Alyson Bazeley
New York School of Education
Student/New York
I’ve always wanted to be a Jewish educator,”
says Alyson Bazeley, who loves working with
teenagers.
“
Teens really need to choose their own paths, so I ask
them what they’re interested in learning,” she says. “They
want to participate in
mitzvah
projects, learn texts, and
connect with other Jewish teens.” Her training in experi-
ential learning and relationship building at HUC-JIR are
strengthening her capacity to engage her teens at North
Shore Synagogue in Syosset, NY.
She has traveled with them to Alabama and Georgia to
learn about the civil rights movement and hear directly
from those who participated in the struggle. “We then
asked ourselves: What does it mean as a Reform Jew
to learn these stories? How can we bring activism back
to our own congregations? What can we take away from
this experience?”
Such experiences have inspired her teens to create proj-
ects that engage and help others in their community. “We
started an interfaith program with teens at other congre-
gations on Long Island. We worked with a mosque, where
their teens and ours would participate together in various
mitzvah
projects.”
As for herself, she says,
“
HUC-JIR teaches us to be
advocates and to stand up for what we believe is right.
Everything I’ve learned I will continue to use in my work
in the field.”
“
30
I’ve wanted to be a rabbi since
I was pretty young,” reveals
Joshua Herman. “It started when my
mother was ill with cancer and my
rabbi was incredibly supportive and
reassuring. He became a role model
for me during that time.”
The Milwaukee native majored in
Hebrew, Jewish Studies, and Philos-
ophy at the University of Wisconsin
in preparation for pursuing his
dream. He is especially grateful for
the opportunity to “get to know
our professors as people, not just
as professors. I would venture to
say that I have been to most of
my professors’ homes.”
Last semester, Dr. Gary P. Zola,
Professor of the American Jewish
Experience and Director of the Jacob
Radar Marcus Center of the Ameri-
can Jewish Archives, invited his
entire class over for dinner.
“
A small
group of us ended up staying pretty
late, talking for a long time with Dr.
Zola about rabbis who gave really
charged sermons about issues like
civil rights that were highly contro-
versial with their congregants. We
asked how we could see ourselves
doing so one day.”
Such conversations – formally in the
classroom or informally in a faculty
home – provide opportunities for
reflection that are indispensable for
students’ development as future
leaders.
“
Joshua Herman
Rabbinical Student/Cincinnati
Education student Alyson Bazeley (second from
left) develops interfaith youth programs with (left)
Rabbi David Whiman, C ’79, of North Shore Syna-
gogue, and Nazli Chaudry and Seema Rahman of
the Islamic Center of Long Island.
Rabbinical student Joshua
Herman officiating at the
bar mitzvah
of Jordan Miller
as part of his student pulpit at
Congregation Gates of Prayer
in New Iberia, LA.
