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March 14, 2003/Adar2 10 5763, Vol. 55, No. 29
Young adults learn to 'make it happen'
LEISAH NAMM
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 Twenty-three young adults from Phoenix visited San Francisco March 7-9 to attend the United Jewish Communities Western Regional Young Leadership Conference. Phoenix participants visiting the Golden Gate Bridge are from left, are Brad Cohen, John Magoulas, Keith Mishkin, Deborah Hertz, Barbra Schwartz, Beth Belfer, Leisah Namm and Hannah Romberg. Photo courtesy of Leisah Namm |
This quote by Zionist leader Theodor Herzl was the theme of the United Jewish Communities Young Leader-ship Western Regional Conference, held March 7-9 in San Francisco.
The conference's motto, reinforced like a mantra throughout the weekend, was "Make it happen."
Through listening to guest speakers and participating in social action projects, about 600 young Jewish adults - 23 from Phoenix - learned how to "make it happen" in their local communities and the Jewish community as a whole.
At one session, Diego Freedman, who spoke about the current plight of Buenos Aires' Jewish community, summed up the main essence of the conference: "You never know the impact one person can have," he says. "When you leave here, go do something."
In a session called "It's a Small World After All: Stories from around the world," Freedman, a Buenos Aires native, talked about the lives of Argentina's "new poor" - middle class professionals who lost their jobs and their savings.
Freedman, the director of community center develop-ment at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Com-mittee, described what the JDC is doing to assist Argentine Jews - which includes providing food vouchers rather than food packages to preserve the recipients' dignity.
Conference participants also shared programs in their own communities. For example, in the "Small World" session, a member of the audience announced that Jewish day schools in her city have started penpal pro-grams to help educate American children about Argentina while helping the children in Argentina know that other Jews care about them.
Another speaker at the same session was Sharon Faulkner, a freelance photographer who has documented the living conditions of elderly Soviet Jews, as well as the Siberian Jews of the Gulag Trail, some of who were survivors of Stalin's Soviet prison system. Faulkner, who has previously visited Phoenix with her photography presentation, pleaded with audience members to remember these elderly, whose conditions might become overshadowed by the needs of those in Israel and Argentina.
Other speakers included Dennis Prager, author and nationally syndicated talk show host; Elliot Brandt, American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) western states director; Linda Scherzer, former Middle East correspondent for CNN and Israel Television; and author Adam D. Shandler (see story on page 18).
Dave Sherman of Scotts-dale, a nationally recognized speaker, trainer and writer - and a member of the UJC National Young Leadership Cabinet - presented "The Fine Art of Fearless Fundraising."
Since UJC conferences are geared toward singles and married couples, sessions included programs for both, from "What's so Funny About Being Single" to "Raising Kids in a Non-Jewish World."
As speakers discussed topics such as "The New Age of Terrorism, What is the Real Threat," "The Never Ending Story: The Middle East Conflict" and "Becoming Effective Advocates for Israel," a war protest was underway outside the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco's Union Square, where the conference took place.
Another element of "making it happen" included participants taking part in social action projects such as sending a video message to Israeli soldiers, donating new or gently used English-language children's books to Israeli schools, purchasing Israeli products and registering with the Bone Marrow Gift Registry.
"Young leaders need a place to renew our passions and recommit to the values of tikkun olam and tzedakah," says Ellen Kagen Waghel-stein of Washington, co-chair of the UJC National Young Leadership Cabinet. The conference allows parti-cipants to "build upon our own skills to help strengthen our campaigns and expand the growing pool of young adults who are inspired to bring about social change, thus creating more vibrant and purposeful Jewish communities," she says in a UJC press release.
"They will also provide a stronger connection to Israel and our global Jewish family."
With low levels of Jewish affiliation in Phoenix, conferences of this type may be a catalyst for people to become involved in the Valley's Jewish community, says John Magoulas, senior campaign associate of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, who attended the conference. People who attend UJC conferences and missions "come back to our community and become leaders in our community," he says. "When people choose to come to a conference like this, they are going to come back to the Valley inspired."
