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An Expansion of Jewish Identity

By Leanne Milner
Aardvark Israel
Published: May 2010

If one were to do a Google image search for the word “Jew”, one would find pictures of a stereotypical Jewish man looking like he stepped out of a shtetl in eastern Europe: black hat, beard, peyas. But anyone who has ever sat in a coffee shop in Tel Aviv knows that Jews are a diverse people.

As a Jewish educator, I have been fortunate to travel the world and learn about the many Jewish communities that exist. From the Sephardic Jews of Morocco, Turkey and Greece, to the Anusim of Portugal, the Beta Israel of Ethiopia and the Lemba of South Africa, I have learned that Jews have a variety of identities.

I will never forget the pride and inspiration I felt hearing hundreds of Ethiopians in Gondar singing Am Yisrael Chai and chanting the Shema while celebrating Shabbat in their outdoor synagogue. Although my American family is Ashkenazi and our lineage, customs, and histories seemingly share no common threads, in fact our heritage is one and the same.

It is critical that American Jewish teenagers learn that there are Jews all over the world and what that means for them as future Jewish leaders. As a staff member of Aardvark Israel Immersion Programs, I will continue to challenge the students on our program in Israel to think about the complexity of Jewish identity. When asked to describe a Jew, I want the students on Aardvark Israel to paint a vibrant picture of the Jewish people, not the stereotypical image found on Google.

As an organization, Aardvark Israel works to bring together a multi-denominational, multi-national, and multi-cultural array of students to Israel for a program of study, volunteering, and immersion into Israeli society. We hope to set an example and create a microcosm of the Jewish community, bringing together young people with diverse Jewish beliefs and diverse Jewish backgrounds with the common goal of strengthening our love for Israel, Judaism, and the Jewish People. We are taught by our tradition that we were all created B’Tselem Elokim, in G-d’s Image, and my travels have shown me that the “image” is diverse and inspiring.

Leanne Milner, originally from South Africa, grew up in the United States and in 2005 made aliya to Israel where she now works with the Aardvark Israel program for Diaspora students. For more information about Aardvark Israel, please visit www.aardvarkisrael.com.


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