Since we can’t travel to New York, New York came to us for two days in Yokneam and exposed the fellows in the program to the Jewish community and other communities in New York, through people and initiatives. The first day dealt with an introduction to American Jewry, getting to know the founding narrative of American Jewry, and included dealing with two main issues: being a minority within a minority, and identity in an age of choice. The second day challenged thinking about what the “Jewish community” is and delved deeper into the issue of social justice as the basis for social cohesion.
In the mornings, they met with experts in Israel who presented different perspectives on American Jewry: demography, sociology, identity, the establishment narrative (compared to the Zionist and Israeli narratives), activism and human rights. In the afternoon, the fellows met a wide range of people over Zoom who spoke about their work: a panel of activists who define themselves as Jews of Color; Ruchi Freier, the first ultra-Orthodox female judge in the United States; founder of the “Honeymoon Israel” organization, which is dealing with the issue of mixed marriages; a multigenerational panel of women activists in the New York Jewish community; Rabbi Amichai Lau Lavie and Rabbi David Ingber, who lead synagogue communities and spoke about the tension between conservatism and renewal; the founders of Moishe House and One Table, which are building a different type of community; the Repair the World network and founder of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, which deals with social justice and multi-religious activism in the shared public sphere. These initiatives also resonated with the initiatives promoted by the fellows.
Thanks to Moshe Samuels and the staff of Shezor on the enriching content and the connections for the future.
