Jewish community values stand up
Despite coming from different schools, each recognised the importance of unity and collaboration to strengthen the broader Jewish community.
Fifteen Jewish VCE students from Bialik College, Mount Scopus, and The King David School recently attended Stand Up’s inaugural Youth Tikkun Olam Forum where they discussed their Jewish identity and how their role as future leaders could shape the Australian Jewish community.
Under the leadership of Daniel Samowitz, Stand Up’s manager of education programs, they explored the values they uphold, what they understand those values are, and what their role is as Jewish leaders in actualising these values.
Despite coming from different schools, each recognised the importance of unity and collaboration to strengthen the broader Jewish community.
The forum began with a game in which each participant had to act as themselves at different points in their lives.
Dana Bagle-Zevin from Bialik said, “I was my two-year-old self, naive and curious about the world, amused simply by the company of family or receiving a new toy.”
Others in the group acted as their 21-year-old selves, looking into the future and reflecting on the years they had not yet lived.
“How have you retained a connection to your Jewish identity since you left school?” was the main question they asked themselves.
“[It was] a daunting question for many students currently ending their education journey,” Bagle-Zevin said, “realising that in a few short months, they will leave the comforts of Jewish schools and critically face a world of competing paths and abundant choice.”
All agreed that while taking a gap year in Israel, belonging to a synagogue or youth movement or a weekly Shabbat dinner were the cornerstones of continued Jewish life, they questioned whether this was all it takes to be a Jewish leader of the future.
“Whether it is running lunchtime initiatives and spreading our ruach to younger students or attending forums such as these to discuss social action and Judaism, we all acknowledged the magnitude, privilege and significance of the role of a Jewish school leader,” Bagle-Zevin said.
The group challenged their passivity in these roles and contemplated how they could continue these active efforts and community engagement in tangible ways when the choice to be involved becomes their own.
They brainstormed how to utilise their current roles to inspire the next generation of school leaders to stand as proudly as they have as Jews and as Zionists.
The past nine months have undoubtedly challenged their freedom to express their Judaism and to spread positivity within their schools. “We understood how education is a most powerful tool and through our involvement with younger students, take our experiences proudly into the next life chapter.”
However, what was most uplifting was how each leader and subsequent leadership group managed to continue enacting and actualising their values in and out of their schools.
In summary, Bagle-Zevin said “In the face of extreme adversity, young Jewish leaders have proven their unity and strength is what will allow us and the community to flourish in the years to come.”
The Tikkun Olam Forum is a program provided by Stand Up and supported by its principal partner Gandel Foundation.
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