The BBYO teen movement and the World Jewish Congress have launched a new partnership to prepare Jewish high schoolers from across the globe for university life and give them “a seat at the table” in the wider world, the organizations announced earlier this month. At BBYO’s Centennial International Convention in Orlando, Fla., earlier this month, the organizations held an inaugural in-person Jewish Youth Assembly, with 63 students from 40 countries taking part, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen.

New year resolution: Held on the sidelines of the International Convention, the JYA program culminated with the deliberations and drafting of the 2024 resolution titled “Ensuring a Vibrant Jewish Future,” which is made up of five subsections: tackling new forms of antisemitism; opposing denial and distortion of Jewish trauma; fostering Jewish life in the Diaspora; combating global terror; and strengthening Jewish unity. Delegates also presented the 2024 JYA resolution to 3,700 of their peers from around the world.

A ‘no-brainer’: Michal Cohen, WJC’s digital advocacy and NextGen communications coordinator, told eJP that “having our first in-person JYA [and] WJC working with teenagers was really exciting and different for us.” Cohen noted that high school students “need the training and resources” before entering college. “So the partnership with BBYO was a no-brainer because they’re representing high school students [globally], while we are representing communities around the world,” she said.

Get them ready: According to Ian Kandel, BBYO’s vice president of global movement strategy, this partnership includes tapping into WJC’s “tremendous experience in select elements of BBYO leadership training curriculum such as diplomacy, public speaking, working with elected leaders and engaging with global entities like the United Nations and European Union. He added: “This will really enhance and enrich what we can offer to our teen leaders as BBYO globalizes. The relationship really makes what we’re doing feel real and have a broader impact and gives teens a seat at the table.”

Read the full report here.

This year’s Genesis Prize — and the $1 million that goes with it — is being awarded to five Israeli organizations providing treatment, counseling and support to the released and rescued hostages and their families, the foundation that runs the prize announced yesterday. The five organizations are: the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the Jewish Agency’s Fund for Victims of Terror, Lev Echad, NATAL – The Israel Trauma and Resiliency Center and OneFamily – Overcoming Terror Together, reports eJewishPhilanthropy’s Judah Ari Gross.

No one left behind: David Hatchwell Altaras, the leader of the Madrid Jewish community and a member of the Genesis Prize Selection Committee, said the organizations were chosen as their work represents “the ultimate testimony of the solidarity of the Jewish People. Nobody ever gets left behind.” Co-founder of the Genesis Prize Foundation Stan Polovets noted that the award is not meant to sway Israel on how it should respond to the hostage issue. “This award is not a political statement, and it is not our intent to influence government policy. The Genesis Prize is a humanitarian award, and this year, it seeks to achieve three things – ensure the world does not forget the plight of the captives; provide additional aid to organizations focused on assisting the hostages and their families; and, last but not least, honor the selfless work of organizations that spontaneously emerged after Oct. 7,” he said.

Nothing’s more urgent: Shelly Shemtov, whose son Omer was taken captive on Oct. 7 and a founding member of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, said she hopes that this award “will help keep the hostages in the news and bring everyone home.” Rachel Goldberg, the mother of captive Hersh Goldberg-Polin, said that the prize “unequivocally publicizes to the entire world that there is no more ethically urgent and morally critical cause pressing on the Jewish people today. We fervently pray this gift will be instrumental in continuing the family organizations’ valiant and tireless efforts to bring the remaining 134 beloved hostages home now.”

The two leading predictors of antisemitic belief are conspiratorial thinking and the notion that some groups in society should be more dominant than others, according to a poll by the Anti-Defamation League released today that looked at how antisemitism has changed in scope, nature and implications in the wake of unprecedented levels rising in the U.S. since Oct. 7, eJewishPhilanthropy’s Haley Cohen reports for Jewish Insider. The poll also found that maintaining a belief system that divides the world into “oppressors” and “oppressed” strongly correlates with antisemitism.

Kids these days: The survey, which polled 4,143 U.S. adults from Jan. 5-18, found that younger generations endorse more anti-Jewish views. Asked the extent to which Americans agreed with 11 different statements about antisemitic tropes used to measure anti-Jewish attitudes since 1964, as well as statements about Israel, millennial respondents agreed with the greatest number of anti-Jewish tropes on average, at 5.37. Gen Z followed closely behind at 5.01, while Gen X averaged 4.19 and Baby Boomers 3.06.

Read the full report here and sign up for Jewish Insider’s Daily Kickoff here.

“On Nov. 7, 2015, my family received the devastating news that our 9-year-old son Frederico was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a pediatric brain tumor. At that shattering moment, I made two commitments: one to Frederico, a promise to dedicate my life to saving his; and the other to God, with a pledge to donate and raise money for research to find a cure. It was at this lowest point of my life that the seed of The Medulloblastoma Initiative (MBI) was planted — though I didn’t know it then,” writes MBI founder Fernando Goldsztein in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

The edge of the unknown: “[I]n 2022, the cancer returned yet again. We learned the hard way that science had not advanced beyond what we had already explored. I vowed to do something to change that. Frederico deserved better, as do all children and their families enduring this terrible disease. At the time, I was just a Brazilian businessman with no professional expertise in the healthcare field. But I was also the father of a child with cancer, and I could not accept that modern medicine had nothing to offer our family. The Talmudic teaching, ‘Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire’ took on a heightened meaning in our household.”

A team effort: “We were blessed to join forces with an internationally acclaimed expert in this field, Dr. Roger J. Packer, director of the Brain Tumor Institute and the Gilbert Family Neurofibromatosis Institute of Children’s National Hospital. With an initial donation from my family and the support of many Brazilian donors, particularly from our Jewish community, we were able to establish a research consortium that currently brings together 13 top laboratories from the U.S., Canada, and Germany to achieve something extraordinary… We have also learned valuable lessons on how to establish a viable scientific research and development initiative.”

Read the full piece here.

“At the Union for Reform Judaism, we hear from students across North America who look to us to help them find safe spaces where they can both celebrate their Jewish identity and find a supportive environment where they can truly belong. As these same students now look to lock down their summer plans, we know that many are seeking a job in an inclusive and welcoming environment where they can cultivate their skills for their future careers. A summer job at a Jewish camp can provide both,” writes Rachel Berlin Handloff, executive director of 6 Points Specialty Camps, in an opinion piece for eJewishPhilanthropy.

Skill-building opportunity: “Summer camp provides many opportunities to build valuable competencies. Whether as a guidance counselor, school principal or in my current position, I can trace many of the skills I regularly use back to what I learned from camp. Leadership, communication, teamwork — working at camp helped me build and nurture these skills. Working in camper care, facilitating cabin activities, organizing evening programs and staffing overnight outdoor adventures all elevated my sense of self and my resume.”

Finding kehillah: “When I worked at camp during my college years, one of the things I most appreciated was the sense of kehillah (community) that was emphasized throughout my time there. Camp gave me a space where I could nurture my Jewish pride, and it helped me develop confidence in my identity as a Jewish woman. I found such comfort and guidance working there that I knew I wanted to help other people find that same assurance and give them the same sense of community… Today, working at a Jewish summer camp transcends a typical summer job. It is a deliberate choice to counteract the rise in antisemitism by supporting havens of warmth and acceptance surrounding Jewish identity.”

Read the full piece here.