20 Baltimore Jewish Times November 16, 2012

general assembly 2012

GA Wrap-UpGA culminates with call for tikkunolam and trailblazing initiatives toengage the Jewish worldStaff Report

More than 3,000 Jewish leaders poured into Baltimorelast Sunday for the Jewish Federations of North Amer-ica General Assembly. e event theme, “Where theJewish community uploads/downloads/shares,” focusedon just that — sharing information and best practices.

e GA represented 155 Jewish federations acrossNorth America (400 network communities). Annually,the system raises more than $1 billion for social welfareprojects, education and Jewish identity building.

A basement-level marketplace hustled and bustled forthree days in the spacious Baltimore Convention Cen-ter, the main hub of the GA. e booths representedmany well-known organizations and causes —Birthright, Magen David Adom, Haaretz — but otherswere sometimes peculiar and oen surprising, offeringservices, products and do-gooder causes.

Above ground, the GA was host to a number offamous personalities, including a special plenary sessionwith Elie Wiesel and Natan Sharansky, considered twoof the Jewish world’s greatest living heroes. ey cametogether to mark the 25th anniversary of the historicMarch on Washington for Soviet Jewry.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, via video,told the audience he has confidence in PresidentBarack Obama and that the two leaders could orwould work together to advance peace and securityin the Middle East.

Netanyahu reiterated the danger of Iranian nuclearproliferation and the need to forge a realistic path to-ward peace with the Palestinians. He said he looks for-ward to continued U.S.-Israeli partnership.

“For over six decades, the partnership between theU.S. and Israel has helped make Israel the strong andvibrant democracy it is today,” Netanyahu said.

e GA offered dozens of sessions ranging in topicfrom social issues to how to fund raise to how best toreach out to the unengaged. Sessions on Israel and otherJewish communities overseas also topped the agenda,with several sessions committed to how best to allocatefederation money abroad.

On the first evening, Nov. 11, the first-ever index onlesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender inclusion within

Jewish organizations in North America was released.e report was presented at a special reception hosted byKeshet, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman FamilyFoundation, the Morningstar Foundation and StuartKurlander.

Engendering EngagementA hot topic was how to keep the next generationengaged. Speaking to a group from the University ofMaryland on Sunday evening, Federation President andCEO Jerry Silverman was confronted by one studentwho said, “You’re asking the wrong question [about howto include young people], because we’re sitting in theaudience and you’re talking about us like we’re not eventhere, and what we need to be is part of the solution. Weneed to be at the table.”

Silverman told JNS.org the next day that he believesthe more the federation system can do to create dialogueabout engagement, involvement, sharing, educating andlearning together, the quicker there will be a solutionand the engagement question “will go away.”

In Monday’s “Connected or Disconnected: Who isthe New Millennial Jew?” a panel discussion focused onproblems and solutions for engagement on campus.

Speaker Evan Gildenblatt, who described himself asthe first-ever “openly Jewish” student body president atKent State University, explained that of the 23,000undergrads at his Ohio university, only about 1,000 areJewish and he doesn’t feel much of a Jewish presence.

“I think a lot of them are in hiding because I never seethem,” Gildenblatt said. “We have amazing facilities, butthe interesting thing is we seem to have issues engagingthe younger students and keeping them engaged.”

Seated in the crowd, Sammie Marks empathized withGildenblatt’s frustration.

Marks, a junior at Universsity of Iowa and co-presi-dent of the school’s Hillel, said that retaining interestfrom her fellow Jewish peers is a constant challenge.

Of the approximately 600 U of I students whoidentified themselves as Jewish on their entranceapplications, Marks estimates that only 100 to 200have set foot in Hillel.

“It’s not because they are not interested in us. It’sbecause they are just genuinely not interested in Hillel orJewish life on campus,” she said.

Marks explained that she and others at U of I have beenforced to get “creative” with their recruitment methods.ey employ a “buddy system” where each board mem-ber has at least two students they routinely call to provideinformation about upcoming activities and events. Markssaid they specifically focus on targeting freshmen andsophomores with hopes of building a core group ofunderclassmen to continue the effort in the future.

