Dear Parents,

I hope that you and your teens are having a fun-filled and safe summer vacation.  TeSTY, the Temple Sinai youth group is getting ready for the next school year.  On this website you will find information and the web address to register for NFTY-TOR Summer Kallah.  Since this is the first event of the year, and the process for registering has changed, I am posting this additional information.  In the future the registration link will be emailed to you. I hope that your teen will consider joining us for this amazing weekend!

For almost seventy years, the North American Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY) has offered thousands of young people the opportunity to explore and live Reform Judaism. Today, over 450 Reform congregations throughout North America sponsor Temple Youth Groups (TYGs), bringing the NFTY experience to more than 10,000 high school-age young people in grades 9 thru 12.  Through involvement opportunities offered by congregations, our 19 NFTY regions, and on the North American level, NFTYites strive to forge an identity in consonance with the goals and values of Reform Judaism.

Whether functioning as an organization, program, or youth movement, NFTY is a Reform Jewish community for high school students.  NFTYites forge and build friendships, lifelong Reform Jewish identities, and leadership skills through community building, worship, social action, and experiential youth-led Jewish educational programming.

We are located in the Texas/Oklahoma Region (TOR).  We have five regional events a year as well as a NFTY Convention which is offered every other year.  You can check out our region’s page at: http://www.nfty.org/tor/. On it you will find the dates of all of the regional events for the year as well as more information on the region. For more information on NFTY in general, check out the parent section of the NFTY website at: http://www.nfty.org/about/parents/. 

As you can imagine, traveling with a large group of teens can be quite fun and a bit chaotic. To help build relationships with teens from other congregations in the Houston area, and to help reduce the cost of transportation we travel together to some of the regional events.  This year we will only be using the bus three times. 

In order to attend NFTY regional and national events, your child is required to be a member in good standing of both TeSTY and NFTY.  If you have not already paid their TESTY dues please send a check for $38.00 and membership application to Temple Sinai with “TESTY dues” in the memo field.  In order to attend regional events, you must first attend one local TESTY event.  However, because Summer Kallah is the first NFTY event of the year, this policy will be waived for this event only.  Please note that payment of dues and attendance at one local event will be strictly enforced after this event and will affect the ability to attend Fall Conclave, scheduled for November 5^th -7^th, 2010.  The membership forms and the permission slip (which must be signed and included) can be downloaded from the links at the bottom of this page.  (Note that dues for 8^th graders are only $25.00.)

Registration for Summer Kallah, September 3^rd – 6^th is currently live at http://www.nfty.org/tor/events/summerkallah/.  Before you access this link, download and read the "Summer Kallah" file below.  If your teen would like to join us for Summer Kallah, please make sure to register online and send me your child’s health form no later than August 19^th with a $25.00 deposit check payable to TeSTY for the bus fee.  Confidential scholarships are available for this and all regional youth events; please contact Rabbi Belford with any questions.  I hope that your teen will plan on joining us for Summer Kallah and TeSTY events this year!

If you have any questions about NFTY-TOR or Youth programs at Temple Sinai, please do not hesitate to contact me.

B’Shalom,

Andrew Rochman

TESTY Advisor