Asia Lewandowska draped leafy tree branches atop a web of string as if she had been building sukkahs every October for all of her 24 years.
But this was her first. Sure, there was some giggling initially when the Polish intern at the Progressive Jewish Alliance thought she was perhaps placing the branches in the wrong spot. But soon she realized there was no wrong or right spot. The sukkah would be beautiful regardless of where the branches dangled.
Asia (pronounced like Asha, a Polish nickname for Johanna) came to Berkeley via the Humanity in Action fellowship, a 10-week program in New York and the Bay Area for college students from Germany, Poland, Denmark, France and the Netherlands. Eighteen were placed for five-week internships at Bay Area organizations. Five of those were placed at Jewish nonprofits: PJA, the Jewish Community Relations Council, the Holo- caust Center of Northern California, and the Anti-Defamation League.
None of the interns are Jewish.
“In Poland, we assume that Jewish organizations support Jewish interests and issues,” Lewandowska said. “I’ve been positively surprised that Jewish groups here are doing work with social issues, taking care of things beyond their community.
“And I really appreciate that I’ve had the opportunity to learn about Jewish culture and the holidays. I find it very interesting.”
The lessons are in line with Humanity in Action’s goal for the summer program, which brings together European and American students to study and work on human rights and minority rights issues. HIA uses the Holocaust as a framework to discuss resistance, genocide and human rights work, so it was a logical fit to place interns at Jewish organizations, said Michael Allen, San Francisco project coordinator at HIA.
“I’ve learned to be more open to different religions,” said Katharina Binz, a 23-year-old from Mainz, Germany, who is also interning with Progressive Jewish Alliance. “In Europe, we’re not very religious and we tend to be very secular, to step away from religion. But I feel I’ve learned a lot about Judaism and its traditions.”
The PJA interns have worked on campaigns ranging in focus from sweatshop-free labor to the death penalty to marriage equality. Along the way, they’ve worked closely with the three other interns placed at Jewish agencies.
“It’s given us all an even deeper insight into the Jewish community, to see how everyone is connected,” Binz said. “It’s interesting to see how it all works.”
Humanity in Action started with a five-week seminar in New York. American and European students shared their experiences working for social change, and the European students said they were impressed by how much community support the American students had for their various causes.
Lewandowska said she has tried to promote corporate social responsibility in Poland, but has found little interest from local businesses. She and her peers planned a workshop to educate business people about corporate social responsibility, but only one business sent a representative.
“Humanity in Action has given me hope,” Lewandowska said. PJA has helped her understand how best to raise funds and interest, and so she’s going to try again next year. Plus, after spending her summer with HIA interns, she now has a network of socially conscious peers all over the globe.
The Jewish nonprofits feel they have also benefited. PJA director Rachel Biale said Humanity in Action approached her about working with interns, and she’d definitely sign up again for a different batch next year. She said she’s learned a great deal from working with the “outsider perspective” her European interns bring to the table.
Allen directs weekly Friday workshops with the 18 interns. He’s excited to see the interns building relationships with one another and their assigned nonprofits.
“I try and emphasize that there are lessons we learn in the classroom and lessons we learn when we use the city as a classroom,” he said.