While the normal college campus life feels like a thing of the past, the same battles and challenges for Jewish university students have moved to the online world. Even less afraid to attack and condemn from behind the safety of a screen, Jewish students are once again forced to come to the defense of their culture and heritage.
But just as there is hatred and discord, Jewish Unions have seen even an increase in creativity, cooperation and support among students and their communities during these past months of social isolation and challenges. The World Union for Jewish Students (WUJS) will be hosting their 47th Congress online allowing for Jewish students and activists to come together to learn, to debate, to be inspired and to work towards advancing the safety and success of Jewish students on college campuses around the globe.
"Congress comes at a time when Jewish student and community life is being disrupted all over the world and has left our students with very legitimate concerns over what lies ahead for them and their communities,” said Naomi Mittelmann Cohen, Executive Director of WUJS. “WUJS Congress 2020 will enable student leaders to work together to combat new challenges that they face in the age of a pandemic, while creating new ideas and visions for a safer, more inclusive and just future.”
The 47th Congress which will take place in a series of online events from December 27 through 31, 2020, anticipates the participation of hundreds of student leaders from over 40 countries and includes presentations and sessions with key decision makers, influencers and personalities from the world of politics, entertainment, media, education and culture. “The reality is that COVID has changed pretty much everything about how we live our lives and interact with one another but we also know that we need to be prepared for the day after. Young and informed Jewish leadership will be more important than ever and this Congress will give us the chance to convene, debate and decide on impacting on the key issues facing our community,” Mittelmann Cohen says.
Panels covering advocacy, leadership, inclusion and media bias will come alongside sessions on how to impact a change in policy, democracy, culture and preserving memory.
Isaac Herzog, Chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel: “Particularly now, as students across the world struggle with the implications and difficulties created by the COVID-19 pandemic, WUJS is connecting Jewish students and students unions across the world and providing them with education, connectivity and the tools to become the leaders of today and tomorrow."
Jonathan Braun, President of WUJS, said that the importance of the Jewish student community must be recognized particularly in these times of communal challenges. “The strength of Jewish students to be leaders through value and fortitude, and not through power, is what makes our voice so critical. We are at a time and place where our world demands change and this Congress will afford all of us the chance to be part of that discussion and discover practical ways for the younger Jewish generation to be integral players in how our community responds and adapts in the coming months and years.”