Taking Action on Campus Antisemitism: A Panel Discussion

Donate

Donate

Saturday, February 24, 2024 • 15 Adar I 5784

7:30 PM - 9:00 PMZoom

Since October 7th, many Jewish college students have reported that they do not feel physically or emotionally safe on campus. To help provide support for students and their families, HIR is presenting a panel discussion about campus antisemitism. The speakers include college students, a rabbi, and a psychologist who serve college students from different campuses. They will share their personal experiences of antisemitism, discuss sources of support on and off campus, and recommend action steps. The moderator, historian Laura Shaw Frank, PhD., is the Director of Contemporary Jewish Life Department at the American Jewish Committee (AJC).

Registration required. Please scroll below to register.

Organized by the Antisemitism Subcommittee of HIR's Social Action Committee.

Yola Ashkenazie is a senior at Barnard College, Columbia University, where she is studying psychology and economics. Yola currently interns at J. Safra Sarasin Asset Management. She is the President of Chabad at Columbia and serves on the Board of the Solomon Club. She has been a contributor to various media outlets, discussing Israel and antisemitism on college campuses since 10/07. She also volunteers for the Morris Franco Cancer Center, the Shalva Center and Sephardic Bikur Holim.

Rabbi Joel Dinin is the Director of Education at MIT Hillel. He received Semikha from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in 2015. Previously, he served as both a congregational rabbi and a day school teacher for nearly a decade in Baltimore and Milwaukee.

Shabbos Kestenbaum is a second-year master’s student at Harvard University, researching public policy and contemporary Jewish life in the U.S. Shabbos spent two years studying at Yeshiva Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem. Afterward, he founded Young Jews for Justice, organizing Jewish solidarity missions with Uyghur activists, Holocaust survivors, and victims of clergy abuse. He has spent the last few months immersed in Ukrainian refugee relief work, centered in Krakow and Lviv. Presently, Shabbos is the lead plaintiff against Harvard University alleging pervasive and severe antisemitism.

Laura Shaw Frank, Ph.D., is the Director of AJC's Contemporary Jewish Life Department. She oversees AJC's Jewish educational initiatives, research and programming. She also oversees AJC's engagement with university administrators to assist them in preventing and responding to antisemitism on campus. She writes, teaches and speaks throughout the country about American Jewry, antisemitism, Israeli society and history, Israel-Diaspora relations, and Jewish advocacy. She holds a Ph.D. in Jewish history from University of Maryland, College Park and undergraduate and law degrees from Columbia University. Prior to coming to AJC, she held educational and administrative roles at SAR High School and Yeshivat Maharat.

Dahlia Topolosky, Psy.D., is a clinical psychologist who works with adolescents and adults in Rockville, Maryland. Since October 7, and the increase of antisemitism on college campuses, she has been facilitating virtual support groups for college students. She integrates a variety of techniques, including person-centered therapy, acceptance commitment therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and mindfulness techniques to address issues such as anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, and issues around reproductive health. She is also a musician and Rebbetzin of Kehilat Pardes.

If you are from a media outlet, please reach out to Program Coordinator, Yael Manor-Oshinsky at yael@thebayit.org or call 718.796.4730 x116.

If you have any questions or suggestions concerning the program on antisemitism, or would like to discuss joining the Antisemitism Committee, please reach out to us at socialaction@thebayit.org.

Register

Share Print Save To My Calendar

Sat, July 27 2024 21 Tammuz 5784