For many Jewish teens, political engagement can feel like something that happens to other people – adults, activists, someone else. Kesem Heilweil felt that way, too, until the summer before Grade 10.
Heilweil was 14 years old when her family moved to Coquitlam from Israel. She enrolled in public school and spent her first year, in Grade 9, not feeling very connected to the Jewish community.
“In Israel, if you’re Jewish, you literally feel it from everyone around you. Every holiday is celebrated and your whole life is part of it,” she said.
Coming to her new hometown and school, she felt like her Jewish life almost didn’t exist. She joined a youth group, which helped, and the summer before entering Grade 10, she participated in a dragon boat event with the group in Coquitlam. It was there she discovered a program that changed the trajectory of her life – CJPAC’s Generation program.
CJPAC is the Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee, a multipartisan, nonprofit organization that gets Jews and their allies off the sidelines and into politics. The organization places people on campaigns of their choice, on any side of the aisle, so they learn how the system works and the community has a voice in every party. At the end of a campaign, whether a candidate has won or lost, volunteers walk away with something lasting: relationships with the people who run and shape Canada’s politics, and a network they can draw on for years, whether they go into public life themselves or simply want their community’s concerns heard.
CJPAC also has a flagship program for Jewish highschoolers in grades 10-12, called Generation. It gives Jewish teens a working understanding of how democracy operates – and the confidence to participate in it. It involves four to five monthly sessions, held over Zoom and in person, hands-on political volunteering that CJPAC “concierges” for each student, and a three-day trip to Ottawa, with nearly all expenses paid. There, they meet students from all over the country, and all walks of life and political affiliations. It’s a crash course in politics, and the students meet members of Parliament, observe a Question Period at Parliament itself, and hear from speakers from across the parties, government and the advocacy world.
This is what Heilweil found out about that summer day and decided to apply for. She got in, and began connecting with other Jewish kids from around the province, as well as nationally on the Zoom sessions. She dove into volunteering on a campaign and, soon, she was on the Ottawa trip.
“It was so eye-opening for me. I got to meet so many Jewish students from all over the country, and realize the importance of politics and being Jewish,” Heilweil said.
“It taught me about how I want to study politics in post-secondary and how I can incorporate my Jewish values with my political ones. I have always been proud of being Jewish and now I have a way to combine both my passions.”
While Generation has helped Heilweil feel much more connected to her Jewish community, the program can be equally important for those already embedded in it, like Judah Moskovitz, the son of Temple Sholom’s Rabbi Dan Moskovitz. He did the Generation program and went on to do CJPAC’s other flagship program, Fellowship, which is for both Jewish and non-Jewish post-secondary students.
“Generation teaches you what politics is, Fellowship teaches you how politics work,” explained Judah Moskovitz, adding that his first volunteer job with Generation eventually led to his current job working for MP Taleeb Noormohamed.
“I got to meet Jews from small and large communities, and it was so interesting to learn what their communities are like and how they share the same Jewish values that I have, regardless of party lines or where they are from,” said Moskovitz, who is now in his third year at the University of Ottawa. He credits both programs for inspiring his current trajectory in politics.
“Politics is about helping other people and it’s also a core value of Judaism. By being in politics, you can affect the most change in the world. I want to do it now because I can do good things.”
Heilweil agrees.
“I’ve met some of my best friends,” she said. “You meet amazing people. And I now know what I want to do with my life.”
Both Generation and Fellowship applications are open now. Visit cjpac.ca and feel free to reach out directly to me for more information at jcordes@cjpac.ca.
Jill Cordes is the BC community outreach and engagement coordinator for CJPAC (Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee).