The state of Jewish youth

VARIOUS

Martin Skudicky, rosh machaneh of Bnei Akiva 2017 

It’s in the values 

The Jewish youth of South Africa carry a sense of desire to shape and mould the future into their own. They are doing some pretty special things while, at the same time, trying to balance more than just a fidget spinner in their everyday lives.

The key values of the youth that stand out for me, are unity, pride, generosity and sincerity. It is clear from the way they engage with each other, as well as with other ethnic/cultural groups, that they are a product of the warmth that the South African Jewish people are known for.

Another indicator of their values is the fact that so many initiatives that help South Africans socially, environmentally or culturally, are being largely driven by our youth. They are an incredible source of change and are key to propelling this community and country to a better future.

When I look at how our Jewish youth view their community, it can often vary. Some prefer and enjoy being in the “bubble” of our Jewish community, whereas others enjoy socialising with various groups of people from various schools and backgrounds.

Bnei Akiva believes in an equilibrium of this, engaging in chessed and interacting in the South African community, while still striving to stay close to our own Jewish community. A real Bnei Akiva chanich stands firmly behind the Jewish community and no matter what our differences may be with other South Africans or Jews, there is a unique unity we enjoy and cherish as Jews and as South Africans.

It is hard to say where the majority of the Jewish youth are holding from a religious framework, but the amount of love, respect and traditional practice in this community is unparalleled.

I have had the privilege of seeing crowds of hundreds gather to say tehillim for someone who is ill. I have experienced the power of hearing roaring voices proudly declare “Shema Yisrael!” at ruach sessions on camp.

I have been moved by the views of how to treat a fellow human being with respect and dignity when conversing with kids, teenagers and young adults.

This is but a few of the many more amazing mitzvot performed by our unbelievable Jewish youth on a regular basis.

Ultimately, when I take into consideration our youth as a whole, I look back at what John F Kennedy once said: “The future promise of any nation can be directly measured by the present prospects of its youth.” And what an immense future that is for us as a community! 

Adam Dison, Habonim Dror Southern Africa mazkir klali (secretary-general) 2017 

We are the future 

I’m driving my nine-year-old relative home who’s a learner at a Jewish day school. He turns to me and says: “Adam, I’m gender fluid.” I was slightly shocked at his eloquence, and happy he is able to tell me something like this that is potentially very difficult for someone to talk about. He goes on to explains his take on this in his own young and eloquent way.

Obviously, very young children say things they don’t fully understand. Yet what is interesting here is the proliferation of this discussion that society is having with itself. The discussion about gender in all senses is a flash point for youth these days.

Whether it’s Facebook discussions being trolled by those who are for or against; or school classes being interrupted be the common “don’t assume my gender”, this discussion is everywhere.

 However, with many other topics today, the youth have a much harder time saying exactly what they mean.

Ask a Jewish youth today about their take on wealth inequality in South Africa post-apartheid and you will get a far less thought-out answer – whatever their take on this is.

This may be based on which issues face youth in their everyday lives. Our youth are to some extent sheltered from South Africa’s other far bigger problems, but such is the nature of a community that is relatively well-off.

With this being said, I think we are seeing a generation growing up in a time where they can and do say: “I oppose these norms and I will be different.” Such signs are always inspiring even if they are juvenile, because it shows that the youth understand their role in society; they understand that they are the future.

Whatever is the reality for youth today, is likely to be the reality in the future society they will create. If they choose now to break down gender norms, this will be the outcome. The same is true for many issues.  With this as the reality, I believe everyone should be hopeful for this generation.

While we are young, we have shown a healthy disregard for norms, a strong connection to our Jewish heritage and tradition and a passion for learning. We should not forget the famous spiritual and cultural Jewish leader Martin Buber’s words: “The youth are humanity’s eternal hope for happiness.” With each generation, Buber continues, the possibility that the youth will create a society that is better than the one we have, is always likely and an imperative of youth.

Along with the youth today, comes many hardships, especially at school level. Youth are told not to think differently or that some ways of thinking should never be explored.

Education today has less to do with making sure we are creating a generation who is strong-minded, ready for the challenges of life after school, and more to do with ensuring high grades are achieved to ensure a good university in later life.

The clearest showing of the failure of the first (not thinking differently) is the way in which Jewish youth interact with each other. Taught to hate those with different thoughts and fuelled by various forces in their lives, youth often wind up hating each other even within our schools.

This is probably the biggest challenge we should face together, creating platforms for youth to discuss their ideas and come together. This does not need to be a unity around one idea. In fact, it would be un-Jewish for a Jewish community to be united in their thought.

Like Hillel and Shamai, Orthodoxy and Reform, Likud and Avodah, we must celebrate diverse Jewish thought and empower it. Often these differences have brought Jewish people into conflict with each other, but we must try to raise a generation which will be different, better and achieve nuanced constructive debate. 