In a session run by ELI Talks (ELI = engagement,literacy, identity), Sam Glassenberg, CEO of Funtactix,cited JDate as one of the most successful attempts atensuring Jews stay engaged — and stay Jewish. He saidthe JDate model was successful because it wasn’t startedto solve a problem but to fill a consumer need.

He said, “I used to think that young Jews need free— free food, free trips. JDate flipped the model around.”

So how can other Jewish problems be tackled usingthe JDate model? Glassenberg had a ready answer forhow to get young Jews excited about Jewish education:video games. He even screened a sample video gamefeaturing scenes from Jewish history.

Fostering InclusivenessImproving accessibility and inclusivity for interfaithcouples and families was also a key topic this GA, and

Just

inTs

ucal

as

Panelists discuss the problemsof engagement during Monday’s

“Connected or Disconnected:Who is the New Millennial Jew?”

19-24-cardin,ga:Layout 1 11/14/12 2:22 PM Page 20

21jewishtimes.com

many presented it as among the most important ways ofensuring the future of the U.S. Jewish community. Dur-ing a session entitled, “Engaging Interfaith Families:Strategies for Increased Community Involvement,”Rabbi Kerry M. Olitzky, executive director of theJewish Outreach Institute, said he believes throughincreased participation and deeper Jewish engagementthere can be a more vibrant and meaningful community.is, he added, should be done through casting thewidest net possible through “big-tent Judaism.”

“Some people look at the issue of interfaith marriageas a problem or a challenge. We see it as a one of missedopportunities,” Rabbi Olitzky said. “is is a Jewishcommunity that allows for the positions of people Idon’t agree with. It allows for a community in whicheverybody is welcomed and feels embraced no matterwhat your specific subgroup might be.”

“We oen hear there is a fear of not belonging, a senseof exclusion those [interfaith families] feel,” said EvaStern, director of training at the Jewish Outreach Insti-tute. “So when we think not just about promoting ourprograms, but also communicating a sense of belongingin our Jewish community, it is essential we take intoaccount those fears, assumptions and perceptions.”

InterfaithFamily is one organization that is trying totake such an approach. Edmund Case, the chief execu-tive officer of the Massachusetts-based group, said whatis needed in a community to engage interfaith familieswith Judaism is a web platform, training for institutionsand programs for interfaith families.

Case added that for such an approach to be success-ful, it would be ideal for an independent organizationto be devoted exclusively to this agenda.

“Too oen there are examples of people hired to startprograms in various communities at the JCCs and fed-erations and they are not there anymore,” Case said.“ey are not there anymore because for some reason itdoesn’t get priority or there are competing priorities orthere are financial pressures.”

As part of its approach, InterfaithFamily has begunto develop grassroots efforts in specific communities toengage interfaith families and to find ways of expand-ing the role of Judaism in their lives. is includes settingup offices in Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Said Rabbi Ari Moffic, director of InterfaithFamily/Chicago: “I think your interest and passion for sup-porting interfaith couples and families is essential, andthat when families get a taste of meaningful, relevant ...Judaism it adds meaning ... and order to their lives.”

Fighting An Existential ThreatWhile GA attendees were in some rooms grappling withthe threat of losing a generation, others were examininghow to preserve the Jewish state in the here and now.

Many sessions touched on the growing threat of Iran-ian nuclear proliferation. In his remarks at the openingplenary session, David Richmond Gergen, an Americanpolitical commentator and former presidential adviser,said he expects the Iran issue to “explode” and that thechance for a military conflict is upward of 50 percent.”

“e sanctions are getting tougher and tougher, andthey [Iran] keep pushing forward,” Gergen said.

