NATIONAL YOUNG LEADERSHIP

By Sophie Rothstein National Young Leadership Cabinet Member

World War II and the Holocaust has been on my mind a lot lately. It was a heartbreaking time, and out of that heartbreak came an incredible streak of inspiration for our people. We survived. We thrive. My recent Cabinet Study-Mission underscored how close we are to that time and how close we remain to the dichotomy of oppression, intolerance, tenacity, and the strength of the human spirit.

Ahead of the trip, I excitedly told my coworker my upcoming travel plans and she shared that her grandparents worked with the Dutch Resistance. Her ancestors put their lives on the line for those victimized by the Nazis. Their bravery and strength in the most difficult of circumstances saved lives.

In Budapest, our final stop on the trip, we visited the Jewish Community Center (JCC), where Director Marcell Kenesei shared the groundbreaking work that the JCC is doing with the LGBTQ+ community in Hungary, reintroducing Hungarian Jews to their religion (many only recently found out about their Jewish heritage, a long-standing effect from the Holocaust), and welcoming Ukrainian refugees with open arms. The JCC’s acceptance and fortitude in meeting and engaging with the Hungarian community strengthens not only the Jewish population in Hungary, but the connection with the Hungarian community as a whole.

Outside Budapest, Camp Szarvas provides a tenday respite for Ukrainian families that continue to live in a warzone. This endeavor is supported with Federation’s help. In Ukraine, playgrounds have been closed for over a year and these families have not heard birds in the same amount of time. At

Camp Szarvas, they enjoy a break - their children can play outside and with each other. They hear birds sing again.

Back home, while basking in the motivational glow of a transformative trip and reading a wonderful book recommendation from another Cabinet classmate (where the Holocaust is its own character, of sorts - Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin), I logged in to a national Zoom-orientation for a separate, secular volunteer opportunity. On this random Tuesday afternoon - I was on an unrelated, optional, voluntary, virtual call with participants all over the United States. From our tiny little virtual boxes, a Cabinet classmate from New Hampshire recognized me in my tiny little virtual box. We talked about and connected over the heartbreaking and incredibly inspiring stories we might encounter on this new volunteer adventure.

This Cabinet Study-Mission has given me so much more than a wonderful trip with friends. Because of this trip, I learned about the heroic genealogy of a coworker, I witnessed the impact of a welcoming community center, I saw first-hand the difference that our support makes overseas, and I found inspiration in peers that not only care about the impact they make on the world - but they activate it.

Our community is made up of tenacious, brave survivors, and I’m so lucky to be in our midst.