Over the last few years, there has been a lot of talk about the so-called TikTok Generation, a generation of youth glued to social media, where meaning and purpose are shallow and cursory. However, an initiative of B’nai B’rith International Portugal, together with the International Observatory for Human Rights, demonstrates that there is a lot more to the Gen Zers than meets the eye.
A new book titled Human Rights: Written by Young Jews from 40 Countries is a fascinating compilation of essays by authors ranging in age from 16 to 30 on the issue of global human rights; how Jewish human rights are frequently forgotten or minimized since the October 7 massacre; antisemitism; and the writers’ relationship to Israel and Jewish identity.
Each chapter is written by an author from a different country, and unlike many similar books focusing on North America and Europe – home to the majority of Jews outside Israel – this tome has writers from places such as Venezuela, India, Morocco, Thailand, Curacao, New Zealand, and Algeria, alongside those from the United States, Canada, the UK, and France.
Each author undertakes a deep dive into an area potentially fraught with political and ideological land mines, with headings like “A Productive Existence,” “The Value of Work,” “Human Solidarity,” and “History Is Life’s Teacher.”
However, the subject matter is approached with extraordinary depth and understanding. It is clear that the authors care about their world and their community. They are not afraid to point out unfairness and inequality or to provide lessons and examples about how we can all make the world a better place.
There is a wide variety of differing viewpoints, but all the writers have a passionate commitment to the Jewish people and to human rights.
The authors
SHLOMO ELIJAH, 24, from the UK, wrote in his chapter titled “Antisemitism,” that “Antisemitism has always been used to express a prejudiced aversion to Jews, viewed as the root of all society’s evils. In a world that protects minorities in extreme and passionate form, the Jews are forgotten. Again.”
As a book written in the wake of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, events surrounding the Simchat Torah brutality and mass murder in the South of Israel are not ignored.
Writing about “Justice,” Mara Garrett, 17 from Portugal, recalled that “The Jewish people created national and international law, dinim, which imposes on humanity a system of justice with honest laws and honest judges operating in a context of truth and good faith. However, exactly three months after Hamas perpetrated the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust, Israel was tried for genocide at the International Court of Justice. This demonstrates a lack of a real commitment to law if it just becomes a weapon in the service of political attacks.”
Other authors try to see a way for the Jewish people to take control of their own destiny and help the world overcome its current challenges.
Tali Meoded, 17, from China, wrote that “By reminding ourselves that peace does not solely depend on policymakers drafting diplomatic agreements, but rather starts with ordinary people embracing the concept of tikkun olam – repairing the world through acts of kindness – our journey towards a brighter tomorrow becomes clearer, and the tranquil shore seems much closer.”
The deeper one delves into the book, the clearer it becomes that there is an impressive global Jewish generation waiting to take the helm and meet, head-on, the challenges of both the Jewish community and the world.
There is no shirking of responsibility or hiding behind smart phones. The writers in this book have clearly given their subject matter a lot of thought and dedicated a lot of research.
Moreover, in a time of much darkness and uncertainty for the State of Israel and the Jewish people around the world, this book is like a ray of light that shines through, a lantern that can guide us through the dangerous road ahead. It can serve as a strong antidote to the pessimists who view our current situation with little hope for the future.
This book is about hope and gives hope – even if that is clearly not its main aim.
It is about a group of young adults who seek to explain the world as they see it, and how they as human beings and Jews fit in. It is their honest evaluation and critique of where we are going wrong and how we can make things better.
No reader can be anything but hugely impressed that the global Jewish community has such deep young thinkers. They clearly understand the Jewish injunction to have meaning and purpose, and through their words the reader becomes optimistic about our future.
This is arguably the book’s greatest offering, and one we should not take lightly at a time when everything seems a little duskier, and some might be losing faith that the following generations have any answers to our Jewish predicament.
The writer is a global strategic communications and campaign adviser and former senior Israeli government adviser.
HUMAN RIGHTS
By Young Jews from 40 Countries
Download at bneibrit-humanrights.org/
77 pages; No cost