Seminar On Antisemitism and Racism brings New Jersey students together to teach tolerance, understanding
LIVINGSTON, N.J. -- New Jersey high school students are teaching a lesson of tolerance and understanding ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and in the wake of the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel.
CBS New York's Jenna DeAngelis explains the connection that they say is changing their lives, for the better.
The students may be from different backgrounds and different schools -- some from Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School of Livingston, others from Newark's St. Benedict's Prep -- but they're arm-in-arm, embracing their differences.
"Being friends with people that are different from you, it helps you grow," said Totemi Adeyinka, a senior at St. Benedict's.
"Create new relationships between the two different types of people that can last forever," said Maya Bank, a senior at Rae Kushner Yeshiva.
It's all thanks to a program called SOAR -- Seminar On Antisemitism and Racism. Educators from each school work together to bring the students together.
"To learn with groups of students that they would never have interacted with otherwise, and the real goal is that through learning together and building relationships together ... when they see incidents of hatred against another group in the future, they'll automatically stand up," said Abbey Roth, from Rae Kushner Yeshiva.
"Allow the kids to understand that it doesn't matter if you're African American or Latino, it doesn't matter if you're Jewish -- you're humans, you're people, and all you have to do is just grab hold of each other, hold tight and support," said Char-Lotte Searcy, from St. Benedict's.
That, she says, comes with understanding the others' suffering.
"I never really comprehended what they go through every single day ... and now with this new sense of understanding, it really changed my life," said Rae Kushner Yeshiva senior Josh Kirsch.
Along with weekly Zoom conversations, they meet in-person including through activities like axe-throwing, which they cleverly call "Bury the Hatchet."
"At the end of the day, we're talking about a very hard topic, but then when we're done talking about it, we can go to being friends, hanging out ... If the world did what we do, I think the world would be a much better place," St. Benedict's junior Aedan Kerr said.
We first told you about the program after its launch in 2020, in memory of teacher and Holocaust survivor Eva Nelson. The impact since is evident. Her family says she would be proud.
"We need to start to see each other's humanity, and I think we're starting to see that here," parent Melissa Feldman said.
The founders of the program are hoping to expand it to other schools in the region, leaving a lasting impact one student at a time.
