In homage to Stanley Kubrick, Neil Bass, left, Aaron Golub, center, and Lionel Hummel perform a spiel from the opening scene of "2001: A Space Odyssey" at Weaver's Needle during a Peralta Trail hike earlier this year.
Over the past 20 years, programming for young adults in the Valley's Jewish community has gone through many transformations. Sometimes established organizations, such as a Jewish Community Center or synagogue, formally planned the events, and at other times, individuals formed organizations to plan programming for their peers. Today's current batch of groups is in the process of creating their own community, presenting a variety of events and working together to avoid scheduling conflicts.
These groups recently teamed up for the 11th annual Mazelpalooza, the premiere Christmas Eve party for Jewish young adults in the Valley, held Dec. 24 at the Mondrian Scottsdale. Here is a brief description of each of the groups.
Arizona Adventurers
Due to its long history, the Arizona Adventurers Jewish outdoor club could mistakenly be called the grandparent of the Valley's 20s-30s groups. But this group is anything but grandparently. Founded in 1986, it has continued to rejuvenate itself over the years. Though the average age remains around 30, there is a diverse spread, ranging from many who are just out of college to a few members in their 50s who still keep up.
Lionel Hummel, the group's current coordinator, joined the group when he arrived in the 1990s from Illinois because he wanted to meet friends in the Jewish community who could show him great places to hike.
All members are invited to propose and plan its activities, which are devised via e-mail and at bimonthly planning meetings.
According to a group history written in 1999 by then-coordinator and treasurer Steve Millstein, Arizona Adventurers started with about 10 people whose main interests were hiking and camping. In those early days, then-coordinator Martin Wormser would call members by phone to let them know of hikes; he'd call during the day to leave messages on their answering machines. Two years later, Mitch Small became coordinator and started the newsletter, which was mailed to people's homes.
When Alicia Messing served as coordinator, from 1992 to 1996, she increased the group's exposure by publishing event details in Jewish News and joining the JASS board (the Jewish Association of Singles Services, which was a local umbrella organization for singles groups at the time).
By 1999, Arizona Adventurers established an online presence with ArizonaAdventurers.org and started an e-mail newsletter. The group now also has a Facebook page.
Throughout its more than 20 years, several couples have met and married as a result of attending Arizona Adventurers events.
The Jewish Sisterhood
The Jewish Sisterhood is for Jewish women in their 20s and 30s in the Greater Phoenix area. The group was formed in March 2008 by Lauren Fogel as a response to growing interest in the young Jewish community in forming a group for women to socialize and connect.
Past events have included a tea party, a viewing of "Sex and the City" at a movie theater, dinner, pottery painting, happy hour, a wine and cheese gathering and a book club. In the new year, future activities will include social action events, as well as Jewish holiday-themed events, such as cooking lessons for Passover and hamantaschen-making for Purim.
L'Chaim
L'Chaim was formed when Jason Beckmann and Sherie Rappoport decided that they wanted young adult events that were not necessarily geared toward singles and not always situated in a bar. The group was created to be nondenominational and separate from any synagogue but to maintain an emphasis on religious background, with the ultimate goal of forming stronger bonds in Phoenix's Jewish young adult community.
L'Chaim's largest annual event is a free kosher, catered break-fast for Yom Kippur each year. Other events include picnics, happy hours, ice skating, bonfires, boating, sporting events, pottery painting, board game parties and camping. Many of the events are family-friendly and dog-friendly. Events are open to all Jews, both single and married, ages 21-40.
The Merge
The Merge formed in August 2007 for the 20s and 30s community of Temple Chai, a Reform congregation in Phoenix, but temple membership is not required to participate. The group describes itself as a gateway to synagogue life and is for individuals who are single, committed, married or married with young children; post-college age through age 39.
The Merge's first event, in September 2007, was "Sangrias in the Sukkah," which more than 75 people attended. Future events include Jewish cooking lessons, a Tu b'Shevat Shabbat dinner, a Purim masquerade, a Shabbat hike, a Passover dinner and wine pairing and a Lag b'Omer family event.
ShabbatLuck
ShabbatLuck provides a Shabbat potluck experience for Jewish young adults in their 20s and 30s, both singles and couples.
The group formed in January 2007 when four friends decided to have a Shabbat potluck dinner in one of their homes. They invited a few friends, and this Jewish social experience grew. As of December 2008, more than 1,000 participants have attended 53 ShabbatLuck potluck dinners throughout the Phoenix area.
Once every four months, ShabbatLuck has a large event with approximately 100 participants, held at a community space such as a recreation center or synagogue. The other three months, smaller cluster dinners (10-30 participants) are held at a private home. While the large events provide an opportunity to meet a large number of people in a more formal environment, the smaller events encourage relationship-building and offer a more chavurah-like Shabbat experience (a chavurah is a group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating prayer services or to share communal experiences). The only cost is a potluck item.
At each of the large events, there is a community service project, such as collecting canned goods, school supplies or toys. Sponsors of the larger potlucks have included Temple Solel and the Dana Cheryl Beitscher Charitable Foundation; the group is seeking locations for March and July. The planning team includes the following community members: Shana Cohen, Aaron Golub, Evan Kaplan, Yvonne Rothblum, Anna Schlar, Cory Shapiro and Mike Vosko.
Tribe
Tribe, a group for Jewish young adults ages 21-35, was founded by Alyssa Baine in 2006 to provide a venue for Jewish singles to meet each other. Since then, it has expanded to include married couples, as well as individuals in relationships who are simply looking to make new friends or hang out with other Jews.
Events have primarily been held at bars where a private room or the whole bar is available to the group, allowing only members of the Tribe to attend. Tribe has more than 1,000 members; about 100-150 people attend each event. Members also participate in a monthly community service project.
In the future, Tribe plans to expend its programming to include camping trips, barbecues, concerts and cooking classes. So far, Tribe has been responsible for two engagements, according to Baine.
Young Jewish Phoenix (YJP)
Young Jewish Phoenix (YJP), a project of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, was designed to develop and create dynamic ways to engage the Jewish young adult population of Greater Phoenix. YJP is for Jewish singles and couples, ages 22-40.
The group, a redevelopment of the federation's Young Leadership Division, founded in 1997, was officially launched at this week's Mazelpalooza. Larry Hirsch and Marc Newman are co-chairs.
YJP programming will be driven by five committees, open to anyone who fits in the demographic group. These are Jewish education and Israel, outreach and social networking, community service, fundraising and leadership development.