He noted that if Netanyahu does come to the U.S. fora green light, there would be tremendous angst amongthose in the Obama administration; Israel wants to drawthe line at the time that Iran develops nuclear capabilitywhile the U.S. wants to wait until Iran has a bomb. But,said Gergen, “Iran with a bomb could mean annihila-tion for Israel. is is one of the toughest problems we’veever seen.”

e topic was again explored in a Monday aernoonsession moderated by the Honorable Irwin Cotler, amember of the Parliament of Canada. During thatpanel, Ambassador Barukh Binah, deputy head of mis-sion for the Embassy of Israel, Shoshana Bryen, seniordirector of the Jewish Policy Center, and AmbassadorStuart E. Eizenstat, a partner with Covington & BurlingLLP, debated whether the best next steps were to attack.

While Eizenstat argued that the best policy is towait on the sanctions and trust in the sanctions, Bryenfelt strongly the other way. She told the audience thatsanctions have never worked and made it clear that thesanctions we have today are “punishment sanctions” andnot meant to deter Iran. at already has not worked.

Bryen said it was OK to be patient to a point, but shefeels that if we wait too long, it will be too late. “Sanc-tions fall on the people, not the government,” she said.“Saddam [Hussein] never collapsed with sanctions.”

Ending With OptimismBut even as the conference was wrought with discus-sions of challenges and how to maximize opportuni-ties, former Jewish Federation of Greater WashingtonPresident Susie Gelman put the finishing touches onthis year’s GA by extending an invitation to the 2013event in Jerusalem; next year will mark the State ofIsrael’s 65th birthday.

At that final session, the audience heard the words ofMichael Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the U.S.

Oren told the audience that he had the “best job inthe world,” representing Israel. Even with the constantsecurity conflict it faces, he said Israel is one of theworld’s happiest, healthiest and best-educated nations.

He made the audience laugh when he told themthat last year when he spoke to the GA, Israel wasexporting wine to France. is year, he said that his coun-try was sending caviar and snow-making equipmentto Russian ski resorts.

Oren said Jews in Israel and North America areliving in a “golden age.” But he asked the audienceif we were really “celebrating together” or were wea divided people?

He talked of how, in a meeting, Israel’s First PrimeMinister, David Ben-Gurion made an agreementwith Baltimore philanthropist Jacob Blaustein. Ben-Gurion promised to reduce the aliyah demand onAmerican Jews. Blaustein, a past president of theAmerican Jewish Committee, promised to help thenew nation build for the future.

Oren warned the two communities to not speak “pasteach other” and to instead “talk with each other.”

He asked that both communities clarify beforethey criticize.

“We can be a transformative generation,” said Oren.“We can usher in a genuine golden age (of the Israeli-American Jewish experience). is is our time and ourtest. e fate of our people is in our hands.”

Heard At e GA“We fish where the fish are.”

Reisha Goldman, Federation of Greater New York

“To be in this big place withso many Jews wanting tolearn and discuss — it’s a

good time.”Emily Shoyer, Charles E. Smith

Jewish Day School

“We haven’t pushed theboundaries yet.”

Bill Robinson, Jewish Education Project

“I think strategic planningneeds to be thrown out.”

Ellen Kagen Waghelstein,Rockville-based leadership consultant

“We are the ones who havethe attitude, the walk and the

‘Yes we can!’”Jerry Silverman,

Jewish Federations of North America

“I’m going to try to inoculateyou: You are going to be a

sucker in Israel.”Anat Hoffman, Women at the Wall

Just

inTs

ucal

as

19-24-cardin,ga:Layout 1 11/14/12 2:23 PM Page 21

Without a constitution or a bill of rights in a coun-try in which residents come from 100 nations andspeak 70 languages, Israel will continue to struggleas a democratic state.

But the three speakers at the General Assem-bly’s 90-minute discussion “Israel’s Democracy inthe Headlines: Perceptions and Realities” believethat through equal opportunities for educationand employment, Israel will reach its potential asa democratic society while helping to bring abouta reduction in its constant state of war.

Israel is a country of almost eight million peo-ple, of which about three-quarters are Jewish. Butthat is changing, and the percent of non-Jews livingin Israel will one day soon become the majority,said speaker Arye Carmon, president of the IsraelDemocracy Institute.

