Cross-Cultural Group Visits JCM

Photos: Sholem Srugo/COLlive

A group of students taking part in a summer program by the organization Cultural Leadership paid a visit to the Jewish Children’s Museum in Crown Heights.

Cultural Leadership is a youth education and leadership nonprofit organization. Based in St. Louis, they are dedicated to creating a more just community by training area youth to be the next generation of civil rights leaders.

The group comprised of middle and high school students who want to “recognize and resolve issues of privilege and injustice through the lens of the African American and Jewish experience,” organizers said.

The group visited the Jewish Children’s Museum, where they heard from Richard Green of the Crown Heights Youth Collective and Devorah Halberstam, co-founder of the Jewish Children’s Museum and community activist.

Both spoke about the complexities of the African American and Chasidic communities living side by side in Crown Heights, and maintaining positive community relations. This was followed by a question and answer period.

As they exited the museum, Yeshiva bochurim offered the Jewish boys in the group a chance to put on Tefillin which they gladly accepted. It was yet another lesson in learning about the Jewish faith for the group.