SSI Students and Supporters: Meet Rebekah Mann!
Dear SSI students and members of the movement, my name is Rebekah Mann, a graduate of Kennesaw State University, class of 2021. This academic year I am pleased to be joining the SSI national team as the Director of Campus Programming and Strategic Partnerships, and I look forward to engaging with you and getting to know you.
I was born in Atlanta, GA, and my family connection to Israel goes back to my great-grandpa, Julie Kravitz, who planted 30,000 trees to invest in the beautiful country we all know and love. He was one of my biggest inspirations to be a strong Zionist, and though I never had the opportunity to meet him, he left a beautiful Zionist legacy in America, Israel, and in my family. I hope to follow in his footsteps throughout my life. Knowing that he invested in the land, and now I am investing in the students who support Israel is a meaningful full circle.
As a founder of the SSI chapter at Kennesaw State University and its president of four years, I know what it is like to establish a chapter from starting, building, and running it. It takes a lot of passion, dedication, excitement, and responsibility. Before I started SSI, I heard that a couple students wanted to start an Israel club on my campus, so of course I wanted to join. After brainstorming on what our club name should be, or which organization we should join, I found Students Supporting Israel. I came to find out that SSI is a student-led, grassroots organization that has chapters all over North America. I very soon realized how important it was not only to have an Israel club on our campus, but to be a part of Students Supporting Israel.
It is not always easy to lead a student club on campus, but it is well worth it. Over my 4 years in SSI I faced many ups and downs. Some of the challenges included board members who joined and left, or investing hours to advertise an event just to end up with a small crowd. I felt frustrated in these moments, but these struggles made our chapter the strong group it is today.
While not identical, we all face similar challenges across our campuses, and with SSI being powerful and united, we can face any obstacles together as a strong pro-Israel grassroots movement. The SSI support and community across the country is valuable and necessary. As a network of students, we are one family, one team, one vision that supports each other wherever we are in America, Canada, and now Argentina!
However, the rewards and benefits of being involved are greater than any challenges, and well worth it. Such are friendships I have gained from being a part of SSI, that I am forever grateful for and are so special to me.
One of my favorite aspects of SSI activism has been tabling and building coalitions with other student groups. I specifically remember one instance of tabling towards the beginning of my time with SSI. There was a women’s group tabling, and I could tell it was their first time doing so. I offered to remain next to them to help them with some tips on engaging with students. It was so fun, and we created a coalition that lasted four years. Right before COVID closed down our school and the world, we were going to have a Krav Maga event with them. We tabled with them several times, one of my board members bought them Chick Fil A, and our relationship grew. It all started from me making the decision to help them out. You never know where conversations can lead.
One big aspect in SSI is to not “preach to the choir,” and we want to get our message out to campus at large. That is why we are so thankful for the students in SSI who are not Jewish, for standing with the Jewish people and Israel. Another time I tabled, I had a great conversation with a student who is not Jewish. I ran into him a couple more times throughout campus and he eventually joined our tabling committee and flew to NYC to the SSI conference at Columbia University, and was interviewed for a Jewish news source while at the conference. His contribution to SSI was extremely valuable and we were very grateful for his involvement.
I have discovered that it is possible to find something in common with many clubs on campus. One of my favorite collaboration events was “Falafel Fiesta” where we partnered with Latin groups to learn about Latin Jewish family stories, culture, and heritage.
Over my years as the club President my best coalition event was “Intro to Coalition Parliament.” I managed to bring together leaders from the Young Democrats, College Republicans, Turning Point USA, and College Libertarians to learn about the only democracy in the Middle East, Israel! It was beautiful to see all of the political leaders come together, and we were able to do this because SSI is non-partisan so everyone is welcome to come discuss and learn about Israel. It is rare to see different ranges of the political spectrum to come together, but we saw it that night!
Before I graduated, I realized how important it is to work within student government as so many student governments across the country are bias and misleading when it comes to Israel. I wanted to be proactive, so that if Anti-Israel bias came to our campus, we are already established as an SGA that supports Jews on campus. I also wanted to make an impact and legacy in my university. Thus, in my last semester as an SSI president, we managed to pass the IHRA definition of antisemitism. In my speech, I shared my family history on how we escaped Hungary after my great-great grandfather got his hands on the book Mein Kampf. It was a moving experience to share with the student government, and I am thankful that I had the opportunity to speak up for my people.
Much more can be written about activism, and I eagerly look forward to be working with you all. SSI National has always supported and empowered me as a student leader, and now I am excited to be that support for SSI students wherever they may be. I look forward to working with you all! Let’s have a great year and Shana Tova SSI!
