In their second year of the Homestead Jewish Club with new leaders Shayna Braunstein, senior, and Libby Becker, junior along with Rabbi Moshie, the club has a new vision of more engagement and education about Judaism and things happening in the Middle East.
The Jewish Club welcomes anyone who wants to join. It is not strictly for Jewish students; in fact, they want non-Jewish students to join and come to things as well.
Rabbi Moshie works with the club and loves it when anyone curious to learn more about Judaism or things in the middle east or any other topic your unsure about and want to learn more about.
“The primary purpose of the club is to serve the needs of the Jewish students, but there is a very practical benefit to the school as a whole, that there be a club or program for every group including the Jewish students. In addition, it creates an awareness and an appreciation of Jewish culture and traditions to those that are unfamiliar with Jewish life,” Moshie said.
He added, “The main goals for the Jewish students/participants, is the sense of ‘community’ with each other among the student body and to feel more comfortable and more confident with their Jewish identity. And to share common traditions and activities that strengthen their Jewish Identity.”
One of the new leaders of the club, Braunstein, also has a vision for where she would like to see the club go.
“A big goal we have for the Homestead Jewish Club is to simply create a community throughout the Homestead. In this time of distress concerning Israel, we want to make sure every Jewish student here feels like they have people they can lean on and feel united with,” Braunstein said.
Braunstein also shared that “We will incorporate education components about Jewish culture and history by creating an open environment where we learn through discussion and questions as opposed to presenting facts. We believe in a pluralistic approach to Judaism. Even though there are many different types of Judaism, the Homestead Jewish Club welcomes all types. We will engage different members from different Jewish backgrounds by adjusting to the needs of all Jewish students. This entails keeping kosher and saying a blessing during meals, but other than that the students are able to participate as much or as little in the Jewish rituals.”
Becker, another leader of the club also had thoughts to share.
“Our vision for the Homestead Jewish club is to watch it grow and have Jewish teens from Homestead become more active in the Jewish community around them, as well as help unite the Homestead Jewish students to show that we are all there for each other. We also have high hopes of educating people about the Jewish religion who may not be Jewish or people who are Jewish and don’t know very much about Judaism.”
Becker added, “I highly anticipate having to deal with lots of antisemitism and many negative/opposing comments on our topics. I expect people to not fully agree with what we are demonstrating as a club, but I plan to teach people about Judaism and make sure everyone’s perspectives are heard but be sure to educate people on how things work in the Jewish religion rather than arguing about hateful comments.”
Lastly, Becker said, “We hope this club will educate the Homestead community and stop any hate against Jewish people. In addition, we want to create a strong Jewish community where everyone feels safe and welcome. We aim to help all Jewish teens from Homestead discover their own Jewish identities.”
Click here to learn more!
