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Guest Column
Editorial
Following the
earthquake and
resultant tsunami
that struck Japan on
March 11, 2011, 26
North American Jewish
organizations came
together to form the
Jewish Coalition for
Japan Relief.
JDC: Restoring Hope In Japan
Young adults in the Glass program learn about anti-Semitism and how to combat it.
ADL Trains Young Leaders
To Fight Anti-Semitism, Hate
i ffy - two years ago, four African
American high school students in
Greensboro, N.C., buoyed by their con-
victions and having taken solace in each other's
friendships, refused to leave a lunch counter at
which they had been refused service.
Four years later, three more
young adults, two of them Jewish,
were lynched for their participa-
tion in the voter registration efforts
during the Freedom Summer.
Their bravery was undeniable and
their actions, as we all know, led
to the eventual passage of the Civil
Rights Act and Voting Rights Act of
1964 and 1965.
In fact, young adults have always
been on the front lines of social
justice, and I am proud to report
that this remains the case today.
As a participant and co-chair of the Anti-
Defamation League's Glass/Sills Young Adult
Leadership Program, I have witnessed the con-
tinuation of that arc from young adult energy
to legislative and social change.
Each year, approximately 20 young adults
are selected from a pool of applicants to
participate in a yearlong leadership program
culminating in a trip to Washington, D.C.,
to lobby on behalf of issues relating to civil
rights, Israel advocacy and a host of other top-
ics germane to ADIYs mission.
The program, itself, prepares the participant
well. Every month during the year, we attend
sessions devoted to learning about the com-
plexities of the issues at hand. Sessions have
included meeting with state representatives
in Southwest Detroit to learn about immi-
gration policy and participating in an FBI
training session to understand how the ADL
interacts with law enforcement. (As an aside,
almost every federal agent is now required
to go through a daylong training session in
Washington at the Holocaust Memorial Center
38
March 22 • 2012
put on by the ADL and covering anti-bias
issues as well as the judicious use of power.)
We meet with reformed skinheads to
discuss how the ADL monitors extremism.
According to the FBI, in 2010 there were more
than 1,400 religiously motivated hate crimes
in the U.S.; 65 percent of those were
anti-Semitic. We tie those discus-
sions into larger ones concerning
the growth of online hate groups
and cyber-bullying. Additionally, we
learn about the various educational
curriculums that the ADL provides
to schools and institutions.
By springtime each year, these
young adults, armed with the knowl-
edge they need and having met with
policy experts, senators and even
cabinet members, demonstrate their
newfound empowerment by taking
their knowledge of these issues to their own
representatives' offices on Capitol Hill.
On a personal note, I know how meaningful
that empowerment can be. My first year in the
Glass program was an eye-opening experi-
ence. Detroit's regional ADL office emphasized
the issues relating to federal hate crimes that
year. Using what we learned during our Glass
program, we lobbied on behalf of better hate-
crime legislation and eventually got to see the
fruits of our labor in the passage of the 2009
Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate
Crimes Prevention Act.
The Anti-Defamation League's Glass Young
Adult Leadership Program is a powerful venue
in which young adults have and continue to
develop their knowledge base, express their
views and ultimately advance the mission
of the Anti-Defamation League to "stop the
defamation of the Jewish people and to secure
justice and fair treatment to ally' ❑
Jay Hack is a former Glass program participant and
a chair and ADL executive board member.
I
t's been slightly more than a year since the horrifying images
from Japan's powerful earthquake and tsunami that killed nearly
16,000 and left 3,271 missing filled our TV screens and the world's
collective consciousness.
In the immediate aftermath, many of us opened our hearts and
wallets to provide aid to the devastated country.
The Jewish Federations of America set up an emergency relief
fund and began work with its partner, the American Jewish Joint
Distribution Committee (JDC), the world's leading Jewish humanitar-
ian assistance organization, to support relief efforts. In all, millions
of dollars were raised in the days following the tragedy.
However, for many of us, as time marched on, the needs of the
Japanese faded from our minds along with the news coverage.
Thankfully, helping the needs of these people remained top-of-
mind for the JDC, which, along with the Jewish community of Japan
has helped more than 130,000 people — through the $2.6 million in
donations from the Jewish Federation of North America and tens of
thousands of individual donors. Some of that money came from the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit.
"JDC's partnership with the Japanese community is a truly won-
derful endorsement of JDC's work," said Penny Blumenstein, newly
elected president of the JDC. "Wherever a disaster occurs, wherever
there are people in need, JDC reaches out to share our expertise and
resources."
The JDC is continuing its work with local Japanese, U.S. and Israeli
non-governmental organizations to restore a sense of normalcy
to the citizens affected by the disaster. With tens of thousands of
displaced people living in transitional shelters for the next two to
five years, JDC and JEN, a leading Japanese NGO, are operating 13
community cafes that provide psycho-social care, hand-craft and art
therapy, legal aid, counseling, health services, community workshops
and conflict-mediation.
Based on JDCs "Supportive Community" model for the elderly
pioneered in Israel and located in temporary residential communities
in Ishinomaki City, the cafes aim to alleviate isolation and restore a
sense of community to those who have lost everything.
"By deploying our staff experts and transferable program models,
we're once again easing the suffering of the victims and ensuring a
viable road to long-term recovery," said JDC CEO Steven Schwager.
"By doing this together with the Jewish Community of Japan and
local NGOs, we are putting into action the ideal that saving one life
saves an entire world."
JDC and the Jewish Community of Japan's response to the earth-
quake/tsunami in the first year has included the provision of criti-
cal emergency assistance, such as food, water, medical aid, hygiene
products, blankets and tents. JDC has also furnished three schools
and provided school supplies to children in the most-devastated
prefectures. JDC also supported the establishment of Israel Defense
Forces (IDF) field hospital in Minamisanriko.
The Jewish community can feel proud that its money and efforts
have gone to help so many affected by this tragedy, but there is still
more to do. To support the JDC's continued efforts in Japan, log on
to jdc.org/donation/donate.aspx . ❑