Naomi “Nomi” Adams loves working with teenagers in the Jewish community.
After growing up in Pikesville and attending Pikesville High, Adams, 37, went to Israel for a gap year at Habonim Dror, a four-week summer program designed to help North Americans engage with Israel.
When she arrived back to the United States, Adams went to McDaniel College and graduated with an English degree. Adams continued her education to receive a master’s in social work at the University of Maryland.
Now, Adams works as the teen and family engagement specialist at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation.
Naomi and Keith Adams live in Charles Village with their two children.
What do you do as the teen and family engagement specialist?
I run our teen program entirely. I plan and run all of our teen programs, social and educational and service learning, including several trips throughout the year. I am overseeing a new program that is for our 8th and 9th graders. It’s in between our mitzvah year and our confirmation year, which is 10th grade. That’s going to be a once a month learning program that I am going to run with our clergy. We had nine of our teens run a week of camp at the very last week of summer. I planned that and had the teenagers running it. I [also] oversee Tot Shabbat and family Shabbat and any other family programming that comes our way.
What do you like about your job?
This job feels very natural. With everything that I’ve done, with my English major, communication skills and social work and working at Pearlstone, all those things are culminating in this job. I feel very supported in running programs that I think are going to be cool. It’s just such an inclusive space, and everybody who I’ve met in the congregation has been amazing.
Did you ever think of working in other types of social work?
I went into social work because I knew that it was something that I could go in a lot of directions with. I wanted to be able to move around in my career, and both of my parents have master’s in social work. My dad has been a Jewish professional his entire career, and my mom is a clinical social worker. I can’t say I’m surprised that I ended up here. I worked before I went to social work school. I was working at Pearlstone for four years. So, this job feels like a culmination of all my skills. I think especially with working with teens right now, it’s a really great background to have.
Do you feel like the events of Oct. 7 changed the culture of your work?
100%. It changed the way we approach everything that we’re doing. We’re still doing everything that we’re doing for the same reasons, and I don’t think it changed everything 100%, but it gives everything a different feel and a different sense of significance. In a world where our teens are so connected, they see everything now and I think [they’re experiencing an] information overload.
Outside of work, how would you describe your relationship with Judaism?
My relationship with Judaism has always been community-based. That’s always how I have connected to it, whether it’s sharing meals, sharing songs [or] sharing simchas. I feel like that’s what I love about Judaism, fostering and creating community and being able to nourish and build community.
What are some things you do for fun?
I love to crochet. Last year, I had a stall at the Women of BHC’s boutique where I was selling crocheted stuffed animals and different things. I’ll be doing that again this year. I obviously spend a lot of time with my kids, and we have a dog. When my husband and I first started dating, we played a lot of music together. He’s a music teacher, and we both play music, so we like to play music together and go to concerts.
When did you start to crochet?
I started to crochet when my grandma started to teach me when I was in high school, but when I was living in Israel on that gap year, that’s when I really started to get into it. We would be sitting and having discussions and conversations or learning. A bunch of us would be knitting and crocheting.
Shira Kramer is a freelance writer.
