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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