Once again, it is that time of year. Three of my children are graduating from school in the coming weeks, as are thousands of other young people who are proudly reflecting on the accomplishments of years of formal schooling.
Interestingly, two institutions of higher learning with Jewish roots - Brandeis University and Yeshiva University - both invited Ambassador Oren to speak. At
At
Why do two groups of students who are largely products of the same cultural environment have such radically different reactions to the Israeli ambassador?
Let's try multiple choice:
- Brandeis students are more sensitive to social justice issues
- YU students have stronger personal connections with
- Orthodox Jews always support
- All (or none) of the above
So…
Would you invite Ambassador Oren to your school's graduation?
Would your children protest?
Why (not)?
Read Dr. Steven Cohen's "Beyond Distancing" which concludes that there is a growing rift between American youth and Israel - http://www.acbp.net/About/PDF/Beyond%20Distancing.pdf
ReplyDeleteSo the Brandeis students are typical. The question is why the YU kids are different.
For Danny Gordis' article and thoughts on this go to http://danielgordis.org/2010/05/07/if-this-is-our-future/. He presents an interesting perspective on the "why" Brandeis students reacted the way they did???
ReplyDeleteI actually discussed "Beyond Distancing" with Steve Cohen, and he told me that he had to pull the Orthodox respondents from his data because their commitment to Israel skewed the results. So "C" (in the multiple choice exercise above) might be a legitimate answer.
ReplyDelete