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Speaker 1: Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Today we continue our

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Speaker 1: coverage of the war in Israel from the perspective of

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Speaker 1: young people inside our own country. I'm excited to welcome

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Speaker 1: our guests today who will not only discuss the war

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Speaker 1: from her perspective as a young American Jewish woman, but

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Speaker 1: also how she's pushed through anti Semitism in this country

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Speaker 1: and used that experience to motivate and inspire teens. Rena

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Speaker 1: Rose exel Beard helps teens to build self confidence, networking skills,

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Speaker 1: personal goals, and learn how to respect others and their cultures.

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Speaker 1: Before I bring Raina in with me, first, I want

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Speaker 1: dot com code Dixon. Now I want to bring in Raina.

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Speaker 1: She is a motivational speaker, author and mentor. Rena is

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Speaker 1: the founder and CEO of her organization, The Rose Grows,

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Speaker 1: an author of The Girl Who Said Hello to Everyone,

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Speaker 1: and that title Reina is so appropriate for right now

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Speaker 1: and today and what's going on. Thank you so much

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Speaker 1: for joining us.

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Speaker 2: Tudor, thank you so much for having me on the

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Speaker 2: Tutor Dixon Podcast.

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Speaker 3: It's pleasure to be here.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely. You have a very interesting story because you grew

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Speaker 1: up outside of Florida. You moved to Boca and you

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Speaker 1: started to experience anti Semitism there, which really a lot

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Speaker 1: of times people go through something tough and something beautiful

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Speaker 1: grows from that, And I think that is what we

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Speaker 1: can say about the rose grows. So can you just

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Speaker 1: kind of go through that with us and how you

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Speaker 1: got to where you are today?

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Speaker 2: Totally growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, the youngest.

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Speaker 3: Of four, I have three older brothers.

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Speaker 2: My dad's parents were Holocaust survivors, so my whole life

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Speaker 2: I always had a connection to Israel, the Jewish people,

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Speaker 2: and was very aware of anti Semitism. I never experienced

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Speaker 2: racism or anti Semitism a day in my life in Tennessee.

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Speaker 2: I lived there until I was eighteen years old. When

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Speaker 2: I was eighteen, I went to Israel for a year,

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Speaker 2: and as a woman, it really changed my life. It

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Speaker 2: was the first time I felt confident and smart.

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Speaker 3: And just really accepted, you know, for who I was.

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Speaker 2: And when I was there, I volunteered in the Israeli

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Speaker 2: Army for three months. Following that, I volunteered at an

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Speaker 2: archaeological dig site in Jerusalem. And when the year was

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Speaker 2: done and I was moving to South Florida, my mission was,

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Speaker 2: I'm going to go to college.

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Speaker 3: I'm going to study business.

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Speaker 2: I'm going to make a lot of money, and then

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Speaker 2: I'd like to, you know, run for politics one day.

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Speaker 2: But in Boca Raton, a city that has more Jews

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Speaker 2: than the entire state of Tennessee, at nineteen years old,

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Speaker 2: that's where I experienced anti Semitism for the first time.

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Speaker 4: Wow.

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Speaker 2: I experienced it in the forms of having a fake

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Speaker 2: eviction notice on my dorm. These students were allowed to

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Speaker 2: bring Holocaust deniers to my campus, which at nineteen years old,

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Speaker 2: I had no idea that free speech also included hate speech.

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Speaker 3: I'll never forget too.

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Speaker 2: When Israel was in a crisis with its terrorist neighbors,

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Speaker 2: the bullies at my campus made a mock checkpoint and

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Speaker 2: dressed up like Israeli soldiers and they pushed you around

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Speaker 2: and they spit on the ground next to you, and

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Speaker 2: you got free pizza for participating in the activity.

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Speaker 3: And I just want to show.

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Speaker 2: This was my magazine cover from FAU in twenty thirteen,

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Speaker 2: and it's so interesting how through becoming an advocate. You know,

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Speaker 2: first I had to get educated, not just on Israel

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Speaker 2: in the history, but you know, tutor, when I'm speaking

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Speaker 2: with kids, and I point out that this headline is

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Speaker 2: not in quotation quotation marks for those who don't know.

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Speaker 3: The ethics of journalism.

