For me, the march meant taking inspiration from Shabbat services, joining hands with my friends from NFTY, and marching in a rejection of hate. A month later, I’m reflecting on the act of showing up and what it means for our youth engagement work.

In the early 1980s, I was a camper in the UAHC (now URJ) Camp Swig Hevrah unit. In addition to the usual fun camp activities, this particular unit at camp focused on social justice. Our theme that summer was Soviet Jewry, and during our three weeks we learned the ins and outs of the issues, heard stories about Soviet Jews, and explored what we could do to make a difference. During the last few days of the session, we traveled to San Francisco to march in solidarity with Soviet Jews, equipped with “Save Soviet Jewry” banners and t-shirts, ready to perform, sing, and make our voices heard.

What a year it’s been. With 2017 fast-approaching, we’ve rounded up the top 18 Reform Movement stories of 2016, listed in no particular order. Happy new year!

A week before school started, one congregation found itself in need of a third teacher for its 8^th and 9^th grade program. Here are five factors that contributed to the surge in enrollment. 

At Congregation Or Ami, in Calabasas, CA, our kids leave the High Holiday children’s services kvelling. In fact, their parents often need to pry them away from hugging the teenage service leaders who shower them with love and Jewish teachings.

A few months ago, writer David Brooks penned an op-ed in The New York Times entitled Making Modern Toughness.

These nine guiding principles to engage youth were developed by numerous congregations and synagogue professionals in our collaborative work with them. We share them with congregations and use them to inform our own ongoing efforts to develop new camps and year-round programming.

The summit, happening February 17-20 in Chicago, IL, is a gathering of a community of adults who are professionally invested in the future of our Reform Jewish youth. Read through these five reasons your team needs to attend - and then get registered. We can't wait to see you there!

Over the summer, I had the good fortune to serve on the faculty of Kfar Noar, URJ Camp Harlam’s unit of rising ninth graders. One of my responsibilities was to join the campers on their trip to New York City, where we attended Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway.