Engaging the next generation

MICHELLE DODEK

Jews have more in common with the Navajo than with Christians or Hindus, said Michael Brooks in an address at the recent Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver annual general meeting. Executive director of Hillel at the University of Michigan, Brooks spoke about reconceptualizing Jewishness to see Jews as a tribe and how this perspective could help engage members of the next generation, one of Federation’s goals.

By looking at the Jewish community around the world as a tribe, Brooks argued, members find themselves responsible for each other – part of a family. This might especially work as an advantage on university campuses.

“This generation is not indifferent to Jewish identity. They are frustrated. And that’s good. Indifference is deadly,” he said. The pressing need, according to Brooks, is to help members of the next generation affirm universal values within a Jewish context. Armed with the confidence that Judaism has everything they need, they will stay passionate about being Jewish.

One of the ways Brooks says he manages to draw together large numbers of Jewish students on campus is through High Holiday services. With more than 6,000 Jewish students at U of M, Hillel provides a place for students who wish to attend services, as do Hillels across the continent. Brooks shared a story about the year their usual facility was under construction. The next-best place to hold services on campus was in a building that was off limits to events of a religious nature. When he called to ask to use the facility, he told the woman to think of High Holiday services as an annual “tribal reunion,” that many of those in attendance would only be coming to gather with their people. The woman was immediately swayed by his argument and agreed to let Hillel use the space. Surprised, he asked her why she agreed so readily. “I’m a member of the tribe too,” she replied.

The community is where it all starts, Brooks said. “If [students’] non-Jewish friends want to be involved, then we’re doing something right. If they use volunteer work that they’ve done in the community on a resumé or in a job interview, we’re doing something right.” While the community can strive to be welcoming through mentorship programs and programs like Birthright, Brooks believes broader Israel education is crucial.

“This is a generation that doesn’t remember an Israel prior to Sabra and Shatila. All they know about Israel is from the news,” Brooks remarked. He stressed that visiting Israel draws Jews closer to the tribe. He knows from experience on campus that students do not want to engage in polemic discussions and heated debates on campus, but that they need to be confident enough in their identities, and strong enough in their connection to the Jewish community as a whole, to feel comfortable as Jewish students on increasingly hostile university campuses.

Brooks had no silver bullet for the survival of the Jewish people, but noted that, for the last 300 years, each generation has felt that the Jewish people were on the brink of collapse. However, he pointed out that more books are being published today than ever before and more people are studying Talmud than ever before. Brooks has hope for the connections the next generation will make and joked that if parents would only stop telling their kids to go to their campus Hillel, perhaps more of them might go.

Federation’s AGM also included a presentation by five young people who will soon be on university campuses – a group of high school students who went on the March of the Living trip to Poland and Israel spoke on their moving experiences. Although each had a different personal note to add, the theme running through their comments reinforced Brooks’ conceptualization of Jews as a tribe. One of the students, Joseph Braun, said he believes that that there is no difference between him and other Jews, regardless of their religious affiliation, and another participant, Ilan Vonderwalde, said he feels most comfortable when surrounded by Jews. Eric Rosenfeld, a student from West Vancouver, said he used to be shy about being Jewish: “After my experience [on the trip], I have a new side. I’m proud to be Jewish,” he said with a smile.

Michelle Dodek is a Vancouver freelance writer.

^TOP