On Monday, Sept. 23, the media center held guest speakers: three Israelis, each with a yellow ribbon pinned to their shirt. During periods four, five, six and club time, all available Hebrew classes participated in a Q&A with the Israelis, who came from a non-governmental organization called Israel-is.
Israel-is is based in Tel Aviv, with the goal of promoting Israel’s image around the globe. The organization sends Israelis to different campuses and summits to share their personal stories and connections to Israel, in the hope of benefitting Israel’s image worldwide. Aviv Kurna, Global Partnership Manager at Israel-is and one of the speakers who visited JDS, works with many Jewish communities outside of Israel. He is also currently serving in the Israeli Air Force as a reservist working to find intelligence related to the hostages in Gaza.
“We are trying to bring our personal stories, our personal perspectives, into a discussion with the students,” Kurna said. “[We are trying to] have the opportunity to stop a day or an hour of school and have a real discussion, not just about Israel, but actually going into deep conversations.”
Anat Kaufman, the Israel Engagement Coordinator at the Upper School, attended the Israel-American Council summit this past weekend where she spoke with the Israel-is organization. When speaking with them, Kaufman decided it would be a great opportunity to have the organization’s representatives speak to some of the students at CESJDS. There were many different available programs that the organization offered, such as VR goggles that show what different kibbutzim looked like after Oct. 7, but Kaufman decided that a Q&A session would be the best fit for the school.
“Students need knowledge to answer and to fight in the social media against so many things that are not true,” Kaufman said. “They need to know what happened there. And as you hear they told only facts. They talk about facts … To meet people that actually fought or have been there or suffered from what happened, is different.”
President of Israel Club and junior Neely Shemony said that she enjoys having these types of programs because it allows her to hear firsthand accounts of experiences of Oct. 7, both from civilian and military perspectives. Shemony believes it is very important to listen to because everyone has had a different experience and a different story.
“I think it’s important because there’s been a lot of disconnect in Judaism and in connection to Israel in the last year,” Shemony said “It’s very valuable to listen to personal experiences. Also, a lot of students here don’t have family in Israel or have never been to Israel before, and I feel like this can be a glimpse into what it could be like in life, and it is a way to add to our own experiences of how we viewed Oct. 7 from America and seeing it from an Israeli perspective.”
Kaufman agreed with Shemony that in addition to learning the facts of what happened on Oct. 7, and throughout the following year, it’s important for students to hear first-hand accounts of how individuals’ lives have changed so drastically in the past year. Kaufman hopes to have speakers from Israel-is come back to JDS to speak to teachers and hopefully parents.
“It is important to me to let people tell their own stories,” Kaufman said. “That is stronger than anything else.”
