Karola Ruth Siegel remembers a far and distant Germany. Maybe she was 6, maybe 1935. ìI was visiting my maternal grandparents, Oma and Opa, on their farm in Wiesenfeld. There were geese. I didnít like the geese to be cooped up. So I let them free, out of their pens. The geese went off into the village and everyone had to go catch the geese! It was a great commotion. I donít remember getting punished. Maybe because I was a favored granddaughter.

The Reform movement admits it has a big youth problem. North American Judaism’s largest denomination (about 1.5 million members) says it has failed over the past 20 years to retain the interest of the majority of its teenagers past the age of 13.
To address the crisis, Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations has announced a half-million-dollar youth initiative to help some of its 875 local congregations develop new programs to entice disinterested teens.