Jun 1, 2007
This podcast is
Temple Emanuel Podcast #5, an interview with Associate Rabbi Geri
Newburge about the Temple Emanuel Youth Alternative Weekend
program, which took place last November. Last November, Temple
Emanuel young people spend the weekend of the annual teacher's
convention on an alternative retreat in Baltimore that combined
social, spiritual, and community action activities. In April, the
program won the Irving J. Fain Award from the Religious Action Center
of the Union for Reform Judaism. Rabbi Geri Newburge, our
associate rabbi, accepted the Award RAC's Consultation on
Conscience program in Washington. The award is named in honor of
the late Irving J. Fain, who was Chair of the Commission on Social
Action of Reform Judaism for more than a decade. In its citation,
the Reform Action Center said "Temple Emanuel’s youth program is
modeled after the college Alternative Spring Break. Held in
November when schools were closed for an annual teachers’
convention, Temple Emanuel exposed students to the effects of
poverty through a volunteer program in Baltimore, MD. Participants
volunteered in three agencies including a soup kitchen, a food bank
and a transitional homeless shelter. After returning, they
dedicated themselves to educating others in the congregation about
the shared responsibility to work for social and economic justice."
In this podcast, Rabbi Newburge discusses the program and the
award, and the challenges of developing compelling program for
Jewish young people. Download the podcast file here (17.2 mb stereo MP3 file,
00:12:17 length).