I have been fortunate enough to be asked to return to the Morim Limmud program and represent my school in the second year of this exchange. But this year is going to be different; this year we are taking students with us. How exciting!
As my colleagues and I begin planning for the program, I’ve been thinking a lot about what I learned in the first year.
For me, examining the complexity of Jewish identity amongst many Hungarian Jews was compelling. It was fascinating and educational to discover how similar the struggle is to develop and enrich Jewish identity amongst young adults, to witnessing how similar teen spirit is across the world, and how different the school atmosphere and culture is between the Adelson Campus and Lauder Javne. I want my students to get to examine these similarities and others, as well as the differences which exist. I want them to learn from them.
How can I prepare my students for what they are about to experience? How can I convey the depth of what I hope this encounter will teach them? How can I ensure they get the most of what the program has to offer?
We’ve scheduled weekly sessions with the group where we are exploring some topics relevant to the program and the upcoming trip, focusing on Jewish identity in and out of the U.S. We are discussing what it means to be Jewish, how one may define their Judaism, and Jewish denominations to which they might belong. We are also considering the influence (or lack thereof) of the State of Israel, the Holocaust, Halacha, the Hebrew language, and more on our Jewish American identities. We are asking the students to keep in mind these factors as they connect with their Hungarian peers. I hope our sessions will serve as fertile ground for an educational, meaningful, interesting, and fun experience for all the students. I hope it will push them to ask further questions about their own Jewish identities as well as that of their Hungarian counterparts.
