YFTI is back and BETTER THAN EVER
YFTI is our fantastic high school youth group. Typical programming includes local, national, and international trips, weekend retreats, social action opportunities, social events, and more – all designed BY and made FOR teens in 9th-12th grade. While these activities are teen-driven, teens are guided and supervised by Rabbi Jen Lader and Ross Klar.
2023-24 Calendar
*all events are weather dependent.
August
8/31: The Spark: YFTI Board Leadership Retreat
September
9/4: Labor Day Picnic
9/11: YFTI Lounge Night/ROOTS Kickoff
9/25: YFTI-led Yom Kippur Service
October
10/15: YFTI Kickoff -Cedar Point
10/27–10/29: Fall Retreat
November
11/5: Mitzvah Day
11/18: Havdalah with Spike
December
12/2: BBYO - RC 2023 Talent Show
12/11: JARC Chanukah Party
January
1/13: Mystery Night
February
2/9–2/11: Ski Trip
2/26: YFTI/ROOTS Hello Hibachi
March
3/17: Purim Carnival
April
4/8: YFTI Elections
4/15: YFTI/ROOTS End of Year Bash
May
5/3–5/5: YFTI City Trip
5/17: YFTI Installations & Shabbat Dinner
June/july
Teen Mission to Israel
June/July
Resources
Jewish Youth Climate Movement
We are excited to announce the start of a very important kvutzah (group) at Temple Israel. The Jewish Youth Climate Movement Task Force is a program for teens who are passionate about climate change and the environment. The JYCM is dedicated to mitigating climate change by empowering young people, mobilizing our communities and taking action.Update this content.
The Jewish Youth Climate Movement Initiative has been created to:
We are a group of Jewish teens interested in positively impacting the Detroit Jewish community through activism around environmental issues. We are rooted in the famous Jewish story about an old man named Honi who planted trees in his old age. He explains: “I found a fruitful world because my ancestors planted it for me. Likewise, I am planting it for my children.”
While we are a group of Jewish teenagers, the projects we will participate in and support are intended to move the needle for ALL ages, religions, and other diverse groups of people.
We have a mission to inform and influence our community so that our environmental future will be secure. It is important to make sure others are aware of the challenges so that we can share our world with future generations.
Our goal is to simply make a difference. While many of our projects might be time sensitive, our full intention is to better the world incrementally. Over the next year, we plan to engage more than 1000 people in our mission. In this way we participate in the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam -- Repairing the world over time.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Josh, Rachel Kestenberg and your teen leaders: Claire Spektor, Max Barish, Dylan Wolf, Jaymie Miller, Nolen Kovan
Sponsor a Monday Night Dinner
Dear Temple Israel teens, parents, grandparents, friends, family and alumni!
We are so excited to welcome our teens home after an incredibly challenging year, to connect and learn, to process, and to grow into the incredible humans we know they are! To support our youth department in this year of rebuilding, and to celebrate our resilient and amazing teens, we are kicking off a BRAND NEW sponsorship program for Monday night dinners.
Each Monday up to 2 families or supporters can sponsor dinner with a donation of $180 each, in honor of a specific teen, alumni, or loved one. Both the sponsor and the honoree will be featured on the Temple Israel Instagram and Facebook pages.
You pick the day and the meal (does your teen have a favorite?!) and we do the rest! We appreciate your generosity and love as we work hard to give our teens a welcoming, safe, identity-building space to be themselves.
