Before coming to JFS in September 2014, it’s safe to say that all I knew of Aish was that they sponsored lots of Jewish things, make cool YouTube videos about festivals, and apparently (emphasis on apparently!) indoctrinated Jewish kids. I can now wholeheartedly tell you that Aish, in my experience, is SO much more than that. I have been to both Poland and America with Aish, and both have been two of the most incredible trips I’ve ever been on, though for very different reasons.
My interaction with Aish first began during an assembly about extracurricular activities that we have to do at JFS during sixth form. Nothing really caught my attention until I heard two words that did… free lunch! The subsequent words about Israel advocacy and meeting influential Jewish people also caught my attention, and that is how a day later I signed up for NXT. NXT is Aish’s two year old program to enable young Jewish students to meet incredible Jewish businessmen, accountants, lawyers, and magazine editors and other professionals who could potentially change their lives through apprenticeships, sponsorships, connections or even just advice.
There have been three sessions over my two years with NXT that stand out for me as unbelievable experiences. The first was last year, when we met Neil Blair, J.K Rowling’s lawyer. Now, as a huge fan of both the Harry Potter books and movies, it was a huge honour to be sitting in front of a man who had a huge part in allowing that to take place. After eating a hearty lunch of pizza and sushi, he told us all about his role in the franchise, as well as some little secrets about upcoming ideas and then we asked him questions. The final thing we did was to have a tour of the office, ending in a rather large and technologically advanced section which housed the people who run and created Pottermore, the official Harry Potter website. I’ll admit, I fangirled a bit at that! During the question and answer session, someone had the guts to ask Neil if he took students for work experience, and so one of the girls ended up doing work experience for two weeks in this man’s office in the summer, an opportunity that only came about because of NXT.
The second session that I loved during my time at NXT was in early February of this year, when we met Jessica Diner who at 30 has already worked her way up from intern to beauty editor at Vogue magazine, all while juggling converting to Judaism and taking on a religious lifestyle, getting married and (when we met her) being pregnant. I found Jessica amazing to talk to because she was so down to earth, interesting and also simply because I love fashion and makeup! What I learnt from her was about being true to your beliefs, as she explained to us that as much as she loved Vogue, it no longer fit with her outlook on life and therefore felt a change was necessary. I was blown away by her self-confidence and commitment to her values.
The final session that I have found amazing was talking to Judge Zeidman, a Jewish judge at Snaresbrook Court in Essex in March of this year. I loved this session purely because it gave us an insight into something not generally available to the public, as we got to witness a fraud case in session, as well of the verdict being given to a teenager convicted of stabbing another youth. Even though I personally am not particularly interested in law, it was still incredibly interesting to talk to the judge about his hardest cases, whether he felt he always made the correct decision and whether G-d came into play when judging.
There is not nearly enough space in this short article to tell you every amazing thing NXT and Aish do, so I’m going to finish it off by thanking the people that make it possible, particularly Rabbis Shlomo Farhi, Ari Kayser and Dani Smolowitz for their constant hard work to develop this incredible programme for us. I can honestly say that NXT has been one of my favourite endeavours that I have undertaken while at JFS, and it has taught me so much about the world of work and Judaism and how one need not compromise on their identity and values in the workplace. I would thoroughly encourage everyone with the opportunity to try NXT to give it a go, because there really will be something for everyone… even if it’s just the free food!