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Speaker 2: When this is not in quotation marks, this is actually

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Speaker 2: being endorsed as a view of Florida Atlantic University. So

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Speaker 2: it was interesting how, you know, little pro Israel advocate

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Speaker 2: Rena had to you know, go to the school newspaper

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Speaker 2: to educate the reporters on how what they were doing

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Speaker 2: was actually hurting our chances at peace and not really

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Speaker 2: helping us.

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Speaker 1: So that was twenty thirteen. Just a couple of days ago,

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Speaker 1: there was a pro Palestine but I would say pro

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Speaker 1: Hamas rally at Florida Atlantic University. And I say that

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Speaker 1: because this is in response to Hamas going into Israel

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Speaker 1: and committing a trust cities that we have in our

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Speaker 1: generation never seen before going in. And you'll hear people

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Speaker 1: say that this is not true. We have the evidence.

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Speaker 1: They went in, They shot young people, they raped women,

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Speaker 1: they kidnapped and killed elderly and children. It's just horrendous.

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Speaker 1: But I want to play a little bit a clip

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Speaker 1: from your University of Florid Atlantic University from just a

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Speaker 1: couple of days ago, so you can see what's going

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Speaker 1: on there now.

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Speaker 2: Killers.

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Speaker 4: The killers.

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Speaker 1: So you see those signs are saying take your hands

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Speaker 1: off Gaza, and they're chanting free Palestine. Let me again reiterate,

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Speaker 1: this is in response to a surprise terrorist attack against Israel,

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Speaker 1: not against Gaza, not against Palestine. This was the Hamas

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Speaker 1: terror group who genuinely controls these folks, and they keep

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Speaker 1: them there and they do not allow them to succeed

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Speaker 1: and have a good life. This is not because the

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Speaker 1: Israelis are keeping them in this situation. Is because Hamas,

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Speaker 1: who does not live there, they live very, very plush

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Speaker 1: lives in Qatar. They are keeping them in this situation.

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Speaker 1: And these folks are in America at your university chanting

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Speaker 1: really against Israel. What's your response to that?

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Speaker 2: I mean, honestly, I was. I was so emotional watching that.

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Speaker 2: When I was a student, I felt like I was alone.

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Speaker 2: Although I was working, you know, with other students, I

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Speaker 2: felt very alone. And you know, over the course of

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Speaker 2: four years, we were able to get a number of

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Speaker 2: important people at the university fired the new president came

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Speaker 2: in and you know, formed a partnership with the Technion.

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Speaker 2: I know, even after I graduated, you know, student government

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Speaker 2: had had made some laws about you know, not discussing

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Speaker 2: issues happening in Israel and student government and it just

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Speaker 2: really breaks my heart to know that so much work

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Speaker 2: and so much community building and grassroots went into trying

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Speaker 2: to make my university feel safer for Jewish and pro

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Speaker 2: Israel students. And when I was in college, there were

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Speaker 2: twelve people who were in the in the anti Israel group.

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Speaker 2: And it's complicated for people to understand because some of

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Speaker 2: the people in that group were Jewish, some of them

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Speaker 2: were gay. You know, they all come from different backgrounds.

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Speaker 2: And that's why education is so important. For a lot

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Speaker 2: of these students who are involved, they believe that they

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Speaker 2: are a part of a social justice movement, students for

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Speaker 2: justice in Palestine.

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Speaker 3: Who wouldn't want justice for any people.

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Speaker 2: But when you look at these demonstrations and you look

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Speaker 2: at the social media and you look at the programs

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Speaker 2: that SJP is organizing across campuses, it's not promoting coexistence,

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Speaker 2: it's not not promoting Palestinian culture or future. It is

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Speaker 2: demonizing Israel. And bullying pro Israel students on campus. And

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Speaker 2: what's really funny is, you know, sometimes when we would

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Speaker 2: bring in speakers to address Palestinian issues, those also too

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Speaker 2: are always the events that the students would come in

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Speaker 2: and protest. So how dare you call yourself an advocate

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Speaker 2: for the Palestinian people. I mean, you can't even be

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Speaker 2: respectful and and other and other learning opportunities to either

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Speaker 2: learn more or challenge what you believe when it comes to,

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Speaker 2: you know, supporting what's going on over there. So when

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Speaker 2: we talk about like education, you know, Israel is the

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Speaker 2: only democracy in the Middle East. It's the only country

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Speaker 2: where men and women have same rights. It's the only

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Speaker 2: country you could be gay and alive at the same time.

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Speaker 2: It's the only country in the Middle as a woman

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Speaker 2: you can really where not only wear what you want freely,

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Speaker 2: but men and women can protest and post and not

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Speaker 2: be in fear of the government for persecuting you for

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Speaker 2: your views. And it's just so funny these students who

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Speaker 2: blindly support what they call freedom fighters, which the rest

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Speaker 2: of the world defines as terrorists.

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Speaker 3: If you are targeting.

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Speaker 2: Women, children, innocent civilians, most of these students, if they

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Speaker 2: actually knew the history as a gay student, or as

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Speaker 2: a black student, as a Christian student. It wouldn't make

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Speaker 2: sense for them to be involved with an organization who

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Speaker 2: does not see Israel's right to exist, what Hamas is

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Speaker 2: fighting for and what these students are yelling from the

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Speaker 2: river to the sea. If you look at a map

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Speaker 2: of Israel and you look from Jordan and you look

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Speaker 2: to the sea, that's the entire country of Israel. So

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Speaker 2: when they say from the river to the sea, Palestine

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Speaker 2: will be free.

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Speaker 3: Where does Israel go?

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Speaker 2: Where does where? Where does the Jewish community go? So

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Speaker 2: we really have to normalize too. Coexistence means accepting a

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Speaker 2: Jewish neighbor, and at minimum, if you don't recognize a

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Speaker 2: Jewish neighbor, then how can we ever talk about having

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Speaker 2: a peace amongst multiple people.

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Speaker 1: Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next On

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Speaker 1: the Tutor Dixon Podcast, It's important. On Friday, we had

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Speaker 1: a gentleman on who told us, you know, you have

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Speaker 1: to understand that there would be no attack in Gaza

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Speaker 1: had this terror attack not occurred. This is not something

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Speaker 1: that Israel is going out and saying, hey, we just

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Speaker 1: want to go over there and attack this is these

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Speaker 1: are the rules of war. That was not this was terrorism.

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Speaker 1: You said something that I want to go back to you.

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Speaker 1: When you went to college. It was the first time

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Speaker 1: you realize that hate speech was free speech. And I

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Speaker 1: think that's interesting to me because I think a lot

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Speaker 1: of young people there's an awakening when you get out

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Speaker 1: of the safety of your parents' home and you start

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Speaker 1: to see what's really going on and go, oh wow,

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Speaker 1: this country it does allow this, and we're glad that

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Speaker 1: it allows this because just like what you just said

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Speaker 1: about Israel, you can be gay and alive, you can protest,

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Speaker 1: you can have your own opinion, and that is a

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Speaker 1: beautiful thing in this country. I think the thing that

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Speaker 1: has shocked Americans this week is the number of American

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Speaker 1: youth who have come out with antisemitic comments. It's not

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Speaker 1: just that they're rallying for something. And I think you

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Speaker 1: also pointed out something where there's this need for people

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Speaker 1: to feel like they are involved in something that promotes

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Speaker 1: social justice, that they are out there saying I am

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Speaker 1: going to protect people, and in this case, they do

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Speaker 1: not fully understand what they are out there rallying for.

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Speaker 1: And when we've seen this, whether it is reporters, to

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Speaker 1: college students, to millennials. We've seen this lack of understanding.

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Speaker 1: You are the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors. I was talking

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Speaker 1: to someone about this earlier today. I think for us

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Speaker 1: I am older than you, but for my generation and

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Speaker 1: early in your generation, I think many of us had

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Speaker 1: grandparents who either were in the World War, in World

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Speaker 1: War Two, or in your case, grandparents who were Holocaust survivors,

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Speaker 1: and those stories were passed down to us in such

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Speaker 1: a real and emotional way that it was something we

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Speaker 1: could never ever forget. This next generation, they don't have

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Speaker 1: that connection. They haven't talked to the actual people that

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Speaker 1: lived it. They are being indoctrinated. And I think we

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Speaker 1: as politicians had I'm not saying you, but on my side,

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Speaker 1: we had been taught talking about woke this and woke that,

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Speaker 1: and missing what was really happening. That there was this

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Speaker 1: anti Semitic indoctrination going on in our schools. And it

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Speaker 1: started when you had groups coming in and talking about

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Speaker 1: the colonizers and all, and we didn't even realize. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I feel so naive that we didn't realize this is

