ByJonathan Kalmus, Jonathan Kalmus
Tribe, the United Synagogue's youth arm, is to help operate youth activities in Manchester synagogues for the first time.
Youth groups, an after-school club and cheder are to be run by three youth workers under Tribe's aegis at Prestwich Hebrew Congregation. The partnership will provide weekly activities for eight-to-12-year-olds and two age groups of teenagers, using education programmes developed by the London-based organisation.
Whitefield Hebrew Congregation is in discussions for Tribe to develop a course which prepares boys and girls for bar- and batmitzvah.
Prestwich's Rabbi Dovid Eisenberg said three locally-based students would be recruited and funded by his community to provide "a gamut of social and education programmes and a youth club.
"It's about providing the youth with programmes that are young, which sounds stupid. But many synagogue programmes are a little outdated. Our youth today demand more from Jewish education in order to be engaged."
Tribe programmes manager Avi Friedmann said the move did not constitute a push into the north-west. However, Tribe was "always looking for opportunities to work with centrist Orthodox synagogues".