Putting Principles Into Action
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of her father’s birth, in March 2007 Dr. Susannah Heschel wrote about her father in The Jewish Week. She described how her father, Abraham Joshua Heschel, insisted, when she wanted to play school with him, that he play the role of little Joseph Low, one of her classmates, “who was particularly clever and mischievous. Every evening after dinner, I was the teacher and my parents were the pupils, as I recreated what happened in class that day and my father took delight in playing Joseph.”
Joseph Low, today a successful New York businessman, was surprised to find that Rabbi Heschel had noticed him. Rabbi Heschel was Mr. Low’s role model. Joseph Low grew up to found Israel at Heart, an organization that promotes a better understanding of Israel and its people by bringing Israeli university students to communities around the globe.
Here the grown-up Joseph Low reflects on how he came to realize that he could put Rabbi Heschel’s guiding principles into action.
I went to Ramaz, a Modern Orthodox day school in New York City, spent my junior year of college at Hebrew University, and then returned to Israel a year later as a volunteer during the Yom Kippur war. I always have had a very strong attachment to Israel, its people and history.
It was very important for my parents that each of their four children learn Hebrew, spend time in Israel, and go to synagogue. However, I resented watching those I thought were religious acting in a way that was not Jewish. To me, being a Jew means being concerned about those around us, not only about Jews. Being a Jew means treating people with dignity and respect. Being a Jew means standing up to injustice. Being a Jew is not just about praying, it is a way of life.
Sadly, I have not seen many of our leaders stand up for the principles I hold dear. One of the leaders I do respect is the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, a man who stood up and said what needed to be said without regard for whether it was expedient. He was concerned about all people. With the utmost dignity, he stood up for those who had no voice. How I wish we had a leader like Rabbi Heschel today.
Each of us has to find a way to express our dreams, hopes, and aspirations. I felt my attachment to my Jewishness through my connections with Israel. I started Israel at Heart because I felt our leadership, both in Israel and the United States, was doing a poor job of presenting Israel to the outside world. People were getting negative impressions based on news reports. Something had to be done to help the country I love and the people I care so much about. What started as a small gesture, bringing a handful of Israeli students to speak to university students in North America, has expanded to over 1,000 students speaking all over the world.
Israel at Heart helped produce the highest-rated television show in Israel, a reality show called The Ambassador, which ran for two years. For 13 weeks, 14 young Israelis competed to see who would be chosen as the best spokesperson for Israel. The winner spent a year working in our New York office. Israel at Heart brought music groups to American campuses to perform and speak about life in Israel and basketball teams to play various colleges, showing a different side of Israel.
Our work has expanded to assisting the Ethiopian community, people who have so much to offer but who have not been given the respect and opportunities they deserve. This summer, we brought 15 Ethiopian Israeli university students to New York for internships at prestigious companies to get practical skills and exposure to a world that has not been open to them in Israel. They returned home to complete their studies before finding jobs to match their talents and new skills.
Conservative Judaism gives us the opportunity to participate in the world around us and to question our traditions in a nonjudgmental way. As the new chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary, Professor Arnold Eisen, has said, we need to ask the right questions and stand for the principles that we hold true to our hearts. Our best days are ahead of us if we accept the challenge of making our religious beliefs and practices relevant to what is going on around us, as Rabbi Heschel did.
Two of my children graduated from the Solomon Schechter of Westchester and two are now students there. I became involved with planning the high school because I wanted Jewish families to have the option of sending their children to a vibrant Conservative Jewish school. For us to grow and flourish we need to make Judaism something people want to be a part of.
Joseph Low is founder of Israel at Heart.