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Speaker 1: where this was going. And you now have these young

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Speaker 1: people who have been indoctrinated. But the next step is radicalization,

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Speaker 1: and we are really truly afraid for Jewish schools for

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Speaker 1: Jewish children. I just heard a friend telling me that

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Speaker 1: they were taking their jewelry off, and then I heard

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Speaker 1: it on the news this morning. A man said, our

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Speaker 1: kids are taking their jewelry off. How did we get

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Speaker 1: here in the United States? How did we not realize

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Speaker 1: this was happening?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean even my mentor, she got her lawyer

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Speaker 2: license in Israel. She practiced there. Her husband's Israeli. They

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Speaker 2: live now in South Florida. Last night when we were

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Speaker 2: speaking on the phone, she said, my husband wants me

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Speaker 2: to to take my israel stuff off the car.

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Speaker 3: He doesn't.

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Speaker 2: He doesn't think it's safe. And it's so important that

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Speaker 2: we don't stereotype people and that we don't stereotype places,

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Speaker 2: because just because somebody might look a certain way or

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Speaker 2: be from a certain country, we don't actually.

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Speaker 3: Know what their background is.

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Speaker 2: You know, when I meet a Palestinian, my first question is, Hey,

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Speaker 2: did you participate in any hateful rallies in college? My

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Speaker 2: first question is wow, that's so cool. My first question

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Speaker 2: is like, wow, that's so cool. Where's your grandma from?

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Speaker 2: Why were you named your name? And you know, if

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Speaker 2: you if you give people the opportunity to get to

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Speaker 2: know you on a personal level, they'll be a lot

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Speaker 2: more willing to engage in conversations about like difficult topics.

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Speaker 2: You know, when I was like an early on advocate

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Speaker 2: in college, I just remember the first week of school,

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Speaker 2: I was like tabling in the breezeway and I got

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Speaker 2: in this argument.

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Speaker 3: You know, this guy said to me that Israeli soldiers

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Speaker 3: drink blood.

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Speaker 2: And I'm like, does this like look someone you know

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Speaker 2: who would drink blood? And how like Jews stole the land?

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Speaker 2: And I just remember I was so emotional. I definitely

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Speaker 2: raised my voice. There probably was like some fist bumping, right,

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Speaker 2: But what I've like learned through my journey of being

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Speaker 2: an educator is you have to keep your cool. You know,

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Speaker 2: if people don't know anything at all about the topic

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Speaker 2: and they see two people having a conversation and like

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Speaker 2: one is crying and screaming and freaking out, then.

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Speaker 3: You've already lost the person. And you know what's interesting too, is.

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Speaker 2: We kind of like look at people of like eighty

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Speaker 2: percent are always going to be open minded no matter

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Speaker 2: what's going on.

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Speaker 3: And then when you look at.

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Speaker 2: The twenty half of that is always going to be

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Speaker 2: pro and half of that is always going to be anti.

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Speaker 3: And for me in my role, what I.

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Speaker 2: Am most passionate about is educating and inspiring the eighty percent.

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Speaker 3: After my experiences on college campuses.

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Speaker 2: I do not want other Americans' first connection to Israel

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Speaker 2: and the Jewish people to be dead babies on their

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Speaker 2: free speech line or this on their magazine cover. And

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Speaker 2: you know, I work with a lot of different audiences.

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Speaker 2: I speak with a lot of different groups age wise,

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Speaker 2: and to understand each other doesn't mean that we have

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Speaker 2: to agree. It just means that we really listened and

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Speaker 2: have a and had a conversation. So for me personally,

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Speaker 2: I don't believe in cancel culture because if you really

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Speaker 2: believe in what you believe in, then you should be

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Speaker 2: willing to have a conversation with me about it.

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Speaker 1: And that message goes so far beyond this message of

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Speaker 1: Palestine versus Israel right now. It goes in the United

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Speaker 1: States right now. Our kids are suffering with so much

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Speaker 1: and I think that that's how they actually get sucked

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Speaker 1: into these protests, that they really don't understand is because

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Speaker 1: there is this sense of needing a place of belonging.

