By: Assemblywoman Dr. Amy Handlin
I grew up in a tiny rural Jewish community in Monmouth County, New Jersey. The area had been settled by young people who left the Lower East Side of New York in search of economic opportunity. My father and uncle started a poultry-breeding enterprise which flourished among the local chicken and dairy farms. Too far from Jewish population centers to access pre-established facilities, they worked with their neighbors to create a community of their own. Our synagogue was a simple wooden structure that also served as an activity center and Hebrew school. In the summer, it offered “day camp,” which essentially meant supervised games on the lawn.
Because the members of our little community had to create most of their own Jewish experiences, they were open to a wide range of perspectives. I learned to respect every branch of Judaism and to appreciate our shared history and destiny. My parents were particularly passionate about Zionism and often hosted lectures about the State of Israel in our home. During the Six Day War in 1967, they posted a huge map of the Middle East on our kitchen wall so everyone could marvel at General Moshe Dayan’s daily progress.
Decades later, when I returned to Monmouth County with my husband to start our own family, the Jewish population had grown but remained modest in size and resources. We joined a Conservative congregation and our children attended a Solomon Schechter Day School. I also spent many years on the board of the Jewish Federation.
During the 1990s, Orthodox families began moving into our area in large numbers. They brought new ideas and community aspirations, including an NCSY chapter that made strong efforts to reach out to the Solomon Schechter students. As a parent, I appreciated the NCSY approach: it simply invited young people to celebrate Judaism and Israel, without denigrating or directly competing with alternative youth groups. As someone who had been raised to value klal Yisrael, I welcomed the new friendships and learning opportunities it offered. And the NCSY advisors had a special gift – somehow, every meeting became a can’t-miss, ultra-cool social event. Whenever my daughter Rebecca attended Latte & Learning at the local Starbucks, the line of modestly-dressed teens waiting to join Atlantic Seaboard Regional Director Rabbi Jonah Lerner stretched out into the street. She counted the days leading up to every Shabbaton, Winter Regional and the annual trip to Six Flags during chol hamoed Sukkot.
After Rebecca began attending a local public high school, NCSY events were still fun and cool, but now they took on another important dimension. Looking back, she says “NCSY was crucial in helping me build confidence in my identity as a Jew and my commitment to mitzvot in a world that was largely unfamiliar with Judaism. It was a community where I always felt comfortable, welcome and loved, and where there were always great advisors to help me with personal challenges. I remember one head advisor, Raizel Garfinkel, who sat with me for hours through an entire bus trip from Connecticut to New Jersey, helping me figure out the right Jewish direction for my life. She never lectured or criticized, just offered support for my choices.”
Rebecca’s enthusiasm for NCSY spilled over into our home, helping to enrich our family’s observance of Shabbat and the holidays. It even influenced me in my role as a state lawmaker; I made sure to educate myself about the public policy concerns of the Orthodox Union and how its priorities dovetail with those of other religious groups.
Rebecca’s Jewish journey has differed from mine. As a student at Harvard, she’s president of the Orthodox minyan at Hillel and is more observant than I was at her age. But I strongly identify with her commitments to learning, mitzvot and community – nurtured during her years in NCSY and increasingly critical to the future of all American Jews.
Amy H. Handlin is a graduate of Harvard University, holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Marketing from New York University. She currently holds the position of Deputy Minority Leader of the New Jersey General Assembly. In addition, Assemblywoman Handlin is an Associate Professor in the department of Marketing and International Business at Monmouth University, in West Long Branch, NJ. Dr. Handlin resides in Middletown with her husband David. Her son Daniel is a graduate student at MIT and her daughter Rebecca is an undergraduate student at Harvard.
