WHC Teens Take Capitol Hill

L’Taken Teaches Youth Advocacy

At the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism’s L’Taken Social Justice Seminar, teen voices matter. For an entire weekend, teenagers ask questions about the Jewish values centering social justice work. They fine-tune their voices about one topic and then raise them on Capitol Hill so our representatives can know what their constituents, what our Jewish teens care about. This spring, 10 of our WHC teenagers joined hundreds of others from around the country and made their voices heard. Here are some excerpts from the speeches they presented to the offices of Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD), and Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).

Gun Violence Prevention: Katie Fromm (17), Laila Kreiser (16), CJ Murray (16)
As a Jewish teen, I have always understood that protecting life is one of our key values. The sixth commandment in the Torah is “do not murder.” God is part of every person and ending the life of one person diminishes a bit of God. Another important Jewish text, the Talmud…teaches that “one who takes a life, it is as though they have destroyed the universe, and one who saves a life, it is as though they saved the universe.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 4:5)

Every life is a universe, and to save these universes, we need a limit on assault weapons, which have no purpose other than the efficient destruction of life. A passage found in the Hebrew Bible reminds us of this, when prophet Isaiah exhorts the people of the earth to “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.” (Isaiah 2:4) We are commanded to stop using weapons in a violent manner and to embrace the ability for initiative and benefit to society. There is a reason the tools told are plowshares and pruning hooks. These are both tools that sustain and support life and sustenance. Being Jewish means being in support of all human life and no human life should be taken away, especially the children in schools who die from gun violence every day.

Voting Rights: Evie Namath (18), Chase Mullins (17), Jonah Feinleib (17)
Our Jewish values command us to care about the issue of voting rights due to its inherent importance to ensure equal access to the ballot. Specifically, it is interpreted in Deuteronomy 29:9, “You stand this day, all of you, before the Eternal your God.” As we must all stand up to collectively shape our future. It is also part of our Jewish identity to be inclusive to all minorities.

Antisemitism: Emmett Bailen (16), Claire Marquez (18), Julien Kirstein (16)
[In speaking to people about antisemitism,] people…have mentioned how targeted antisemitic comments or “jokes” are treated as everyday events that are nothing out of the ordinary. One girl said that someone was going to gas her, and another said how a person next to them was drawing swastikas. The last person I had talked to said that people outside of the Jewish community have become too confident in making jokes that contain hurtful stereotypes. These “jokes” can pile up and make one feel as if the jokes are rooted in something deeper and more hateful. These recurring events become burdensome and tiring, as not all of us are in a position to say something back because of safety or fear of further bullying.
Leviticus 19:16 states, “You may not stand idly by when your neighbor’s blood is being shed.” We must stand together to fight the venom that is antisemitism and extremism that is seeping into the United States. Fighting the issues before they become a core fault of our nation is the key to continuing to have a free, safe, and fair society for all Americans.

Throughout the weekend, the teens learned Elana Arian’s song, I Have a Voice. They first learned it at Shabbat on Friday night. They sang it again on the steps of the Jefferson Memorial during Havdalah. Finally, as the culmination to their representative visits, they let the song ring out through Capitol Hill. Washington Hebrew clergy, staff, and congregants are proud to know that our teens made sure these lyrics came true:

I have a voice, my voice is powerful.
My voice can change the world.