The incoming president of the Union of Jewish Students has pledged to turn the Jewish student community “outwards”, so there is more interaction with the wider student body.
Raphi Leon, a graduate of Warwick University, said the “normalisation” of antisemitism on campus and “shift in the Overton Window of what is acceptable among the wider, non-Jewish body to think about Israel and about …the Jewish community”, had led to a distancing between Jewish societies (Jsocs) and the wider student body.
Speaking at the UJS State of the Nation breakfast, he said: “Whilst Jewish students are living proud and strong Jewish student lives, many of them only feel comfortable to do so within the safety of a Hillel House or within a Friday night dinner environment.
“And that means that Jsocs can often feel like strong and proud centres in and of themselves, but siloed and cut off from wider campus life.”
Describing it as “an isolationist response, [which is a] completely natural thing to do” when faced with the threat of antisemitism, Leon said that he wanted to tackle this in his year as president by being “confident in living out our Jewish values in the wider world with pride”.
He wanted Jsoc members to volunteer outside the Jewish community – “to live out what it means to be a Jew in the world, to model a kind of good citizenship, [to show] that we as Jews are here to stay and we have something positive to contribute to our society, and UJS can be at the forefront of making that change.”
The 22-year-old said his educational background at a Jewish primary school and a non-Jewish secondary school – “living in a liminal space between my British identity and my Jewish identity” – meant he was well placed to create strong ties between Jewish and non-Jewish students.
“I have an enormous sense of pride in my Jewish identity and the confidence to live out a Jewish life in a non-Jewish environment. [This has] fuelled my passion to…build confident, proud and thriving Jewish student communities”.
Asked during a Q&A about the increasing polarisation in society, Leon said: “That’s exactly why we need an organisation like UJS more than ever. UJS is not an ideologically homogenous organisation. In fact, its beauty is its principle of diversity. We’re a peer-led representative, cross-communal organisation and that means we have enormous power …to bring together Jewish students…and teach them how to converse with each other, to get to know each other, understand each other, to disagree respectfully.
“Listening across boundaries means people are stronger in their own identities and more confident and more effective leaders in the wider world.”
Leon was speaking alongside outgoing UJS president Louis Danker. They were interviewed by Kezzy Miller, co-president of Liverpool JSoc, which won the Jsoc of the Year award in March.
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