Mazal tov to Lauder Fellow Neely Kasanoff for winning the award for Outstanding Cross-Community Initiative from the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at New York University! The award came due to her hard work developing Abrahama, a new club on campus, as her Fellowship project.
Kasanoff was featured on a podcast episode highlighting diversity in the Jewish community at NYU. Listen to the episode here.
FEJJE, UGEI, and the Jewish Youth of Portugal announced their FEJJETON. From June 16 to 18, FEJJE is hosting a Shabbaton for Jewish students in Madrid, Spain. There will be professional speakers, a pool party, and more. The food will be 100% Kosher!
To sign up, you must be a part of one of the three student unions. Press the button below to register if qualified.
In the latest episode of the Jewish World Podcast, by the World Jewish Congress, WUJS President Yana Naftalieva sits down with JD Efrat Sopher to discuss antisemitism on campus, the challenges Jewish students face, and how how to empower students.
In the latest episode of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry podcast Jewish World, '22-23 Lauder Fellow Alissa Foster sits down with WJC JDCorps Staff Rabbi Isaac Choua to discuss Sephardi Jewry.
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to help design, create, research, and be at the forefront of Jewish advocacy? Well, now is your chance! The World Jewish Congress is seeking an intern for the Communications Team. You can learn more about the position by clicking the button below!
*This position is open to candidates globally and is a paid position.
As I walked through what was once the Warsaw Ghetto, I thought of the diary entries I’ve read of Jews trapped within its walls. Leyb Goldin writes, "Intellectual! Where are you with your, with your theories, with your dreams? Your goals. You educated imbecile! Answer me…The world’s turning upside down. A planet melts in tears. And I, I am hungry.”
I hear these words not only as a cry to the world in August 1941, but perhaps more so as a plea to us today. Academic scholarship of Holocaust history is absolutely necessary. Widespread Holocaust education mandates are absolutely necessary. But Goldin implores us to think beyond formalities. The Holocaust is too barbaric to understand solely through academic footnotes and Ivy League degrees.
In Warsaw I felt the desperation more than I ever could through my studies. I felt it in the Jewish cemetery as I stood by the pile of stones under which tens of thousands of anonymous Jewish bodies are buried. I felt it in the yellowing pages of the Ringelblum archive, which a group of Jews so courageously compiled and hid despite the deadly consequences of doing so. I felt it in the eyes of survivors who spoke with us, people who had spent a lifetime mourning for the family that they lost to the Ghetto.
I am so grateful for the opportunity to have joined the World Jewish Congress and WJC NextGen in Warsaw. It was an honor to hear speeches from the Polish, German, and Israeli presidents, who all spoke eloquently about the importance of commemorating this history. But at the end of each day, all I could think of were the words of Leyb Goldin. No words—not even those of a state leader—can fully convey the reality that the beating heart of Europe's Jewish community was destroyed.
The Jewish people endured unimaginable degradation in the streets on which our delegation walked. By the end of my time in Warsaw, the only response I could muster to this assault on our people was nothing more than a solemn silence.
Last night Havurah of NextGenInc. held a fashion show celebrating Jewish fashion. The show was successful with a diverse runway and clothing celebrating the spirit of the Jewish uniform from Tzniut to Larry David and the wide variety of pickles! There were more than 50 attendees to help celebrate and indulge in Jewish fashion. Brands ranging from Batsheva to the handcrafted jewelry of Noemie were highlighted on the runway.
INC. project Jewish Original Media released the Season 4 Premier of their podcast "Two Tall Jews." The special guest for the episode is the author and a true front-runner of the Jewish Pride movement, a member of the WJC's Jewish Diplomatic Corps, Ben M. Freeman (UK).
Meet Ahlan Europe: A joint project of three Lauder Fellows Hanna Nir, Emma Halali, and Guy Dabby-Joory. Ahlan Europe is a collective for European Jewish students with Middle Eastern and North African heritage. This project is bringing together European Jewish students with MENA heritage who typically find themselves in majority-Ashkenazi spaces.
Interested in learning more? Make sure to follow @ahlaneurope on Instagram to stay up to date on their work.
Congratulations to Lauder Fellow Hanna Nir on being elected for a second term as president of the Swedish Union of Jewish Youth!
We commend Hanna for her dedication to making change for Jewish students and look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the coming term.
