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SA/TO By Month
Program Ideas: March
Programs:
Want to get involved? Book a mid-week dinner with a youth group
from a local church or mosque [bonus points if you can get all three together!].
Talk about being religious teenagers in a secular world. What are Ramadan and
Passover like in public schools? How do we feel about the representation of
each other in the media, whether it's holiday hype or sitcom stereotypes?
Having a movie night? Watch Pleasantville –
not only does this movie have cuties Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon, it
deals with a town's first taste of diversity and adversity. Afterwards, discuss
why the town's residents had so much trouble accepting new ideas and situations.
Hint hint: talk about the importance of education here! Other suggestions: Remember
the Titans, Bend it Like Beckham, The Breakfast Club.
In the mood for a get-up-and-move program? This program has two parts that can either be done
separately, but the point will come across best if done together:
- Part I - Diversity Line:
The first part is the Diversity Line. Have everyone stand in a line across a large open space. Ask
questions about life experiences, like have you ever traveled outside of the country?; have you ever been
a minority in a situation? Questions should be able to be answered with yes or no. The USYers will take a
step forward for yes or back for no. Do not reform the line after each question! Ask questions ranging
over a variety of life-shaping experiences. When you decide to finish, have everyone look around, notice
how far they are from the beginning line, and how far apart they are from everyone else. Whether the
distance is near or far, talk about why. Ideally, this should show the diversity of the group.
- Part II - Link!
This was originally a Mem/Kad game, but we're going to take it a step farther. One person begins by
stating something about themselves. Go for deeper things like, "I think the world needs to focus on
the plight of Darfur" or "I believe in love at first sight," not just, "I think SATOs
are the coolest type of USYers." When someone hears a statement they strongly agree with, they say
"link!" and link arms with that person before stating their own blurb. This is to show the
similarities between us. [Helpful hint: use "I think" to avoid hurt feelings.]
Or if you've got a talkative group, maybe you want a discussion. Discuss Yehuda Amichai's poem
"Tourists"
Visits of condolence is all we get from them.
They squat at the Holocaust Memorial,
They put on grave faces at the Wailing Wall
And they laugh behind heavy curtains
In their hotels.
They have their pictures taken
Together with our famous dead
At Rachel's Tomb and Herzl's Tomb
And on Ammunition Hill.
They weep over our sweet boys
And lust after our tough girls
And hang up their underwear
To dry quickly
In cool, blue bathrooms.
Once I sat on the steps by agate at David's Tower, I placed my two heavy baskets at my side. A group
of tourists was standing around their guide and I became their target marker. "You see that man with
the baskets? Just right of his head there's an arch from the Roman period. Just right of his head."
"But he's moving, he's moving!" I said to myself: redemption will come only if their guide tells
them, "You see that arch from the Roman period? It's not important: but next to it, left and down a
bit, there sits a man who's bought fruit and vegetables for his family."
What does this poem show about Israeli sentiment on the Diaspora? How are Israelis and Americans
different? Alike? How does this work to our disadvantage and to our advantage?
- Discuss the fact that all Israelis must follow certain laws that are strictly Orthodox, such as for
marriage and divorce, as well as conversion. What does this do for the variety of Judaism in Israel? Is
that good or bad? How do you think Conservative/Masorti Jews feel about that?
- Learn about the Jews that don't often get much spotlight time - Ethiopian Jews, Jews in France,
French Jews in Israel, Russian Jews in Israel, the Mizrachim, and the Sephardic culture overall.
- Learn about the
ethnic
cleansing in Darfur, the western region of Sudan.
- Talk about the responsibilities Jews have to stop ethnic cleansing genocides, after we swore to the
world "Never again" after our Holocaust.
- Write up a petition and send it to your government representatives.
Getting ready for allocation time? If diversity is your thing, keep this in mind:
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