Recently, 30 young adults from the Syrian community, who showed potential leadership qualities, were asked to spend a fun, enriching, social, and meaningful weekend in the Poconos.
The trip involved skiing, snowboarding and tubing—but the real mission of this leadership in training seminar was to motivate, inspire, and instill strength into each of us and teach us the requirements and skills needed to be good leaders, like our ancestors were.
Friday night we were split into small groups with a representative leading the discussion. To break the ice and get our minds going, we were told to put ourselves in the same position as our great grandparents, which meant to leave home and go to America alone to build a future.
We were told: your father makes you promise not to squander the opportunity, to work hard, and make a name for yourself. He also makes you pledge that you’ll never forget where you came from or the ideals you were brought up with. You’re sent off to find people like you and build a life and a community that you can be proud of that will last forever.
You arrive at Ellis Island where things are hectic and frightening. There are a few people just like you, so you decide to stick together. It is up to you and your new friends to build a foundation for a community that will grow and prosper.
The groups were given five ideas and had to choose three of them. Our options were to build a community school, a shul, a charitable organization, a community center, or a business network. It wasn’t easy to eliminate two of the options. We tried to decide which one was the best to build first.
Of course this was just a “make believe” scenario, but to think a few generations before us this was a reality. Our ancestors were forced to figure out the best solution to better our lives today. They worked hard to benefit their children, grandchildren, and future generations. Our great grandparents were selfless and considerate, always thinking about future generations. This helped lead us to question how we, as a community, could continue passing down these traits.
The night had just begun and everybody had already formed close bonds with one another. We discussed how the Syrian community had remained strong, united, and powerful. Talking with each other and listening helped us gain knowledge and skills we will need to continue to strengthen our community in a respectful and mature manner.
I speak on behalf of all the young leaders. After realizing how truly rare and special our community is, we now consider it our responsibility to figure out ways we can better the lives of others as Syrian Jews. Not only do we want to do this; we are eager to do so.
The last session we had was to take the next step. Each group thought about a specific issue the community faces and came up with the best solution to fix it. We had to lay out a plan to show the best possibilities for the outcome. Not all the problems were resolved and groups are still emailing each other and forming meetings to try to make their ideas a reality. This task was meant for us to start taking action; just like our ancestors did.
I would like to thank Micheal Mishaan, Morris Mizrahi, Rabbi Victor Gheriani, Morris Sutton, Louis Jerome, Joey ‘Stick’ Mizrahi and the rest of the L.I.T committee for taking their time to lead us and teach us how we can continue to help the community prosper.
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Renee Tabache is a community member.
