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Israeli Reform movement doubles number of youth delegates sent to UK
'Our friends abroad are telling us the younger generation is becoming more alienated from Israel. The best way is to connect them with Israeli teenagers who share the same values'
The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism has doubled the number of youth delegates it sent to the UK this summer, amid the rise in antisemitism and concerns about younger generations becoming alienated from Israel.
Twelve teenagers, all students in the high-school division of the Leo Baeck Education Centre in Haifa, volunteered with Alyth, Finchley Reform Synagogue and Edgware and Hendon Reform Synagogue, helping at summer camps and taking part in religious and communal events.
In addition, six youth delegates volunteered at three Jewish schools: JCoSS, Clore Tikva School and Akiva School. This year marked the first time the programme had included primary schools.
Rabbi Oshrat Morag, senior rabbi at the Leo Baeck Education Centre, told Jewish News: “We have always sent delegations to the UK, but now it is a critical moment. Our friends in sister communities abroad are telling us that the younger generation—teenagers and students—is becoming more alienated from Israel. Amid surging antisemitism on social media and elsewhere, we hear that young people are not well equipped with the knowledge or depth of understanding to explain what is happening or respond to it.
“We believe in personal connections, and the best way is to connect them with Israeli teenagers of a similar age who share the same values of pluralistic and liberal Judaism. They become a natural bridge to what is happening in Israel, offering their own perspectives and reflecting a nuanced reality that you will not hear about in the news or on social media,” she explained.
Ido Wasserman, a high-school student at the Leo Baeck Education Centre, participated in the recent delegation to London and ran activities at Clore Tikva School. “We mainly held fun activities with the children on lighter topics, such as Hebrew slang and Israel’s geography. The children were very curious and welcoming,” he said.
“They were surprised to hear about my experiences, such as coexistence and friendships between Arab, Jews and others in Haifa. I think that meeting Israelis from a young age gives them a tangible connection and reinforces everything they learn about Israel and Reform Judaism.”
The Israeli teenagers stayed with local Jewish families and attended services at Reform synagogues. Wasserman described how “meeting the Jewish community surprised me. On the one hand, it was sad to see the heavy security outside synagogues and hear about the rise in antisemitism; on the other, it was moving to see their resilience and unity.
“It was beautiful to hear them praying for Israel. When you are in Israel, you do not really think about all the care and love that Jewish communities in the diaspora have for Israel.”
Rabbi Morag added: “We believe in Jewish peoplehood. In these difficult times in Israel, when Reform Judaism also faces a lack of acceptance, we are signalling to our sister communities worldwide that we are not giving up on them, just as they are not giving up on us, regardless of which government is in power.”
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