In my first week as UJS President I was told my only job was to handover to a President stronger than myself, with a Union that was better than when I first started. Whilst I have no doubt Hannah Brady will be fantastic, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. Is UJS stronger than it was this time last year? I say yes. But this hasn’t been without its challenges.
The week after I was elected the front cover of the JC read: ‘She’s the new head’. The media coverage focused on my gender first and my skillset second (if at all). It’s been challenging for me. I’ve been told numerous times that I’ve been offered opportunities because I’m both young and female, before adding an afterthought that it’s because UJS should be included.
Regardless, the opportunities that I’ve been offered have given me the space to increase the profile of UJS. UJS has been at the forefront of the Jewish community this year, be that at the annual community meeting with the Prime Minister, or taking students to meet with key Israel thinkers such as Ari Shavit, showing that we are not just the leaders of the future, we are the leaders of today. And those leaders are doing amazing work on campus. They’ve hosted over 190 Friday night dinners, done amazing cross-communal education and run shabbatons for their fellow students. I want the community to know that the perception that students are lazy and immature could not be more wrong. Students dedicate extraordinary amounts of time to making sure that their peers have an amazing Jewish life on campus.
Last summer Israel, once again, was forced to respond to rocket fire. There was concern about the impact Protective Edge could have on students. UJS has combatted BDS at all levels alongside the diverse and passionate Zionists on campus. Four thousand students were reached in our Piece2Peace campaign and 3,100 Jewish students are having conversations about their Jewish and Israeli identity. Campus has not been defined by politics, rather by the lives that Jewish students have chosen to create and lead, and we should all be proud of that.
A lot is said about legacies, about what people will remember. One of the things I want people to know from UJS 2014-2015, is the work we’ve done on Holocaust education. This year we took 40 non-Jewish student leaders to Auschwitz. Those 40 leaders have already impacted thousands of students, and in the future this may be tens of thousands. I’m proud that we did that.
This has been an extraordinary year. It’s been challenging, surprising and immensely fulfilling. UJS is a unique and brilliant organisation. I’d urge anyone and everyone to get involved.
