Congregation Beth Israel Youth Director

Location: Metairie, LA 70002
Position Youth Director
Salary click to view
Degrees: BA
Organization Type Synagogue, Youth

We are looking for a dynamic, passionate and entrepreneurial educator to serve as our inaugural youth director as we work to expand the scope of our educational programming in the coming year.

Job responsibilities include:

• Working with the rabbi to develop a Sunday morning educational program for children ages 1st grade through Bar/Bat Mitzvah, guiding students towards a familiarity with the prayer service, Jewish holidays and weekly Torah portions and instilling within them a love of the Jewish people and of Israel.
• Coordinating Bnei Mitzvah training, in partnership with the Bar/Bat Mitzvah family and rabbi
• Developing a teen program for pre and post-Bnei Mitzvah teens, including monthly social outings and educational programming
• Running a monthly “Tot Shabbat” program for preschool age children
• Leading and coordinating youth programming for Shabbat and holidays
• Facilitating and leading periodic multi-generational educational programs
• Communicating with parents, synagogue executive committee, and other stakeholders about Beth Israel’s educational programming
• Working with Beth Israel’s administrator to market synagogue’s educational programming to synagogue and wider community
• Acting as ambassador for Beth Israel to the greater New Orleans Jewish community, including outreach and educational engagement to non-member families

Desired qualifications:

  • Comfort leading Jewish educational programming for students with a wide range of backgrounds and across a wide age range (baby through high school).
  • Familiarity with traditional Shabbat and weekday liturgy.
  • Computer literacy and comfort learning to use our synagogue database system for managing relationships with parents and children. Additional computer skills to include, but not limited to, Microsoft Office Suite.
  • Experience leading youth programming in a Jewish setting (for example: youth group, Jewish summer camp, etc.) is a plus.
  • Willingness to experiment within programming and to iterate programs based on feedback from youth, families and professional staff.
  • Strong organizational skills and comfort communicating regularly with families.
  • Ability and passion for incorporating music into programming is a plus.

Hours:

This is a part-time position of 15-20 hours per week reporting directly to the Synagogue Rabbi. If performing additional administrative activities (i.e. Religious School newsletter, Shul Bulletin or data entry)we could reach a maximum of 20 hours. We are also open to helping qualified applicants find additional part-time work within the community.

Our synagogue is flexible in working around applicants’ scheduling needs. We are open to making this a 10-month or 12-month position, depending on the youth director’s availability over the summer. We are also amenable to remote working arrangements during the week, though weekend activities will be held in person.