Broken down further, Jews are divided intoultra-Orthodox, religious or secular, he said. Thesevarying groups are educated in different schools,from ultra-Orthodox to state-religious to state-run.Add that to the Arab schools, and all the diversityand differing levels translate to tension, he said.

The political fragmentation that results widensthe social divide between Jews and Arabs, rich andpoor, newcomers and veterans, religious and secu-lar and those involved in the center of Israeli lifeand those living on the periphery, he said.

The result, Carmon noted, is a government ofmultiparties, none having a majority, and a societythat fights over where women can sit on a publicbus and whether or not to require loyalty oaths ofits citizens.

“This threat to democracy comes from a dividedand insecure society,” Carmon said.

It should be for Israelis to decide their identity,not for others to discuss whether Israel is a demo-cratic Jewish state or a Jewish state, he stressed.

“We are building a democracy on sand. Thechallenges are there. The hopes, believe it or not,are there. But there are lots of challenges.”

One large challenge is building a country withthe Arabs who live there, the speakers said.

For that to happen, Arab children need to beeducated with the same high standards experiencedby Israeli Jews, said speaker Dalia Fadila, provost atAl-Quasemi Academic College of Education.

While she struggles to bring real education toher school, whose students are mostly youngwomen, Fadila must deal with the reality that Arab

students continually score worse than studentseducated in third-world countries.

“There are two systems of education. One is def-initely first world, and the other is fourth world,not even third world,” she said.

Only about 9 percent of Arabs living in Israel goto college. And of that number, only 30 percent areeducated in Israeli-run universities.

If Israel is not ready for a totally shared society,at least create a healthy society, where doors areopen to all, Fadila said.

Many of the Arabs who do go to college chooseteaching as a profession, and there is a glut of teach-ers. Yet, the Israeli educational system is desperatefor more teachers, she said.

Arabs cannot compete for those jobs due to thepoor education they receive, she said.

“There is a need on a practical level now toinvest in our education in the State of Israel,” shestressed. “Education is the only way to a positivehealthy society. For me, education is the key.”

If Israel is not ready for a totally shared society,at least create a healthy society, where doors areopen to all, Fadila said.

“Arabs are still confused [as to] what they are,where they stand,” she said. “They choose to beblind. They choose not to decide. That way, nodecisions are made.”

While the Arabs make up about 20 percent ofthe population, they think of themselves as themajority. They count the people of Jordan andSaudi Arabia with them, she said.

But while the Arabs cling to an “illusion ofmajority,” the Israelis struggle as a minority, con-cerned with threats and fears from throughout theentire region, Fadila said.

The consequence is what she referred to as“mutual blindness.”

Fellow speaker Rabbi Naali Rothenberg, seniorresearch fellow at Van Leer Jerusalem Institute,

Woman of Valor: Jacqueline K. Levine, a member ofthe executive committee of the Jewish Federation ofMetroWest, N.J., says she’s a “fulfilled and fortunatewoman.” She’s been to 48 consecutive General Assem-blies, but she’s also been arrested and jailed — twice.Both times, she was standing up for what she believedin. “I have always fought against injustice,” she said.

Safekeeping:While GA attendees sat in on seminarsand networked throughout the marketplace, a separategroup of men and women blended into the background.ICS Protective Services has safeguarded the GA since2001. ICS brought in 75 trained and armed officers tothis year’s event. “Historically, there have been a lotof threats against the Jewish community,” said Carl B.Williams, ICS CEO and director of field operations. “Wealways have a contingency plan if there’s something thattakes place, whether it’s an imminent threat against some-one or an active shooter that may be on the property.”

