Soddy Daisy High School had the pleasure of welcoming guest speaker, Michael Dzik who actively serves as the Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga.
All students taking Bible History, English with Mr. Fuller, and Audio/Visual Production with Ms. Crane were requested to attend. The goal of the meeting was to educate the future members of society and help to better connect and understand each other.
“The Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga builds and fosters a strong unified Jewish community and strives to ensure its well-being and continuity locally, in Israel, and throughout the world.” This is their mission statement as Dzik explained throughout his seminar.
He began by giving a summary of what Judaism is. With the Jewish people only comprising 1.8% of the population in the United States, it makes sense to give a concise explanation of what the culture is like.
The seminar began as a stiff lecture-type conversation, however, as more questions were asked, students became more relaxed and it became more educational and interesting. Students were involved by asking questions concerning a different view on culture and religion that they were not used to.
After the introduction, he moved on to talk about the issues facing the Jewish community in the world. The Israel-Hamas war has had a very personal impact on his life and the lives of others surrounding him. Dzik explained how this has been an issue for more than a century. When the Holocaust ended, the antisemitism didn’t stop there, it just wasn’t as in the spotlight as it was previously. After the terrorist attack in Israel two months ago, the community is under threat once again. He said in defeat, “It’s always the Jews.”
Connecting this back to modern times, he explained the influence that social media, especially surrounding teenagers, has had and further advanced anti-semitism. In an article by The Washington Post, Drew Harwell and Taylor Lorenz, explained, “ “#stand with Israel” videos have been viewed 46 million times in the United States, compared with 29 million views for “#stand with Palestine.”
In an interview afterward, I asked Mr. Dzik what message he wished to convey to the generation that he was trying to reach out to. He pleaded, “When you hear something inappropriate, rude, anti-semitic, stand up. It’s going to be very hard for you to do that, but we have to do that.”
