2008 Woodie Awards
High School Students Discuss Jewish Leadership
Michael Goldsmith
Issue date: 12/6/04 Section: News
- Page 1 of 1
On October 31, high school students from all over the East Coast and Canada came together to learn how to make a difference in their communities. The students discussed, through their many different sessions, how to live their lives as a Jewish Americans. "Our goal is to empower each student to tackle issues in the world, especially the Jewish world," said Judy Goldgrab, coordinator of educational leadership projects at Yeshiva.
The initial meeting took place in Weissberg Commons, Belfer Hall, where Mrs. Goldgrab and President Richard M. Joel spoke before sending the students off on their adventure. The buses took them to the Block and Hexter Vacation Center in the Poconos.
During his speech, President Joel mentioned his past as the president of Hillel and his current role at the helm of Yeshiva, and encouraged all the students to use the information gained on this conference and to apply them home. To encourage the students, President Joel said: "A leader doesn't have followers, a leader is someone who takes responsibility."
"I want to set up help sessions for people to be comfortable about being a Jew," said Shira Jacobs, a junior at The Frisch School, in Paramus, NJ.
Hinda Young, a senior at the Hebrew High School of New England, said of the conference, "I'm looking to develop leadership skills and to learn how to recruit more people in my community to be Orthodox."
The topics of some of these sessions included voting for leaders, charity priorities, and time distribution for Jewish versus secular activities. As part of the conference, a mock election was conducted to elect a "role-model American Jew."
Eimatai Yeshiva High School Leadership Conferences are an outgrowth of Torah Leadership Seminars, a popular Yeshiva program during the 1950's, '60's, and '70's that identified and developed future leaders from Jewish teens at public high schools.
The initial meeting took place in Weissberg Commons, Belfer Hall, where Mrs. Goldgrab and President Richard M. Joel spoke before sending the students off on their adventure. The buses took them to the Block and Hexter Vacation Center in the Poconos.
During his speech, President Joel mentioned his past as the president of Hillel and his current role at the helm of Yeshiva, and encouraged all the students to use the information gained on this conference and to apply them home. To encourage the students, President Joel said: "A leader doesn't have followers, a leader is someone who takes responsibility."
"I want to set up help sessions for people to be comfortable about being a Jew," said Shira Jacobs, a junior at The Frisch School, in Paramus, NJ.
Hinda Young, a senior at the Hebrew High School of New England, said of the conference, "I'm looking to develop leadership skills and to learn how to recruit more people in my community to be Orthodox."
The topics of some of these sessions included voting for leaders, charity priorities, and time distribution for Jewish versus secular activities. As part of the conference, a mock election was conducted to elect a "role-model American Jew."
Eimatai Yeshiva High School Leadership Conferences are an outgrowth of Torah Leadership Seminars, a popular Yeshiva program during the 1950's, '60's, and '70's that identified and developed future leaders from Jewish teens at public high schools.