The Associated: Jewish Community Federation ofBaltimore learned this week that Baltimore was one ofsix communities out of 175 across North America to beselected for PJ Library’s PJ Promise endowment cam-paign. The endowment will ensure the sustainability ofBaltimore’s PJ Library program. “Baltimore’s programis among the oldest in North America," said PJ LibraryDirector Marcie Grinspoon. “This community knows howto attract diverse audiences of the Jewish communitythrough events like PJ on the Town [and with events at]the Jewish Museum of Maryland, synagogues, librariesand other community sites. It is a leading example ofhow to engage communities with young children."

general assembly 2012

Perceptions and RealitiesGA session examines Israel’s democracy in the headlines

“We are building ademocracy on sand.”

— Arye Carmon, president of theIsrael Democracy Institute

Dav

idS

tuck

Just

inTs

ucal

asJu

stin

Tsuc

alas

19-24-cardin,ga:Layout 1 11/14/12 2:23 PM Page 22

agreed that the way things currently are in Israel,“we have a minority that can never identify totallywith the state, with the flag.”

These minority citizens need to know Israel is ademocracy, where they are true participants.

“I don’t like us to be Jewish, that this is the Jewishsection and this is the Arab section. e languageshould be Jewish democratic,” he said, adding that“it never says in the Bible” that there will be noJews on the land.

“We didn’t go 40 years in the desert just to haveour state by ourselves. It’s not a state for Jews only,”Rothenberg said.

He envisions an Israel that during Super Sunday,a major fundraising campaign by the Jewish federa-tions, money is collected and given out to all peopleliving there.

If Israelis truly felt like the majority in the coun-try, then they would take responsibility for minor-ity rights, he suggested. “There is no responsibilityif you don’t feel you are the majority.”

“I am a citizen of a sovereign state in which atleast 20 percent of us are Arabs,” Rothenberg said.

The speakers often pointed to how words canchange things. Just the word Arab is problematicas there are Christian Arabs and Moslem Arabs.The word settlers also is too broad.

Stereotypes create fear, anti-Semitism and conflict,the speakers agreed.

“Fear is the biggest enemy of freedom,” Carmon said.When questioned how this balanced society

will affect Israel’s security, Rothenberg saiddemocratization will create the necessary balance.

“There is no need for a balance. We need a totaldemocratization of society,” he said, stressing thathe was speaking as a rabbi, an educator and a for-mer paratrooper who has watched his three sonsand two daughters serve in the Israeli military.

In an interview following her talk, Fadilaadmitted to “not getting a lot of support frankly”in her Arab community. “I am actually fighting foreverything I do.”

While she acknowledged having to constantlyprove herself, Fadila isn’t stopping. “I feel like thereis a fire inside of me that I can’t stop from burning.”

Following his talk, Rothenberg described himselfas realistic but not necessarily optimistic.

“It’s a question of what you stand for. I don’tstay home.”

— Suzanne Pollak

“My first visit to the Soviet Union changed mylife,” said Elie Wiesel, Jewish-American writer,professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate andHolocaust survivor in a historic dialogue to com-memorate the 1987 March on Washington forSoviet Jewry. Speaking about his trip as aHaaretz reporter in 1965, a trip that later yieldedthe landmark book, “The Jews of Silence,” Wieselsaid, “I didn’t know that when I came back, Iwould consider myself their messenger.”On the stage on the second day of the Jewish

Federations of North America’s General Assembly,Wiesel dialogued about the plight of Russian Jewryand the Jewish world’s response with Chairmanof the Jewish Agency Natan Sharansky.Sharansky, who was a prisoner in the former

Soviet Union, described the atmosphere in thatcountry at that time. He said everyone suffered,but Jews suffered not only from persecution, butalso because they were forced to relinquish theirJewish identity.In the early years, the American Jewish commu-

nity was indifferent to the plight of Russian Jews,but that changed in the late 1960s and 1970s.More young Jews became interested in the cause.Wiesel said this was because they felt guilty.“There was a feeling that American Jews did

not do enough during the period of darkness [ofthe Holocaust]. The young didn’t want to feel theguilt of their parents and grandparents,” Wieselsaid. “Sons and daughters said, ‘We cannot beaccused of not doing enough.’”Said Sharansky: “People told themselves, ‘Our

