“I went to a Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School in New York through 12th grade, I went to camp Tel Yehuda, and I did Young Judaea Year Course where I volunteered in Israel for a year before college. For me, my Judaism has always been very wrapped up in social action. What I love about Judaism is it is an action based religion; In order to be a good Jew you have to be a good person. When people ask me when I love about Judaism I usually go to Yom Kippur because you have to ask forgiveness not only from god but also from the people you actually hurt and that’s always been powerful to me. I also come from a very zionist background and so my Jewish identity is also very wrapped up in Israel. When I started at Brown I joined Brown Students for Israel (BSI), but before that even, at the Orientation BBQ I came up to Marshall and said “I have an idea for a program to start, how do we make that happen”. So we started Moral Voices with the idea that Jews are taught not just to care about Jews but to care about all people and because we’ve been through such hardships as a people we have unique experiences and perspectives on how to deal with real issues that are happening around the world it’s crucial that we help however we can. The first real year we focused on Wrongful Imprisonment in the criminal justice system, which as someone studying psychology and interested in forensic psychology, was very interesting to me. The next year we did Genocide. My mom started a youth village in Rwanda for orphans of the genocide that houses 500 kids, gives them a high school educated and helps them get internships and scholarships afterwards. Much of my need to help people comes from my mom and I feel like it’s really crucial to educate and help where I can. Jews have this responsibility to help people, but because of the world we live in and the way Jews are often perceived, we have to help all people and do it in a way that sends a positive image. Hillel is structured in a way to support Jewish students who are trying to start initiatives and find a community and it was a place where I knew I could get started.
Next Jenna will be moving back to New York to work and travel as she looks into PhD programs in clinical and forensic psychology.
Next Jenna will be moving back to New York to work and travel as she looks into PhD programs in clinical and forensic psychology.
