for college students by college students

February 19, 2015 / 30 Shevat 5775

VOLUME 6, NO. 1

Community Growth

Conference helps Ahava leader align
LGBTQ, Jewish activism.

Gabrielle Kirsch } jewish@edu writer

A

s a leader of Ahava, the LGBTQ Jewish group at the University of

Michigan, and with the support of U-M Hillel, I attended Nehirim's
annual LGBTQ Jewish student leadership conference last semester at

Brown University in Rhode Island.
Nehirim is a word found in the Talmud that means lights, specifically refer-

ring to radiant lights, like the colors of a rainbow. I entered this conference with

hopes to learn from other students leaders and expand my leadership within
Jewish LGBTQ activism.

The speaker who had the most influence on me as a leader during the con-
ference was a woman named Joyce Kauffman, who is an LGBTQ rights lawyer

in Massachusetts. She spoke about the intersection of her Jewish identity and
activism throughout her lifetime, as she was very involved in the second wave

of feminism and also in the anti-Vietnam war movement. Our group discussed

complacency, an issue I believe a lot of LGBTQ Jews at U-M do not realize they
struggle with.
Complacency is a type of uncritical satisfaction with the way that something
may be. To some extent, I wish I could be complacent with my place within both

the LGBTQ and the Jewish communities. I wish that what I longed for didn't feel
so far-fetched, but I've experienced both a thriving Jewish community during my
time with the Bronfman Youth Fellowship in Israel and a loud, queer life when I
worked for the Family Equality Council in Boston last summer.
My time with both has led me to believe that I need to be involved in both
communities to be satisfied with my life, that settling for one or the other leaves
me unfulfilled. I don't want to walk into a queer space with mute Judaism, and I
don't want to cover the queer girl within me in a Jewish space. We all deserve a
space that allows us to be authentic, which is why I help lead Ahava.
A student at the seminar asked Kauffman, "How do we deal with the issue of
complacency in our queer Jewish community? How do we let them know that
this is an issue that needs their time and needs their attention?"
Joyce responded with a simple answer: "Educate them out of their compla-
cency."
Her answer inspired me and led me to ask myself, "How do I educate the
LGBTQ Jewish population at U-M out of their complacency?" I believe the
answer lies in showing them what can be and helping to create that community
that I long for. While this was just one of the lessons I learned at the conference,
I hope it guides me and motivates our community growth on campus. @

Gabrielle Kirsch of Commerce Township is a sophomore at the University

of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

U-M Sophomore Gabrielle Kirsch of
Commerce Township tables for Ahava with
seniors Esther Shachar-Hill of Okemos and
Jeremy Borison of Beachwood, Ohio.

Israeli Ari Shavit, author of My Promised Land, speaks to MSU
students about connections with Israel.

Author Ari Shavit brings Israel to life
during his U.S. campus tour.

Nate Strauss } jewish@edu writer

0

n my first trip to Israel in the
spring of 2012, I had absolutely
no idea what to expect. As I sat
on the plane with my friends
around me, my mind was racing with expecta-
tions, questions and things I was unsure of. I
didn't know what the weather would be like,
how the people would act or what the food
would taste like. I was nervous to say the least.
And then my plane landed.
The wheels touched the ground, the engines
slowed down and "HaTikvah" started to play
over the loudspeakers. At that point, as cliche
as it sounds, I knew that I was home.
During my first experience in the country, as
well as my second and my recent third trip, my
Israel narrative grew and grew. I knew which
type of falafel was the best on Ben Yehuda
Street in Jerusalem. I could communicate with
Israelis in the little Hebrew I had picked up.
I could really feel comfortable in the country.
The land had become my own.
In his latest book, My Promised Land, Ari
Shavit writes about his own Israel narrative and
how it became his own land throughout his life
in the country. Chapter by chapter, readers get

to experience Israeli culture through the eyes
of young people, the Israeli political spectrum,
and the Occupy Israel movement in Tel Aviv
that protested social and economic inequality
in the country.
Reading this book for the first time in the
beginning of 2014, I became a big Shavit fan.

Connecting With Students

On his United States collegiate tour, sponsored
by Hillel International, Shavit made a stop at
Michigan State University for a day of conversa-
tion about Israel and his new book. I was excit-
ed to hear the news that he would be coming to
East Lansing and was even more ecstatic when I
was asked to accompany Shavit throughout his
itinerary for the day.
I was thoroughly impressed with the author
and journalist as he navigated tough questions
about the Arab-Israeli conflict, his thoughts on
Benjamin Netanyahu and how Americans can
get involved in Israeli politics.
I was most impressed, however, at his focus
on students.
Session after session and speech after speech,
Shavit wanted to hear from the students. He

Connections on page 34

February 19 • 2015

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