Marc Nathanson, Mazkir of Netzer SA

Working towards unity in Jewish youth 

The youth in South Africa are doers, as one would see from the #FeesMustFall protests, and Jewish youth are much a part of the action generation.

Jewish youth today are still grounded in values that make the Jewish people so prominent, special and display an amazing sense of togetherness. They carry the values that the Torah teaches and this is shown in our interactions with one another (Jews and non-Jews alike) and our wanting to support each other. We value diversity, unity, social change, Zionism and kindness. 

The Jewish youth today, to my knowledge, has grown closer together and have developed a greater sense of community. As progressive Jews, we aren’t always accepted by the rest of the community. Netzer madrichim and channichim often approach me, asking why Orthodox Jews do not regard us as real Jews. I am often left without an answer.

I too would love to understand this because I believe that all Jews are Jews.

Orthodox Jewish youth could be more sensitive to Progressive Jews, because it is often very hard to enter an Orthodox shul and to be accepted as a person, but have your Judaism questioned. This happens to so many of us.

While young Jews are very accepting of others, more needs to be done.

We can often be found at the forefront of many political events. A case in point is Israel Apartheid Week. It was clear how the dedication of the youth to ensure that Zionism isn’t thrown in the dirt, was admirable. It amazed me there how the Jewish youth came together in support of Zionism and unity.

I have a strong belief that Jewish youth have a major role to play in this country and that it will take it to greater heights. 

Ruby Ichikowitz, SAUJS National Liaison Officer

Broadening the spirit of ubuntu 

Youth Day on June 16, offers an opportune time for us as South Africa’s next generation to reflect on our role in our great country. 

As the “born free generation”, we have been afforded the privilege of growing up in a democratic South Africa, but we also have a duty to uphold and celebrate this hard-fought democracy. I am proud to call myself an Afro-optimist and believe that our generation has benefited immensely from our stability and freedom which we often take for granted.

Our new-found democracy has not been the only factor to shape Jewish youth of today. We have been moulded by a tightly bound community, with very strong principles and values, as well as a great sense of Jewish affinity, whether it be religious or cultural.

Through my four years at Wits University, I have seen that many of my Jewish friends and peers are on the other side of the optimism scale to me.

It can be argued that the university campus is not the most comforting place for our students. It can be argued that political animosity towards Israel might manifest itself into isolated incidents of anti-Semitism. It can be argued that Jews are stereotyped by many.

However, in my experience, there is a very simple explanation for this: One of our strongest strengths is our tremendous sense of Jewish community, but it might be one of our biggest weaknesses as well. We tend to focus all our efforts and energy inwards and can often distance, isolate and exclude us from our broader South African brethren. 

I believe that 99 per cent of animosity that students might experience on campus, is because of a lack of authentic and meaningful interactions with people outside of our community. 

It is often assumed that we as people might be racist because we stick so closely together, yet we stick so closely together not because of racism, but because we assume that we are unwelcome. The fact is that neither of these assumptions are true and there is no reason why this vicious cycle should be perpetuated. 

Unfortunately, our classmates do not get to know us because of the beers we share, nor because of the soccer we play together, nor the social issues we add our voices to. Rather, we are perceived through dated propaganda and misconceptions. 

How are we to expect those stereotypes to be broken when there is nothing for people’s opinions to be reformulated on?

As SAUJS, we are strong believers in being active citizens within our broader South African and African communities. In our experiences, once the initial barrier of misconception is broken, tremendous friendships are formed and we very quickly learn how much unites us rather than divides us.

By working with diverse organisations from the Inala Food Security Forum to the Black Lawyers Association, we have tried to bring us closer to groups and organisations across the political and social spectrum.  

We believe in dialogue as a form of conflict resolution and that through interaction we can drive social change. Not only is this SAUJS’s stance on issues such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, but it is our advice that this should be taken to heart by all our constituents to be used in their daily lives.

In our experience, simple engagements de-mystify our Jewishness and we are no longer antagonised to the extent that we used to tolerate. This is simply because we have open doors and started conversations.

Zulu philosophy teaches us of ubuntu, the concept that “umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu”, which literally means that a person is a person through other people. In our community, we are fortunate to live these principles of ubuntu every day.  

As the youth of today, we need to understand that it is our duty as fellow custodians of our great nation, to be active South African citizens. University life presents a multitude of opportunities for this. We encourage everyone to join a SAUJS committee, run for school councils, or even for the SRC at your university.

Let us draw inspiration from the amazing Jewish personalities who have driven immense change in our society, such as Helen Suzman, Ruth First and Joe Slovo and let us broaden the spirit of ubuntu which is already innately within us, to include the entire broader South African community.