for college students by college students
Nov. 23, 2017 / 5 Kislev 5778
Building Relationships
MSU delegation attends
Black-Jewish Summit.
Ari Chesterman } Contributing Writer
n the Michigan State campus, I am a co-head intern for the
David Project, an Israel advocacy organization that focuses on
building relationships with targeted audiences. The goal of the
David Project is to dispel misconceptions about Israel through building
genuine relationships across campuses.
Being an intern has presented me with many opportunities I otherwise
would not have experienced. I was granted the privilege of attending
the Black-Jewish Summit in Washington, D.C., Nov. 3-5. At the summit,
there were delegations from eight different schools from all regions of the
United States. This broad outreach enhanced opportunities to learn about
the challenges faced by attendees from different backgrounds.
At the summit, I participated in numerous activities. The most meaning-
ful and memorable was a play. On the first night of the weekend, two
actors came to the Schusterman International Center. The lead actor, Ron
Jones, wrote an inspirational play focusing on the relationship between
the Jewish and Black communities, dating back to the 1960s. During the
play, the actors discussed the injustices done to both communities, along
with the collaboration during the civil rights movement. The points that
were given by both actors were incredibly interesting.
Observing the play truly made me reconsider some preconceived
thoughts related to the relations of our two diverse communities.
Considering the David Project’s mission, the concept behind this week-
end summit is crystal clear. The purpose was to build connections between
Jewish and Black communities in the United States and create a dialogue
— a dialogue that could be continued once we all returned to our cam-
puses.
The delegation from MSU plans on continuing this dialogue by bring-
ing the same writer, Ron Jones, to perform at the Black Caucus around
our campus. We believe this will be integral in initiating a conversation on
how building bridges between our communities can be mutually beneficial
as we continue to learn from one another. @
Stronger Together
O
Students at the HCAM Shabbat
HCAM campus Hillels join
for Shabbat dinner.
Nathan Dumond } Contributing Writer
G
Ari Chesterman of Huntington Woods is a junior at Michigan State University
majoring in International Studies with a focus in the Middle East.
Delegates at the Black-Jewish Summit
Nov. 3-5 in Washington, D.C.
58
November 23 • 2017
Nathan Dumond of West
Bloomfield, Blake Zack of
Bloomfield, Yale Lash of
Farmington Hills and Max Miller
of West Bloomfield
rand Valley State University’s
Hillel hosted an HCAM
Shabbat Nov. 3. Students
attended from Grand Valley
State, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan
and Central Michigan universities as well as
Kalamazoo College.
The idea for this Shabbat dinner sprouted
from my experience this past summer while
representing GVSU at Hillel’s Engagement
Institute. During the conference, I was lucky
to meet other student leaders from HCAM
schools. There, I bonded with them as well as
other members from different Hillels across the
country and throughout the world.
I am grateful to have met them because
we are able to discuss different event ideas
as well as work together to plan this Shabbat.
At our Shabbat dinner, we reconnected and
met other members from HCAM. It was fun
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