The program Student to Student dates back to 1992, when it was created by the Jewish Community Relations Council in St. Louis. It aims to fight antisemitism by having students talk to other students, including some who might have little previous familiarity with Jewish people, to foster understanding.
Twelve students recently entered the Milwaukee Jewish Federation version of the program; two are area high school seniors, Rachael Meldman and Golan Altman-Shafer. Meldman lives in Grafton, and Altman-Shafer lives in Fox Point.
As part of the program, Jewish students talk with peers “who haven’t really met any Jewish kids at all,” Altman-Shafer said.
The idea, he added, was “getting Judaism kind of out there so that antisemitism hopefully would decrease in the future, if they see familiarity with Jews and their practicing and their culture.”
Meldman added that the idea was that students, by the time they got to college, would have at least met a Jewish person before.
Altman-Shafer was recommended to the program, as his mother Tziporah Altman-Shafer works for the Federation, and connected with Dalilah Bernier, whom he credits with bringing the concept to Milwaukee.
“I found myself being in the position that I needed to explain Judaism to a lot of people,” Altman-Shafer said. “And so I kind of got a skill, I kind of learned how to do it pretty well.”
Meldman was nominated by her regional director in BBYO.
“I think it was a lot of, because I’m in a community with so few Jews, so I know how it is,” she said. “And then also just because I really enjoy my religion and stuff. And I take great pride in it and stuff. And I like talking to people.”
What does one of their talks look like?
They cover everything from Jewish rituals and holidays to cultural matters to stories about the Holocaust.
“Yes, we talked about the Holocaust,” Altman-Shafer. “We spare a little bit, but we mentioned that it’s very sad, and it’s very important for the Jewish canon, and that being insensitive to it was never the best thing.”
“Two of [my group members] actually have grandparents who are survivors, so they kind of shared like, ‘My grandparent is a survivor,’ [and] you should take the opportunity if you ever have one to meet a survivor or hear one speak.”
Israel is also discussed, including discussions of the daily lives of people there.
“We want peace for everyone,” Meldman said of the message she conveyed in their talk. “Instead of talking about the current conflicts, that we’re going to talk about Israel’s past and history for the Jewish people and stuff,” Meldman said. “So we talked about, like, Israeli culture. So we didn’t really bring the war into it.”
Also part of the lesson is a discussion of Jewish life cycle events, including weddings. So the students staged a mock wedding, including holding up the chuppah and breaking the glass — which the classes especially enjoyed.
Meldman comes from a Reform background, while another member she has presented with is Orthodox, reflecting the wide range of practices among Jewish people.
“I think for me, the most important point that drives home is that although we are Jews and we have a different religion, we are people first and foremost,” Altman-Shafer said. “And I think we kind of get that message across by explaining the huge amount of diversity that we have within practices.
“So yes, we go through the whole holiday, go through all the observances that we have, the special laws, but we also make it an important point to tell everyone that some people practice differently,” she said, just as is the case with other religions.
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