Recently, I went to Washington D.C. to participate in a L’Taken Seminar, an intensive four-day program teaching Jewish values and social justice organized by the Religious Action Center. There were hundreds of teens from across the United States involved with the Reform Jewish Movement. This event helped teach teens how to lobby their state representatives and state senators on various societal issues that are prevalent today.

During the trip I had the opportunity to speak on Capitol Hill to Senator Gillibrand and Representative Tonko’s staff about co-sponsoring the Countering Antisemitism Act S. 4091, which includes federal efforts to combat antisemitism through yearly threat assessments on antisemitic extremism and the creation of an inter-agency national task force. I learned a lot of valuable information that helped me connect deeper to my faith and my passion for social justice. 

Throughout the weekend, I participated in different eye-opening workshops that helped me understand various issues facing people today, including but not limited to economic inequality, gun violence, and access to mental health services. These workshops incorporate Jewish values and traditions to illustrate how Jewish teachings align with principles of social justice like “Tikkun Olam” (repairing the world) or Tzedek, Tzedek Tirdof (Justice, justice shall you pursue). I was able to visit numerous tourist attractions in D.C., including the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, the Martin Luther King Jr. Monument, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The attractions and their architecture were breathtaking, and I was so excited to take it all in. 

At the Holocaust Memorial Museum, I was able to see the unfathomable personal and societal tragedies that occurred only a few decades ago. The piles of shoes, the list of names, a winding hallway with innumerable names of victims, and the exceedingly tall yet narrow room entitled “Wall of Remembrance” depict just a sampling of the victims.

These collections and more barely scratch the surface of the lives lost and the misery faced by millions of Jewish, Romani, and queer individuals during the Nazi regime. This helped me truly put into context the scale and devastation of these events and affected the way I viewed my faith and my privilege in my ability to practice it freely. This has made me violently aware of the precarious nature of these and other freedoms in America today and has invigorated my fight for their protection and continuation to prevent another senseless genocide or the further oppression of minority groups.

This experience was truly riveting, and it profoundly affected me through many aspects of my life. I found the ability to speak up about issues facing our world empowering, and learning how I can create change exhilarating. I was truly inspired and I hope to further my advocacy for undeserved communities and continue to work to strive for a better world in the future.