Jonathan Kessler, the Leadership Development Director of AIPAC recently visited the Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School to address the teachers and students. He first spoke to the faculty, then the students. The event was part of a program to inspire a Zionist spirit in students and teach them to effectively advocate for Israel in the coming years.
YOF’s Israel advocacy commissions have been teaching students the importance of knowing the facts about Israel for years. This year in particular, the school emphasized the need to increase its support base, so it rekindled its relationship with AIPAC. In November, 10 YOF students, under the leadership of Rabbi Avner Taler, traveled to Washington DC for the AIPAC High School Summit. In March, the school sent eight students to the AIPAC Policy Conference, where they heard speeches by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Alan Dershowitz. After this event, those eight students understood that advocating for a strong American-Israeli relationship and supporting Israel is something their entire school needs to do. That urge to bring the school to action led to Kessler’s visit.
He arrived at about 11 o’clock in the morning, then spoke to the entire faculty and administration, at an elegant luncheon, about how crucial it is that every student learns the effectiveness and dire necessity of political activism. Following the luncheon, the faculty was motivated and brimming with ideas to better equip the students for their post-high school life.
Kessler told the seniors that anti-Israel activities occur on every campus across the nation and urged students to let AIPAC teach each them to effectively deal with what lies ahead. He then spoke to the juniors, encouraging them to get involved and have a voice for the sake of Israel’s survival.
Both assemblies were unbelievably successful. Afterward, the conversation continued. Kessler spent over an hour with about 20 highly interested students and answered their questions in a more intimate setting. That night, almost 50 students emailed him, pledging their future activism.
The Yeshivah of Flatbush is grateful for the opportunity to hear such an inspiring individual, and the graduating seniors are ready to take on the challenge of advocating for Israel. Every yeshivah has the potential to achieve success for the future of the Jewish people—all it takes is a little inspiration and one phone call to Jonathan Kessler.
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Joshua Fattal is a senior at the Yeshivah of Flatbush. He is an editor in chief of the school’s online newspaper.
