Teens brave Hurricane Sandy to learn about Israel Advocacy with AIPAC by Skylar Arias, Julia Laibstain, Nathan Levy, Jake Patish, and Adam Zelenka
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eens Skylar Arias, Julia Laibstain, Nathan Levy, Jake Patish, and Adam Zelenka braved hurricane Sandy to attend the twoday AIPAC Schusterman Advocacy Institute High School Summit in Washington, D.C. late last month. The jam-packed summit included lobbying preparation, informative sessions, and multiple guest speakers including Howard Kohr, AIPAC executive director. “I came to this Summit knowing near to nothing about AIPAC but now I plan Row: Nathan Levy, Jake Patish, Adam Zelenka, and Robin Mancoll. to go home and continue Top Bottom Row: Staci Eichelbaum, Julia Laibstain, and Skylar Arias. studying and immersing myself in American-Israel affairs,” says Arias. of AIPAC on college campuses across the Patish gained a new perspective on country. The teens had the opportunity to AIPAC as he says “I was motivated by seeing meet with representatives from more than the multiple Jewish teen organizations and 30 schools and discuss Jewish life, the delegations that sent participants to this influence of AIPAC, and ask other general incredible conference.” questions about the universities. Laibstain had a slightly different motivaThe various workshops and lectures tion for attending the Summit. After studying allowed participants to look at the issues in Israel for two months this past spring, she and ways to advocate. Some lectures is incredibly passionate about the Jewish focused on the issues, how they affect Israel state and gained many new approaches to and the United States, and why the issues personally making a difference in advocating are important. The main issue covered was for the American-Israel alliance. the threat of a nuclear Iran. The group found it interesting to Other workshops taught participants learn about not only the Jewish leaders how to advocate about these issues. Teens in AIPAC, but also the non-Jewish profes- got the chance to role-play, when they sionals including an Evangelical Christian pretended to lobby with someone acting as and a Mormon, and the fact that many a member of Congress. The teens learned AIPAC professionals were convinced to from each other by hearing both praise and join the AIPAC cause by their friends and critiques from their peers and the AIPAC colleagues, which shows the importance of experts. spreading the word about the U.S.-Israel In addition to being exposed to so relationship. much information over the 48 hours at Since the teens were not able to lobby the Summit, the five Tidewater teens got due to Hurricane Sandy, they wrote letters a chance to meet a wide range of fellow to their local congressmen and made plans teens that are passionate about Israel, both to lobby in the future. They also learned Jewish and non-Jewish from across the that despite the fact that none of the stu- country. After the summit concluded, all of dents are of voting age, their voices about the teens agreed they had learned so much the American-Israel relationship will still useful information that they could not wait be heard. to begin using it back in Tidewater at their The college fair at the conference own synagogues, in their schools, and in allowed the teens to explore the influence their youth groups.
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