Unique ADL Connecticut program marks 15th anniversary

By Cindy Mindell

Ellie Cooper

HAMDEN – Ellie Cooper was seven when she experienced antisemitism up close.

“During Chanukah, we had a menorah in our window as part of our decorations,” recalls the Middlefield resident, now 17. “I went to bed Chanukah-happy and woke up to the words, ‘Ellie, someone slashed our car tires.’ The police who investigated believed it was an act of antisemitism. I remember asking, ‘Does someone want to hurt us? Why did this happen? Are we in danger?’

“The following year in the summer, while walking down the street with my nieces, I discovered a swastika painted at the end of our road. There was no way to tell who painted it there but they may as well have painted it on my heart. I was truly sad and angry.”

Cooper would carry the experience with her until sixth grade, when her religious school class at Temple Sinai in Newington discussed the children’s book Julia’s Star as part of the Anti-Defamation League’s “Confronting Anti-Semitism” (CAS) program.

One of several ADL educational workshops and training programs, CAS is designed to empower the Jewish community to respond to antisemitic incidents and to challenge the persistent antisemitic myths and stereotypes in which many of these conflicts are rooted. Through interactive tools and role-play, the program’s workshops help Jewish teens and their families develop a strong, positive Jewish identity and acquire the tools and skills necessary to respond to insensitive behavior, bias, and prejudice. Launched in the ‘80s by the ADL regional office in Boston, CAS is now run by 10 of the ADL’s 27 regional U.S. offices. The program has a unique component in the Hamden-based Connecticut Regional Office, where Teen Trainers serve as facilitators.

Julia’s Star, written by Jewish author Johanna Justin-Jinich z”l when she was 15, explores themes of religious tolerance from the point of view of a Jewish fifth grader. Justin-Jinich was fatally shot in 2009 while a junior at Wesleyan University in Middletown. Inspired by the book, Cooper contacted ADL Connecticut to design a bat mitzvah project, and was recruited to be part of CAS.

Now a senior at Watkinson School in Hartford, Cooper is one of five Teen Trainers about to graduate both from high school and from CAS.

Sharon Citrin Goldstein has served as the Connecticut CAS program coordinator since 2001. A professional cantor and b’nai mitzvah tutor, she realized early on in her tenure that teens who had experienced antisemitism could help others in the same position. She began the Teen Trainer program a year later, recruiting participants from among her students and from ADL’s “Names Can Really Hurt Us,” a peer-to-peer panel presentation by high-school students who have experienced bias.

Sam Hecht

Each Teen Trainer develops his or her personal story into an essay, with the help of Goldstein and Marji Lipshez-Shapiro, ADL Connecticut director of education. Through the writing process, the teens not only express what it felt like to experience antisemitism and how they reacted emotionally to the incident, but they also explore the lessons they learned and how they might help other students and their families as CAS facilitators.

“These are unassuming kids who were going about their daily business and found themselves face-to-face with antisemitism,” Goldstein says. “At that crucial moment, they chose to stand up, speak out, or find support. Instead of falling victim to shame, fear and helplessness, they felt empowered and took leadership. As role models, they show that we are all capable of making a difference in confronting antisemitism while feeling proud of our Jewish identity. The Teen Trainers are the shining stars of the Confronting Anti-Semitism program.”

CAS runs some 20 interactive workshops a year throughout Connecticut, almost exclusively for Jewish audiences, and primarily in religious schools, synagogues, Jewish federations, youth groups, Jewish organizations, and adult education programs.

Teen Trainers and 12 professional adult trainers work in teams of two adults and one teen. Most of the workshops are geared toward students – as young as eight – and their parents. With kids in one room and parents in another, trainers lead activities that build awareness about the types of antisemitism kids might encounter in school, on the bus, and in their neighborhoods. Then, through role-playing and brainstorming, participants learn what to say and do when encountering antisemitism in various situations. Parents and students then come together to hear the Teen Trainers tell their personal stories and ask questions.

Woodbridge resident and Hopkins School senior Sam Hecht grew up in a family long involved in ADL and always knew that he wanted to be part of the organization. An incident at a summer camp after seventh grade propelled him into the Teen Trainer program, following in the footsteps of his older brother, Dan.

At the camp, which was predominantly Jewish, “one of the boys was new; he was Christian and raised in a community with almost no Jews,” Hecht recalls. “He was constantly picking fights with other kids in our age group. During one of the fights with a kid, he stormed out onto the porch, where the rest of us were, and said, ‘At least I’m not like you dirty, rich, filthy Jews.’ We were all shocked and quickly got a counselor to come over and handle the situation. They brought him down to the boys’ head counselor and they handled the rest.”

Ellery Saluck

Ellery Saluck of Westport is a Hopkins School senior and has found her Teen Trainer experience “incredibly rewarding.”

“I have gotten to know so many people and hear their own encounters with antisemitism,” she says. “Through this program, I have come to understand firsthand the pervasiveness and destructive effects of prejudices in our communities.”

Saluck describes the event that started her on the journey to becoming a Teen Trainer.

“A few years ago, I heard a few of my classmates talking about a video game where the objective is to collect bags of money. One of [them] said, ‘So they are Jewish,’ meaning the character in the game. I know this did not come from a place of hate, but rather ignorance. Ignorance, however, is no excuse for a joke like that. Later on that day, I pulled my classmate aside after lunch and asked him what he meant by the comment, and he said he was just going along with the stereotype, but then apologized after I nicely explained why it wasn’t okay.”

Saluck became involved with the Teen Trainer program to help younger students learn how to identify and combat antisemitism. “The ultimate goal was really to give these young students a voice when they may have felt voiceless,” she says. “I wanted to empower them.”

Over the course of their involvement with the program, Teen Trainers learn to articulate helpful advice for others navigating confrontations with antisemitism.

“Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself and your beliefs,” says Saluck. “Standing up for yourself means having pride in your identity and it means that you respond to a situation calmly, assertively, and respectfully. For one to fully understand how their actions or words hurt you, attacking him or her is not effective. Instead, kindly educating them on the subject will act as a long-term method of combating antisemitism. Lastly, know that you may not change everyone’s mind, but even by acknowledging antisemitism and using your tools to combat antisemitism, you are making a difference in the world.”

Cooper believes that the biggest impact of her Teen Trainer work is to help others find a voice.

“Many Jewish families I have presented to believe their children don’t face discrimination,” she says. “They are surprised, during our presentations, when children reveal incidences of antisemitism. The voices of their children are important and I like to think that I am helping them to be outspoken and strong leaders in their Jewish communities.”

For more information about the Confronting Anti-Semitism Program or opportunities for teen trainers, contact Cantor Sharon Citrin Goldstein at scitrin@adl.org or (203) 780-0210.