Five students from the Writers Matter program visited Philadelphia and NYC for a six day reading and speaking tour. Mahdi (from the Agricultural High School in Rameh), Yuval (Ort Givat Ram in Jerusalem), Rula (Terra Santa school in Akko), Meeran (Wainar school in Yarka) and Bina (Yachad Modi’in) presented their writing and discussed their experiences in the program for approximately 350 people, including a series of dinners hosted in their honor in Philadelphia, and in meetings held at the Temple University Hillel, Temple Beth Hillel, Coop City Islamic community, Kehillat Hadar-Sha’are Tzedek and Smol Emuni.
This was the first Writers Matter trip to the US since April 2024, with two books already published in the interim: The Write Path and The Write Path II, and the growth of the program to include collaborations with students from other countries, as well as a Gazan writing program (in Arabic). The trip also marked the 20th anniversary of Writers Matter in the US.
In addition to reading some of the pieces that the students had written individually and collaboratively over the last two years, there were also some exclusive pieces written just for the speaking tour. The group also held Q & A sessions for audiences curious about how their choice to write with peers from other religious and ethnic backgrounds was seen by their family and peers, which languages they thought in, and other questions. The group also visited the Weizman Museum of American Jewish History, UPenn, NYU and Columbia University campuses, and the Jewish Center synagogue on the Upper West Side, among other sites of interest.
The group also visited the Weizman Museum of American Jewish History, UPenn, NYU and Columbia University campuses, and the Jewish Center synagogue on the Upper West Side, among other sites of interest.
For more information about the Writers Matter project, see: https://www.bobvogel.org/writers-matter The next online writing course for students will begin on Sunday at 7:00 pm Jerusalem time/ 12:00 pm US Eastern time. Students can join here.
Debate for Peace thanks Tony Schneider, Larry and Dotty Brown and Mickey and Barbara Black for hosting the group in Philadelphia, and the Bermont family, the Gal family, and David Brotsky for hosting the group in NYC.
Debate for Peace 