Last month, a group of students at Hume Fogg Magnet School encouraged their fellow students to wear keffiyahs to school. The messaging for the event included the image of a keffiyah covering the entire map of Israel.
When Jewish Federation of Greater Nashville CEO Judy Alperin learned of the situation, she contacted multiple parties at Hume Fogg to determine as accurately as possible, how the situation unfolded and to learn more about who specifically was involved. The Jewish Federation’s top concern was the assurance that Jewish students would have spaces where they were safe and comfortable in the school and that no student felt pressured to participate.
Additionally, it was important to discuss opportunities for nuanced and accurate student conversations and education about Israel. We want to ensure that all our local schools are places where Jewish students are comfortable learning and that they can fully express their identities, including their support for the State of Israel. It is important that conversations about Israel and Zionism in our community’s schools are fact based, fair, and nuanced, allowing for critical thinking and understanding rather than indoctrination.
After the initial conversations, Judy, along with other Federation staff members, attended a meeting with the principal and other administrators of Hume Fogg, as well as members of Metro Nashville Public Schools administration. They engaged in a productive conversation to better understand what happened, and to identify areas for improvements to school policies and procedures.
And just a few days later, Judy met again with administrators at Hume Fogg, bringing with her members of the region’s Anti-Defamation League. The goal of this meeting was to educate further about antisemitism and to create a plan to ensure these types of situations do not happen in the future.
While there was a rapid outpouring of emails and phone calls by concerned community members, we are pleased to share that the administration at Hume Fogg and Metro Nashville Public Schools took immediate action to engage the Jewish Federation in working towards a resolution. Everyone involved is first and foremost focused on the well-being of our students and dedicated to moving forward in partnership together.
This situation served to highlight the consistent need for the Jewish community to build and maintain relationships with our partners and allies in the greater community. Judy Alperin met recently with Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell to discuss the events at Hume Fogg, and to continue to emphasize our community’s need to focus on security.
As we begin a new year, we are focused on our future and ensuring the needs of our local Jewish community are met, as well as supporting our Jewish family abroad and in Israel. An upcoming highlight will be a Lunch and Learn program with Evan Bernstein, the vice president for community relations for Jewish Federations of North America.
Prior to joining Jewish Federations, Bernstein served as CEO of Community Security Service (CSS). While there he developed formal partnership agreements across the Federation system. In his role, Bernstein leads a team with a growing focus to strengthen and support Federations’ community relations efforts across North America.
Bernstein will be facilitating a community conversation about Israel and the current situation. He will be addressing some of the issues recently expressed by the Nashville Social Justice Round Table in the Jewish Observer’s September issue. It is our belief that communities thrive best with open and honest dialogue, providing an opportunity for members to listen with compassion and curiosity.
The Lunch & Learn is scheduled for Wednesday, October 29th at noon and is open to the entire community by RSVP. There is a cost of $18 per person for lunch. And the JCRC has many meaningful events planned in the coming year. For more information contact Judy Alperin, judy@jewishnashville.org.
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