lives have meaning. Now we are part of the Jewishstruggle.’”Both recalled that with the young people came

housewives, too, going on clandestine missionsto help Jews in need.Both reminisced about the March on Wash-

ington, a march that Sharansky attended just oneyear after his release from a Soviet prison. Some200,000 Jews turned out to protest the visit ofSoviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev to Washing-ton and to demand the release of Soviet Jewry.Sharansky said with a chuckle that many

believed the march could not be a success. Hesaid some worried there was not enough com-mitted American leadership. They worried aboutrain, about transportation. But the people came.“There was a sea of people,” said Sharansky.

“It was so inspiring.”The leaders bemoaned the fact that the young

people today do not remember the plight of theSoviet Jews or the triumph of the March onWashington.“People don’t know about it today,” said

Sharansky, “and that is a tragedy.”“When you say March on Washington, what

comes to mind for most is the black community.But for me, it is our march. That march gave youthe feeling that you are not alone — that we arean entire people,” said Wiesel.Added Sharansky: “We [Jews] can have thou-

sands of opinions and organizations, but whenwe feel like a family, we can change the world.”

— Maayan Jaffe

Historic Dialogue RemembersPeriods of Darkness, LightGA hosts Elie Wiesel, Natan Sharansky

Just

inTs

ucal

as

Elie Wiesel (left) and Natan Sharanskymourn a generation to whom the

March on Washington is unknown.

19-24-cardin,ga:Layout 1 11/14/12 2:24 PM Page 23

GA conference-goers who hadn’t read their programsmight have been surprised when they arrived at Mon-day’s workshop, “Women, Work and Tradition:Israel’s Haredi Community Today,” to find Dr. RuthWestheimer (yes, the sex therapist) as the main pre-senter. As it turns out, Dr. Westheimer has beenactive with the American Jewish Joint DistributionCommittee for the past 20 years and has been espe-cially involved in efforts to help Haredi women gainthe tools necessary to enter Israel’s work force.

Dr. Westheimer was joined by Jane Eisner, editor-in-chief of the Forward, and Amir Shaviv, assistantexecutive vice president for special operations of theJDC. e speakers shared their findings on the cri-sis of unemployment and non-employment in theHaredi community and provided informationabout a new initiative that is helping to improvethe situation.

Eisner opened by presenting the framework withinwhich the crisis of unemployment (or more accu-rately, non-employment) exists. In Haredi culture,men are expected to spend all of their time study-ing the Torah. Since employment will interferewith that pursuit, traditionally, men who choose towork are less respected and even shunned in theircommunities. Large Haredi families subsist on gov-ernment subsidies, and statistics show these subsi-dies are insufficient to support them. The problemof non-employment among Haredim is critical, notonly for the families involved, but also for the Israeligovernment, which no longer can afford to supportthis growing population, Eisener explained.

e Haredi population, which numbers from650,000 to 800,000, is the fastest-growing popula-tion in Israel, making up 10 percent of the country’sJewish population. Haredi children make up 20 per-cent of children in the public schools. Studies showthat by 2059, one-third of Israel’s population willbe Haredi. Currently, approximately 60 percent arenon-employed or unemployed, and 55 percent livebelow the poverty line, said Eisner. Employmentrates among Haredi men are almost identical tonon-Haredi Israeli men who dropped out of schoolbefore the fifth grade.

Haredi men who choose to work do not possessthe necessary skills, because their formal educationhas not included any secular learning.

Despite their significant childcare responsibilities— on average Haredi families have seven children— Haredi women are permitted to work outside oftheir homes. Unfortunately, they are trained to be

teachers, and there are not enough teaching positionsavailable. ey possess no other work-related skills.

But now, through programs such as JDC’s Tevetprogram, the subject of Dr. Westheimer’s new doc-umentary, she believes there is hope. The programprovides training in financial analysis, computersand interior decorating. Its main consumers arewomen, and the program, said Dr. Westheimer, worksbecause it allows women to train and work inenvironments where their religious needs are met.

