.
As teens and adults, we understand it is our responsibility to uphold our Brit Kehillah and model exemplary leadership.
Our People North American Teen Leaders
-
Cade Crane (he/him)
President
NFTY -
Natalia Rossen (she/her)
Programming & Partnership Vice President
NFTY -
Violet Jonas (she/her)
Engagement & Recruitment Vice President
NFTY -
Maxwell Zhiss (he/him)
Social Justice Vice President
NFTY -
Aleah Rosenberg (she/her)
Communications Vice President
NFTY -
Josephine Varon (she/her)
Development Vice President
NFTY
-
Chaya Goldstein (she/her)
Programming & Partnership Team Member
NFTY -
Rachel Latman (she/her)
Programming & Partnership Team Member
NFTY -
Jessa Osmus (she/her)
Engagement & Recruitment Team Member
NFTY -
Max Shatzkin (he/him)
Engagement & Recruitment Team Member
NFTY -
Alex Schor (he/him)
Engagement & Recruitment Team Member
NFTY
-
Ezra Bookman (she/her)
Social Justice Team Member
NFTY -
Samantha Spector (she/her)
Social Justice Tam Member
NFTY -
Conrad Butler-Landry (he/him)
Communications Team Member
NFTY
Our People Professional Staff
-
Rachel Margolis, RJE
Director, Teen Engagement
-
Rabbi Isaama Goldstein-Stoll
Director, Teen Leadership and Belonging
-
Dori Singer Zoot
Assistant Director, Teen Leadership & Experiences
-
Kara Weiner
Director of Teen Civic Engagement Experiences
-
Noah Goldstein
Assistant Director of Teen Civic Engagement
-
Israel Harris
Teen Civic Engagement Manager
-
Emma Jaszczak Maszi
Assistant Director of Strategy & Operations
Jewish Life & Leadership
NFTY Ohio Valley Regional Mentor -
Zoe Cole
NFTY-SO Regional Mentor
-
Dani Courtney
NFTY-CWR Regional Mentor
-
Lindsey Fleishman
NFTY-MAR Regional Mentor
-
Matt Ghan
NFTY-SOCAL Regional Mentor
-
Sam Gessman
NFTY-NW Regional Mentor
-
Jessica Kessler
NFTY-GER Regional Mentor
-
Charlie Maloney
NFTY-CAR/NO Regional Mentor
-
Carl Shulman
NFTY-NE Regional Mentor
NETZER OLAMI
Netzer stands for Noar Tzioni Reformi (meaning ‘Reform Zionist Youth’) and is the International Reform Zionist youth movement, home to thousands of young people in a range of countries spread over four continents. Netzer Olami (meaning ‘Worldwide Netzer’) is based in Jerusalem and serves as the headquarters for all of Netzer’s sniffim (branches) around the world.
NFTY is Netzer’s snif in North America. We share common values, and both work to advance Progressive Judaism in our respective areas. Every year, our leadership joins together at Netzer Veida, a leadership summit in Israel. Netzer even runs a gap year program open to NFTYites called Shnat Netzer!
Both NFTY and Netzer believe in youth empowerment and in young people running things for themselves. A central feature of Netzer snifim is that young people organize and run the activities, as well as taking responsibility for the major decisions affecting the movement.
While Netzer’s most recently updated platform contains 14 operatives, the ideology is set forth in three main pillars that help guide chapter programs, including NFTY events.
Progressive Zionism
We are a Reform Zionist Youth movement, who encourage our members to develop a personal relationship with Israel.
Tikkun Olam (Repairing the World)
We strive to be active in our commitment to Tikkun Olam (Repair of the World) on all levels, from self (Tikkun Atzmi) to social action on a range of communal and global issues.
Youth Empowerment
Youth Empowerment is fundamental to the running of our Youth Movement. Camps and programs are organized and run by youth members, for youth members.