Dear Students,

Thank you for showing up. 30,000 proud leading the historic march on Washington for Israel with a total of 300,000 strong.

On October 7^th everything changed for us as a people, for your generation and for mine too. But seeing you standing there in Washington on November 14^th, standing with pride, in unity and resolved to act, brought a ray of light to this ever so dark time in humanity’s history. You shared your thoughts and worries about the present and dreams and hopes for the future. The words you used that day gave us all permission to be afraid, while feeling strong; be confused, while having clarity; feel helpless while feeling empowered; feel shame while feeling pride. In your words, “a plurality of opinion and debate is important, it’s also very Jewish.” And I would add, it is quintessentially Young Judaean.

We are sorry.

What a world, what a world that you’ve inherited

Who ever thought that in our lifetime, “never again” would have been forgotten?

Who ever thought that in our beloved country, the one that welcomed your grandparents with open arms and the American dream,

There would be shouting of death to the Jews, from the river to the sea, an actual living nightmare.

This generation is the woke generation, and yet, for all our wokeness, we will never be one of them.

We will always remain other, but somehow, we are still seen as the oppressor and never as the oppressed.

Now, I am not saying we don’t have to check our immense privilege, and we do, it is on us to take responsibility for what we do.

But history is showing us that not even that privilege will protect us when they come for you.

So, you might ask, what is one to do?

Don’t be ashamed.

Stand proud, Shma Israel, for five thousand years our people have proclaimed their faith

Don’t lose your way.

Stand on principles, Am kadosh, we must earn our blessedness with every spoken word and action taken

Don’t be cynical.

Stand with idealism, B’emunah shlemah, and tap into that inner optimist

Don’t despair.

Stand with hope, Hatikvah, it is our secret Jew power

Don’t stand on the sidelines.

Stand ready to act, Na’ase v’nishma, we are a people of action and not just words

Don’t let them divide us.

Stand with open hearts, Am echad im lev echad, one heartbeat, one people

Don’t do this alone.

Stand together , Ani v’ata, Together, You and I will change the world.

As you return to your schools and campuses, we know we have a lot of work to do. But as it has been Jewish tradition for millennia, we refuse to stop celebrating when we’re together, we refuse to pause any practice of Judaism, and despite all the good and the bad, we will never stop choosing life.

Am Israel Chai.

With deepest admiration,

Adina Hocsman Frydman, CEO of Young Judaea Global

 

 

Written by Young Judaean Talia Bodner, spoken at the March for Israel in Washington DC on November 14, 2023

It’s been 38 days, thats 1 month plus a week
Since our lives turned upside down and the world turned their cheek
I wake up each morning wracked with worry, the world feels bleak
As we fall victim everyday to baseless hatred and constant critique

But we are not defenseless and we are not weak
We have an army that will make this a winning streak
We are modern day Maccabees, strong and unique
And we have each other and the power to speak
To speak up about justice and to fight for what’s right
To give voice to the victims swallowed up in the night

Like you – I am a Jew
And I am a proud one too!
there is so much that we have all been through
And now I am here standing in front of all you
So what are we here to do?
What brought you to this place on today of all days?
What is it that you all have to say?
We’re here because we are tired of being quiet.
We have a voice, and now it’s time that we try it.

You see
This is not only about our tiny home across the sea
And the soldiers who fight each day to keep Israel free
This is about all those who feel hurt, sad, and angry
We have lost too many innocent lives it’s hurting everybody
Both Palestinian and Israeli
We all deserve dignity

This is about Jews around the world, in every community
This is about those who make up the rest of our family tree
This is about my friends at Columbia and the Jewish Theological Seminary
This is about students on campuses where they don’t like what they see
This is about day schools, youth groups, gap years, camps, and our chosen family
This is about you and this is about me
This is about all of us who came from around the country
To cry out in the face of insanity

We are Jews proudly
And we will defend Israel loudly
Let us stand up against inhumanity
Let us fight for a land and home we will never have to flee
We are a nation who does not go down so easily
You and me, we stand in unity
We have agency
We write our own history
Let’s make our own destiny.

Thank you for your work, it means more than you know
Though the work that we do feels ever so slow
Steady we work towards a better tomorrow

Here we stand, proudly at the capitol of our nation
We bring the new generation
We are ready to lead
We stand here today to sow the seeds
For a more perfect future that we know this world needs
Today we raise our voices as loud as our deeds

Today we do not need to be quiet with heads bowed
Today we are allowed
We can raise our voices out loud
We stand in a crowd to express our Jewish pride
We say to the world, we will no longer hide
Let our voices ring out, echoing far and traveling wide
We will not be denied
As we stand alongside
Together our voices amplified
And we will be heard

We sing for Israel, our voices sweet like song birds
And we will be heard

Our love for our homeland transcends more than words
And we will be heard

Hear us now, hear our message word for word
Today we raise our voices loud to the world

And we will be heard
We will be heard