An Interview with Youth Director, Ami Monson

An Interview with Ami Monson

Take a few minutes to meet our NEW VBS YOUTH DIRECTOR, Ami Monson. Article and Photos by Bobbi Rubinstein

First and foremost, Ami, welcome to VBS. It’s a pleasure to have you here; to begin our discussion, please tell us about yourself.

I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and am lucky enough to be married to Manya Monson, the most amazing, incredible wife one could ask for, as well as the new Executive Assistant in the Harold M. Schulweis Day School. We have a son, Moshe Yosef who is 3 ¾ years old and currently enrolled in the VBS Early Childhood Center. New to the Los Angeles area, our family recently moved to Woodland Hills with our other “child”, a Shi-Tzu named Shmooly.

Where were you educated?

I went to The Perelman Jewish Day School: Solomon Schechter Affiliate for elementary school and Akiba Hebrew Academy for High School. I graduated in 1995 from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Religion and a certificate in Jewish Studies. In 1997 in my third year of college I attended The Rothberg School for Overseas Students at The Hebrew University on Mount Scopus. I also hold three Master’s Degrees in Jewish Education, Jewish Communal Studies and Jewish Studies from Gratz College.

Tell us about your work in the Jewish community.

While attending graduate school, I taught Hebrew School in several Conservative and Reform Synagogues. In addition, I acted as a USY Advisor and organized a program of after school sports at the local Perelman Jewish Day School. Around this time, I was also a Junior Counselor at Camp Ramah in the Poconos in Pennsylvania. My first job following graduate school was as a 2^nd grade Jewish Studies Assistant Teacher at Perelman Jewish Day School. Following that, I served as the Program Director for the Hillel at Queens College and then prior to coming to VBS, I was the Program Director for Maccabi USA/Sports for Israel. All of these myriad of vocational responsibilities were my launching pad to working with Jewish youth.

What attracted you to this work?

I have a passion for helping others, especially kids and teens. In addition, I believe it’s important for younger generations to value Judaism, family, community and overall synagogue life, as those aspects help guide them on their paths through High School, College and beyond.

Since Ami Monson has joined us, the youth department teems with revitalized energy.  His warm, open and genuine quality of care brings a vibrant new face to youth education and engagement. With his passion, sincerity of purpose and great sense of humor, we're blessed to have Ami here with us.”

Rabbi Joshua Hoffman

Anything else you want us to know about your background, interests?

I’m a vivacious reader of Judaica and do so to improve myself both morally and ethically through Pirke Avot-The Ethics of the Fathers. I’m also a passionate Philadelphia sports fan and music enthusiast.

My family background is quite interesting: Rabbi Tuvia Geffen, my great-grandfather, made Coca-Cola kosher with his certification on the original ingredients; my grandfather, Rabbi Joel Geffen was an ordained Conservative Rabbi, one of the first fundraisers for The Jewish Theological Seminary of America, and a friend of Rabbi Harold M. Schulweis; my mother is Dr. Rela M. Geffen, a world-renown Jewish sociologist, former President of Baltimore Hebrew University, and former Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor at Gratz College; my Abba is Rabbi Michael Monson, ordained Conservative Rabbi, retired Judaic Studies High School Teacher at The Gold Och Academy in West Orange, NJ, my stepmother, Fani Magnus Monson, was the Vice President of Development of the Foundation for Jewish Camp and the JCCA. Both my brother Uri and my sister-in-law Rebekah are graduates of JTS List College and Columbia University (Barnard College for Women). I have three amazing nieces and nephew Shoshana Aviva, Ariel Noa, and Eitan Chaim Monson.

Since Ami started working at VBS, there has been a very noticeable change in the atmosphere in the Youth Department. Our numbers have risen just in our first two events. We are very excited for the new year.”

Ben Hardin, USY President

What is your vision for the VBS youth department?

I want to provide a warm and safe environment for all the members of VBS, especially the youth. I want the Youth Department to be a place where the kids are forthright with intriguing and innovative ideas to better the programming and general atmosphere for all who participate starting with Kindergarten to as experienced as seniors in high school. I want our USY chapter board members to be catalysts for everyone around them, and I want them to make things happen. Ideally, I would like our teen leadership to serve as a creative and dynamic resource of motivation and enthusiasm for everyone to whom they come into contact. I don’t want any VBS child to feel that there is not a program or opportunity for them.

My long term goal is to create an environment and help nourish the Jewish teens at VBS to be creative and effective independently. I want them to excel when collaborating and working with others. When they work with and respect their fellow teens from VBS, The Far West Region of USY, and around the world, my hope is that they will ultimately understand the whole concept of “team,” and that each of them can be unique in that they can be trusted to be principled without being judgmental.

I want the VBS USY Chapter to be vibrant, participatory, and create a great partnership not only with other local synagogues, but with other Jewish and secular programs around Los Angeles, and especially the Far West Regional office as well.

How do you approach kids’ possible lack of interest in Jewish activities, Judaism or joining groups?

I study and get to know each child as an individual, and not categorize them into a specific group. Each child is unique and I welcome the challenge of helping them find their place within the Jewish community. The difficulty is finding programs that speak to the interest of “today’s” child, while not infringing on the needs of school and general life. When someone tells me that I can’t get a child involved or open to loving Judaism, I see that as a challenge and I come up with ways to engage them and peak their interest level. I study the kids, what they are interested in, and I participate in the same social media outlets as they do, like Facebook. I meet the kids where they are, they don’t need to wait and approach me.

Tell me a little something about the events that you have planned for the coming year?

Prior to everyone’s Thanksgiving festivities, VBS USY will be holding our annual Erev Thanksgiving: Dinner and a Movie event at VBS for the kids in grades 4-12. More details to follow in our upcoming VBS Communications. Recently, we held a Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Tasting event where we sampled over 10 different flavors of Ben and Jerry’s. It was a delicious treat around Rosh Hashanah to bring in the sweet New Year. For our first Teen Tuesday: USY Lounge Night the USYers combined two of their great passions Karaoke & Tie-Dyeing and they got their hands dirty and did their best to bellow out melodic renditions of their favorite songs. We had an incredible House/Pool Party at The Wenger House with over 30 USYers. They swam, they competed in a blow up Joust arena, and set the tone for the evening with a beautiful Havdalah service.

How can everyone find out about upcoming events?

CLICK HERE for more information about all of our activities, events and programming.

“Ami has been a breath of fresh air from the instant he set foot at VBS for summer camp.  He's a special person who is a magnet for young people at VBS. It's remarkable how fast he has become embedded at VBS and we are lucky to have him here.”  Bart Pachino, Executive Director