Keeping Teens Engaged in Israel
By Sarai Presman
Over four Wednesdays, we examined the relationship our Jewish community has with the State of Israel, learned how to be a savvy consumer of media and information on the Middle East, developed presentation, advocacy and social media skills and learned about how to be pro-Israel on college campuses and beyond.
We discussed how to combat anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric, the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement that is in the news right now and other arguments we may be confronted with in college. By the way, the answer is to use the truth. You can’t go wrong with that.
For the final meeting, we went with our families to the Israeli Embassy in Washington. We broke into groups and did an exercise in which we had to create an educational but fun program about Israel for different ages, which we then presented to the audience. Sol Glassner, co-chair of the Jewish Federation’s Israel Engagement Committee, JCRC Executive Director Ron Halber and Josh Hantman, senior advisor to Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, also spoke. In addition, Lauren Pollack, a student at George Washington University, talked to us about the Student Alliance for Israel organization. She is president of the campus group.
The weekly activities at the JCC were led by Noa Meir, director of Israel Action Center and International Affairs of the JCRC; Pnina Agenyahu, who is the senior shlicha for the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington; and Alexis Schwartz, program associate with the Israel Action Center. The fellowship (along with the kosher dinners) was sponsored by a grant from local benefactors Margo and Yoram Cohen.
I traveled to Israel last summer on Habonim Dror’s Machaneh b’Israel program, and it was the best experience I have had in my life (so far). The fellowship’s program was thought-provoking, and I know it will be useful to me to help explain and defend my beliefs. I am glad I was chosen to participate.
(Sarai Presman is a junior at Rockville High School.)
