Nomi Adams is Baltimore Hebrew Congregation’s teen and family engagement specialist, which means she is largely responsible for the planning that it takes to bring the BHC teen community to Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers and their staffs every year.
This trip means a lot to the teens who go on it, but it also means a lot to their families — partly because, sometimes, parents who go with their teens did it themselves decades ago.
“A dad mentioned that he had gone on the trip when he was a teenager, and he was there [this year] with his twins who are in 10th grade. It was very sweet to watch him over the weekend,” Adams said.
For teens at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation, each year brings a special tradition in which the young congregants travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with legislators and legislative assistants and talk about the issues that are important to them. Last week’s trip was a chance for these young Jews to feel civically engaged years before they have the chance to vote.
“I think for a lot of them, maybe they have been to a protest, or been in model United Nations or something like that, but being so close to D.C., this experience is something that we hear adults say they remember [from when they were] kids,” Adams said. “Teens have written college essays about it … it’s something that really sticks with people.”
Adams’ first time going on the trip was as an adult two years ago, and she said she saw teens blossom.
“There is certainly something about these trips that bring our teens together, even students who have known each other for years and haven’t been close before. It’s beautiful to watch. We hope our students will use the tools and values we’ve always instilled to act on their Jewish values in the real world,” Adams said. “It is one thing to learn about these values in the context of Torah stories, but when they get to use their voices to speak out for change, it is incredibly impactful. The students walk away feeling like they made a difference, like they stood up for what they believed in, and like they are a part of something bigger.”
This year, the topics of conversation included climate justice, disability rights, immigration and gun violence prevention. Each student was passionate about what matters to them.
“Students talked about a personal anecdote to make it more relatable. And I think they all did a really good job of making it meaningful and personal to them,” Adams said.
The trip includes a speech that each student gets to make. Prior to making it, they get to brainstorm with students from other synagogues who participate in their own version of the trip.
“The night before the students present their speeches, the students decide what they want to speak about and we gather with all of the other congregations in our districts. We split the students into groups based on their interests and spent the night helping them work on what they were going to say,” Adams said.
Baltimore Hebrew Congregation conducts other trips, too. Each year, they hold a college trip in which teens get to explore campuses in a different city. This year, they chose Boston.
“I just think that teen travel is really important,” Adams said. “I got to do it with my youth group as a teenager … I feel very lucky that I get to be the one to take these kids on trips, and I see the impact that it has on them. I really do see them become more engaged the more that they get to travel together.”
The effects of the trip can last a lifetime. In fact, Baltimore Hebrew Congregation’s Rabbi Eden Glaser offered high praise when she recalled her own trip as a teen.
“She stated that it was the inspiration of her rabbinic career,” Adams said. “Social justice and activism has always been a large part of Reform Judaism and Baltimore Hebrew Congregation. Offering this to our teens gives them the opportunity to act on the Jewish values they have been learning in religious school and confirmation.”
