Graphic by Tiffany Xiao/The Choate News
On Wednesday, March 31, the Choate community convened for its fifth Community Conversation, this one focused on Jewish Identity. Community Conversations allow students who share a particular identity to discuss their experiences and educate the rest of the School by answering questions from community members. Jewish identity was chosen as the topic for the fifth Community Conversation in light of Passover and through speaking with Jewish-identifying community members, including Rabbi Barbara Paris and the Hillel cabinet.
“It’s important that we carve out time to intentionally have conversations on the beautiful diversity of identities in this community.” said Director of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Rachel Myers. “The Jewish community, again like other historically marginalized communities, can often be overlooked and misperceived.”
Many students appreciated this decision. “I think it’s really important to have a Community Conversation on Jewish-identity, as it is incredibly complex, and there are so many different types of Jews who all have unique experiences,” said Rosemary Wolff ’23.
Held over Zoom and mandatory for all students and advisers, the conversation proved both productive and challenging for Jewish-identifying members of the community. “I am grateful to all those people who made me feel comfortable sharing my thoughts and made us feel heard,” said Elia Ahmadi ’24. “I had never seen such a large group of non-Jewish people come together to understand my identity and the issues facing my people.”
Wolff added, “I feel great about sharing my perspective. I was certainly scared because in the past I have not had great responses to me sharing my experiences as a Jew, but I received nothing but positivity from the Choate community.”
Although the hour-long session addressed important issues and highlighted a number of voices, Dr. Myers said, “There’s never enough time for these conversations.” She added, “I do think these sessions — even in an hour’s time — have given time for some of the important issues to be addressed and for a number of voices to be shared.”
Both students and faculty had takeaways from the conversation. Celine Pirard ’21 said, “This conversation was powerful because of the strength and courage it takes for students to discuss their experiences. I hope our community is able to listen to our peers and learn that the conversation doesn’t end here.”
Many felt that the responses from Jewish-identifying community members were insightful and gave other community members a chance to learn how to better support their peers. “It showed once again that no identity group is a monolith, and so it’s important to recognize that no one can have the same experiences even though they share an identity,” said Associate Director of Equity and Inclusion Mr. Filipe Camarotti.
The Community Conversation series has proven to be a simple yet effective event for students to share their identities and experiences. The next conversation will focus on mental health in light of Mental Health Awareness Month.
