DRS ‘JUMPED’ over all its competition

Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva High School for Boys in Woodmere competed in the final five of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth’s annual JUMP (Jewish Mentoring Program) national leadership competition and captured first place in a contest that included 18 schools.

Students from schools throughout the United States and Canada learn to make positive changes in their communities while broadening their understanding of local and global issues facing the Jewish people today. The five finalist schools presented their projects to a panel of distinguished judges in a “Shark Tank”-style boardroom.

The themes for this year’s NCSY JUMP competition were synagogue engagement, prayer and outreach. Participating teams spent months developing and implementing innovative programs to address two of the three issues. The four other finalists that presented their projects in the Orthodox Union boardroom final competition, were The Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls, Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, Hebrew Academy of Montreal and Midreshet Shalhevet High School for Girls.

DRS’s winning programs included the creation of engaging and educational newsletters and videos about prayer, shared within their school as well as more than 40 local synagogues. Students devised an outreach initiative to facilitate opportunities to connect with local public school teens and talk about Judaism from a teen perspective. The team also created “Chag in a Box,” an outreach program in which unaffiliated Jews are given supplies to celebrate Jewish holidays. For Passover, DRS partnered with Russian American Jewish Experience, a charity that helps unaffiliated Russian Jews, to distribute more than 100 bags in Brooklyn. DRS raised more than $3,000 for these programs.

NCSY, the international youth movement of the Orthodox Union, is dedicated to connecting, inspiring and empowering Jewish teens and encouraging passionate Judaism through Torah and tradition. For more information, visit www.ncsy.org.

Founded in 1898, the Orthodox Union serves as the voice of American Orthodox Jewry, with over 400 congregations in its synagogue network. As the umbrella organization for American Orthodox Jewry, the OU is at the forefront of advocacy work on both state and federal levels. For more information, go to www.ou.org.

—Jeffrey Bessen