For example, training for men and women areseparate, and accommodations for kosher foodpreparation and prayer are available. Schedules areflexible enabling women to deal with childcareresponsibilities.

According to Dr. Westheimer, 90 percent of pro-gram graduates go on to work in secular companies,where they reportedly are highly valued employees.Being employed, stressed Dr. Westheimer, improvesnot only a family’s financial situation, but alsoultimately its general well-being.

— Simone Ellin

Mackenzie Chyatte had to argue with her mother tohave off from school Monday.The 17-year-old senior at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Com-

munity School said she didn’t want to miss out onwhat she called a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” toattend the Jewish Federations of North AmericaGeneral Assembly in Baltimore.Chyatte was one in a group of students from

the Baltimore area to attend the GA. The studentsrepresented NCSY.“The Jewish community is much more than just

our small cluster here,” Chyatte said. “There areJews from all over the country here; it’s importantto remember we’re all one community.”Rabbi Rocky Caine, assistant regional director of

the Atlantic Seaboard NCSY, said he brought the stu-dents along because they are young leaders in theirJewish communities. He added he hopes the stu-dents will use the experience to meet with Jewishleaders of today, as they seek to become leaders ofthe future.“These are teens who step up to the plate in their

clubs and their after-school programming,” RabbiCaine said. “When an opportunity comes, they seizeit. Getting kids to sign up for this was one of theeasiest things I ever did. They want to have theseexperiences. They want to be part of the Jewishcommunity, be active members of the Jewish com-munity, and they don’t want to miss out on being at aplace with 3,500 other Jewish leaders.”The students, who came from Owings Mills High

School, Pikesville High School, McDonogh Schooland Beth Tfiloh, each had their own GA goals. Forsome, it was networking; for others, it was hearingfamed author Elie Wiesel speak; some just wantedto expand their Jewish experience.“This experience is pretty cool as a Jewish youth,”

said Ryan Simon, a senior at Owings Mills. “To seeJews from all over the country gather together ispretty impressive.”Sarah Miller, 17, a senior at Pikesville High School,

said getting a chance to hear Wiesel, a Nobel Prize-winning author who described his life as a Holocaustsurvivor in his renowned book “Night,” made attend-ing the GA an opportunity she couldn’t turn down.“I just love [Wiesel’s] work,” she said. “I had to jump

at this opportunity when it was presented to me.”— David Snyder and Ron Snyder

Youth MovementLocal students excitedabout GA experience

Women, Work and TraditionIsrael’s Haredi community today

Secular Women Making StridesIn Israel, there is another sect of women that is feelingthe crunch — not so much economically, but socially.Led by Anat Hoffman, leader of Women of theWall,

a group that has been organizing monthly prayer serv-ices at the Kotel, some religious but non-Orthodoxwomen are vying for equal rights in prayer.In a Tuesday session put on with the support of the

Joseph and Harvey Meyerhoff Family CharitableFunds, Hoffman was met with a warm welcome. Shecame to speak about the need for greater religiouspluralism in Israel. However, she didn’t do a lot ofHaredi bashing. Instead, Hoffman told the audiencethere are “50 shades of black.”“Most ultra-Orthodox can tolerate a group of

women praying once a month at the Kotel,” she said.Like Hoffman, Rabbi Uri Ayalon, CEO of the pro-

pluralism Hatnua Yerushalmit, believes the growingultra-Orthodox population in Jerusalem is not forcinga liberal retreat from the city. His organization boughtspace for 140 outdoor ads depicting female activists toprove there would not be a backlash from ultra-Ortho-dox Jews for displaying pictures of women.“Only four were damaged,” he said. “What’s hap-

pening in Jerusalem is not being done by the ultra-Orthodox, but by what we think they will say and do.”

— David Holzel

Just

inTs

ucal

as

NCSY youth participatedin the GA this year.

general assembly 2012

19-24-cardin,ga:Layout 1 11/14/12 2:25 PM Page 24