10 | MARCH 23 • 2023
PURELY COMMENTARY
continued on page 13
student’s corner
You Are Never
Too Young to
Repair the World
I
nterfaith relations,
antisemitism and a bet-
ter understanding of the
world around us were just a
few issues that more than 100
high school students took on
while attending the American
Jewish Committee Leaders for
Tomorrow (AJC
LFT) program
in Washington,
D.C., March
12-14. I had the
privilege of rep-
resenting Detroit
as one of two
students who
participated in the program.
AJC’s Leaders for
Tomorrow is comprised of
a variety of students from
Detroit, Atlanta, Chicago,
Kansas City, Los Angeles,
Long Island, Westchester/
Fairfield, New York
City, Miami, Boston and
Washington. Once a month, I
meet with AJC officials and a
group of 20 other high school
students from the Metro
Detroit area.
This past week, we had the
opportunity to meet with offi-
cials from all faiths and back-
grounds, including Catholics,
Latinos, African Americans,
and representatives from
Israel, the Kingdom of
Bahrain and Morocco. AJC
LFT also brought teenagers
together from all over the
United States to learn from
each other and build up our
advocacy skills to bring back
to our community and school
campus.
While I may live in a
diverse community, I have
not spent much time learning
about religions or cultures
outside of my own. That is
why this experience was so
eye-opening. I learned about
the Catholic faith by sitting in
a pew at the Cathedral of St.
Matthew the Apostle, the site
of President John F. Kennedy’s
funeral. I had the opportuni-
ty to talk with officials from
Bahrain and learn about their
recognition of Israel.
I know others in my cohort
had similar conversations
with officials from Morocco
and the U.A.E., along with
people from the Islamic and
Latino communities. It was
fascinating to learn about
their cultures and traditions
and to see how they view the
world and the Jewish com-
munity.
As a Jewish people, we have
much to learn from the world
around us and the people
in our own community, but
also in places that may seem
far away, yet may still have a
profound impact on our lives.
I learned that despite coming
from different backgrounds,
we were all united in our pas-
sion for making the world a
better place.
One of the most important
topics we discussed was race
relations and antisemitism.
We heard from the African
American community and
how they grapple every day
with discrimination and
racism. It was inspiring to
hear about the work they are
doing to fight for justice and
equality. The conversation
was difficult to listen to and,
at times, uncomfortable. But
it was important to have the
discussion so we could bet-
ter understand each other’s
perspectives and find a better
path forward, together.
We also explored combating
religious intolerance. There
are people in our own com-
munity who may not know
anything about other faiths
but have already decided they
don’t like them because of
what they believe.
We learned from Jews,
Muslims and Catholics about
how they are promoting a
better understanding of their
religion and what we can
do collectively to promote a
better understanding among
all religions. We talked about
ways to combat religious
discrimination, including
antisemitism on campus, and
to promote mutual respect
and understanding. It was
great to learn how our com-
munities have been working
together for decades to devel-
op a better understanding
of each other and how I can
and should take time to meet
and better understand peo-
ple from different faiths and
backgrounds.
Visiting the monuments
in Washington, D.C., was a
powerful experience. We got
to see the Lincoln Memorial,
the Washington Monument
and the Martin Luther King
Jr. Memorial. Standing in
front of these monuments,
we were reminded of the sac-
rifices people have made to
fight for justice and equality.
It was a humbling experience
to think about how much
work still needs to be done to
Spencer
Cherrin
Members of the Detroit Cohort (Hannah Goodman, Katelyn
Winkelman, Spencer Cherrin and Sam Kole) standing at the capitol
building with Ted Deutch, the CEO of the AJC.
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