Feb. 24: Third time's the charm

My third NFTY Convention experience gave me a very different opportunity than my first two. Seeing behind the curtain at all the work that goes into creating such a memorable moment for almost 1,000 teenagers made me appreciate all the more those who came before me, and those who made my own time in NFTY something that changed my life.

I have never gotten as little sleep as I did this past week. I also have never been so active on my feet. Truly every moment of the event came with some crisis that needed to be handled, some situation that needed to be managed, and some situation that must be kept under control.

I was working with my best friends, which in and of itself isn’t an easy task. It can be so hard to separate the difference between work and play, and as a staff member, we needed to occasionally be reminded of that difference. We also needed to remember that this event was not for us; we had had our NFTY experience, and it was time to put that magic together for those who came after us.

Two major things struck me from my time working with the NFTY convention team. First is an appreciation of my past. I now have an understanding of the litany of individuals who came together to create the incredible Conventions that I attended as a participant, one in Washington D.C. and another in Dallas. The group of people who selflessly gave their time and energy to making my time in NFTY meaningful went thankless for too long, and if they are out there, here is my official thank you. I am pleased to be able to say that I took my own experience and turned it into one that hopefully made something significant for the next generation of NFTYites.

The second thing is that I realized that NFTY is a youth group, but what it precipitates is a whole life of significant involvement. For every teen present, there was an adult who gave something to them. Whether it was official as a Rabbi or Jewish educator or as part-time as a TYG advisor, it is clear that these individuals have an incredible support system of adults. That opportunity is one that is ripe for me to take. I can make this more than just a passion of my youth, but rather a realistic career and a way to continue to make a difference, even after my membership and titles have expired.

A young woman came to speak to the Convention participants on the third day, speaking about her experience as a CEO of her own company. She had started it when she was 7. Now, at 18, she is continuing her work, doing something that she is passionate about, and making a significant difference to the world, despite her lack of age. This was huge for me. I was incredibly struck by several things that she shared.  First and foremost of them is her resourcefulness. None of the things that this girl did were outside of the realm of possibility for a young child. It was when she took the initiative to string these things together that she made a huge difference for herself and for her world. That means that we, as people, don’t need to hit a certain age to make a difference; we just need to be paying attention to the opportunities that come our way.

Youth doesn’t need to be a handicap. Instead, it should be an opportunity to look at the world from a different perspective than the adults around us. I’m quickly losing my ability to identify too strongly with “youth,” but I refuse to stop looking at the world with the wide-eyed excitement of a NFTYite.