Donations from an anony-mous donor allowed the federation to offer partial subsidies to local parti-cipants.
"Because of the philan-thropy of this young leader in our community, we were extremely fortunate to be able to provide subsidies and engage others to attend the conference who would not have attended otherwise," Magoulas says. "We're extremely fortunate to have people like this in our community."
Kimberly Kur, who has attended six consecutive UJC conferences, says she hopes that the Valley's Jewish community continues to encourage and subsidize conference attendance.
"The experience is so critical not just for the individual who attends, but also for the community that benefits from that individual's participation and enthusiasm," she says. Kur is on the executive committee of the YLD board, the co- vice president of the YLD campaign of the local federation and a member of UJC's National Young Leadership Cabinet.
She says that attending the various sessions inspired her, but that she is mostly "inspired (and) affected by having so many young, motivated Jewish people come together to learn, educate and inspire each other while also having a great time.
"I get excited knowing how my first conference changed my life and each conference I go to will not only enrich my life further, but will be life-transforming for so many others," she says.
The depth of knowledge and dedication of the speak- ers and presenters made the biggest impression on Hannah Romberg of Scotts-dale, a local YLD board member and participant in the Kol Ishah leadership training program of the federation's Women's Di-vision.
Some of the attendees, presenters and organizers were "so sharp and have accomplished and (had done) so much that I literally walked away thinking, 'I'm not worthy,' " she says. "What incredible role models."
The San Francisco con-ference was Phoenix resident Brad Cohen's first UJC conference. "Overall, I really enjoyed the experience," he says, "Especially as I became close with the other members of our delegation."
It was also the first UJC conference for David Levin, who says he has been "peripherally involved" in the Jewish community over the years.
"Since the birth of my son Drew in January 2001, I have been feeling an even stronger connection to my Jewish roots," he says. "I met so many wonderful people at the conference, and I saw such powerful speakers. I intend to become more involved in the local Jewish community."
The conference closed with a presentation by Erin Gruwell, a high school teacher in Long Beach Calif., and the founder and presi-dent of the Tolerance Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization de-voted to teaching toler- ance and funding college scholarships for under-privileged students.
Gruwell led more than 150 of her students in a trans-formation from being "at-risk" teens - headed toward probable futures of prison, teen pregnancy or early death - into high school graduates who are now attending college.
The teens' classroom diary entries were made into the book, "Freedom Writers' Diary - How a Teacher and 150 Teens Used Writing to Change Themselves and the World Around Them," now being made into a movie starring Reese Wither-spoon.
Gruwell "demonstrated so profoundly how one person can dramatically affect the lives of so many others and how in order to do that you have to persevere, not listen to your critics ... and work harder than you ever thought possible," says local YLD board member David Pinkus. "There was not a dry eye in the audience after hearing her story."
Many participants voiced that Gruwell's story in particular was the most powerful presentation of the weekend.
"That one person could make a difference in the lives of so many is wonderful and inspiring," Kur says. "But what she is doing now by sharing her story with the world will have a ripple effect that has no bounds."
The national UJC Young Leadership Conference will be held March 21-23, 2004, in Washington, D.C. For more information about the conference or how to get involved locally with YLD, call Magoulas, 480-634-4900 ext. 1128 or visit www.ujc.org.
Contact the writer at leisah_namm@jewishaz.com.
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UJC National Spring/Summer Missions
- We Stand with Israel Mission
March 23-28
- National Passover Mission
April 14-25
- Yom Ha'Atzmaut Solidarity Mission
May 4-11
- National Young Adults Mission to Israel
(for singles and couples ages 25-40)
June 29-July 6
- Summer Singles Mission to Argentina
(ages 25-40)
Aug. 28-Sept. 4
- For more information, call 480-634-4900, ext. 1128, or visit www.ujc.org.