Many Jewish teens are experiencing antisemitism linked to the Israel-Hamas war. In the coming months, Congregation Anshei Israel will present two free workshops about antisemitism that are open to high school students community-wide. The second workshop also will include a session for parents or guardians of teens.
Gabriel Ivker, the Southwest high school regional manager at StandWithUs, an international nonprofit Israel education organization founded in 2001, will lead the workshops.
“Education is the best way I know to fight against hatred,” says Ivker. “Programs like these help students and community members learn how to become empowered to stand up for themselves and their communities.”
The first workshop, “Antisemitism vs. Legitimate Criticism of Israel,” will be held via Zoom on Sunday, Jan. 7 at 7 p.m. In this session, Ivker will evaluate recent examples of antisemitism and legitimate criticism of Israel, to help students distinguish between the two. It will provide a toolkit to push back against antisemitism and to navigate difficult discussions about Israel, whether in a one-on-one conversation or on a larger platform.
To receive the Zoom link for this session, contact Nichole Chorny, cantorial soloist and education & youth director at Anshei Israel, at cantorialsoloist@caiaz.org.
The second workshop, “Responding to Hatred,” will include a 45-minute session for teens and a separate session for their parents or guardians. It will be held at CAI on Sunday, Feb. 11, from 12:30-2 p.m. and will include lunch sponsored by the Weintraub Israel Center.
In this workshop, Ivker will aim to empower students and others with suggestions of how they might effectively respond to antisemitism. The presentation includes three sections: identifying classical manifestations of antisemitism (both religious and racial conceptions), antisemitism that is related to Israel, and effective tools for responding to antisemitism.
RSVP is required by Thursday, Feb. 8. Register here.
