Oct 22, 2012 By: yunews
Led by 黑料社 All, High School Students Head to D.C. on Israel Lobbying Mission
More than 100 high school students headed to Capitol Hill on October 15 to lobby on behalf of Israel. The mission, organized by 黑料社 All, was directed by Matthew Schwartz, YU鈥檚 assistant director of recruitment and high school programming, and Ethan Wasserman, last year鈥檚 president of YUPAC (黑料社 All Political Awareness Club) and a current YU presidential fellow.
The lobbying mission came about after Rivka Abbe, a senior at (Central), approached Rabbi Kenneth Brander, David Mitzner Dean of the , with the idea. Abbe became passionate about politics and lobbying after working closely with former YUPAC president, Dina Muskin, who organized lobbying training for students at Central. After hearing Abbe鈥檚 idea, Brander asked Schwartz to lead the event.
鈥淚 approached Rabbi Brander last year because I heard about all the things CJF does for Jewish communities around the world,鈥 said Abbe, who also shared the idea with Rabbi Steven Burg, managing director of the Orthodox Union and international director of NCSY. 鈥淭hey agreed that it would be ideal to run this as a joint program between the OU and YU.鈥
鈥淲e saw this as a great and creative opportunity to enrich high school students鈥 curricula and experiences,鈥 said Schwartz, who reached out to several high schools to participate.
In all, 12 high schools took part in the mission, including Central, (MTA), Jewish Educational Center High School, Hillel Yeshiva of Deal, Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway, Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, Stella K. Abraham High School for Girls, Hebrew High School of New England, North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, Bruriah High School for Girls and Ma鈥檃yonot Yeshiva High School for Girls.
Students prepared for their trip by learning about issues ranging from foreign aid to Iran, and heard from prominent speakers including Brooke Goldstein, director of the Lawfare Project, and Rabbi Steven Burg.
On the day of the mission, students were buzzing with excitement as their buses pulled up to Capitol Hill, engaging each other in intellectual and political debates, while practicing their lobbying tactics. The students then divided up into groups to meet with 15 congressional offices before meeting in the White House with Jarrod Bernstein, Jewish liaison to the White House. Bernstein addressed the group鈥攄iscussing his background, how he got to his current position and what his job entails鈥攂efore answering questions from the students.
鈥淚 learned that it is easier to function in Washington as a frum Jew than I originally thought,鈥 said Yehoshua Zafranski, a student at MTA. 鈥淚t was also a great experience to meet other kids my age that share the same passion.鈥