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Speaker 1: They've been through a lot, even in the past few years.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know what it was like to

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Speaker 1: go to elementary school, high school, college through a pandemic,

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Speaker 1: but I know I was listening to my girls the

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Speaker 1: other day and I heard one of them go, can

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Speaker 1: you believe quarantine was three years ago? And I remember thinking, man,

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Speaker 1: that's a season in their life, like they see that

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Speaker 1: as part of life and I will never know what

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Speaker 1: that was to grow up through that. And so I

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Speaker 1: look at our kids today and I see a lot

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Speaker 1: of confusion. I see a lot of self esteem problems.

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Speaker 1: And you even talk about networking skills. Today's kids they

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Speaker 1: text each other, they don't even talk, you know. So

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Speaker 1: you've taken an experience in your life that was really

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Speaker 1: challenging and genuinely a heart issue of having to go

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Speaker 1: through This is who I am. This is my identity,

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Speaker 1: and it has been questioned, and we have so many

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Speaker 1: kids that are saying right now, this is my identity.

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Speaker 1: Whether it is you are a woman, you are a man,

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Speaker 1: you are a transgender, you are Jewish, you are Christian,

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Speaker 1: whatever that identity is they feel like they are being

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Speaker 1: questioned on a regular basis. So how do you talk

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Speaker 1: about that with teenagers?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, two ways. If it's Jewish teenagers. I

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Speaker 2: try to explain to them that Israel is like your

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Speaker 2: best friend. If someone's never met your best friend, you're

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Speaker 2: not going to introduce them as they're always late, and

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Speaker 2: they don't pay for the ubers and they don't wash

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Speaker 2: my close.

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Speaker 3: After they return them. The way you ind.

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Speaker 2: Somebody is you know, hey, this is so and so

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Speaker 2: they're really really fun, YadA, YadA, YadA. And I think

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Speaker 2: like the biggest issue here when like it comes to

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Speaker 2: self confidence and also in relation to to Israel, we

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Speaker 2: as individuals in Israel as a country has a right

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Speaker 2: to be imperfect.

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Speaker 3: Let me let that's him for a second. We have

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Speaker 3: a right to be imperfect.

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Speaker 2: But when you hold us to a standard of perfection

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Speaker 2: that you do not hold any other country to that

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Speaker 2: you do not hold any other you know, student from

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Speaker 2: a different background.

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Speaker 3: From, then you know we have a major problem.

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Speaker 2: So for me with the kids, it's since I started

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Speaker 2: publishing the children's books, I think one of the most

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Speaker 2: powerful things that I do with my work is when

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Speaker 2: I go into schools and I lead assemblies and I

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Speaker 2: ask I talk about my experiences with anti Semitism. I

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Speaker 2: talk about my sperience of the anti semitism in college.

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Speaker 2: I also talk about my experiences being in an Orthodox

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Speaker 2: Jewish school being bullied by other Jewish students because I

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Speaker 2: ate pork and they all kept kosher. And throughout the program,

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Speaker 2: I'm asking the students to say, out loud, when are

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Speaker 2: times people made you feel bad for being different? And

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Speaker 2: some of the kids, you know, they'll talk about being

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Speaker 2: autistic or having diabetes, or I can't tell you how

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Speaker 2: many times there's always a kid who says it really

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Speaker 2: really hurts my feelings when when people call me a

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Speaker 2: teacher's pet, and me on stage in front of seven

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Speaker 2: hundred kids, I'll say, raise your hand if you ever

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Speaker 2: called someone the teacher's pet, myself included. And for a

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Speaker 2: lot of these children, they're not exposed to these perspectives

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Speaker 2: unless they're immediately in their family. But when all of

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Speaker 2: a sudden their class me shares challenges that they you know,

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Speaker 2: have faced with their identity, or say out loud time

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Speaker 2: that they've helped other people. I really want to empower

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Speaker 2: young people to be proud to be different. I want

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Speaker 2: to encourage them to be the first to say hello.

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Speaker 2: And I really think if we can teach children at

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Speaker 2: a young age how to listen to each other and

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Speaker 2: to be kind, then not only will they not be

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Speaker 2: burning Israelian American flags when they go to college, but

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Speaker 2: for some of these parents who never got it, maybe

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Speaker 2: they're seven or eight year old, could teach them a

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Speaker 2: thing or two about kindness, connection, conversation, resilience.

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Speaker 1: And your first book is about this. It's The Girl

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Speaker 1: Who Said Hello to everyone there it is Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And my new book that comes out in December is

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Speaker 2: called The Girl Who Wore Two Different Shoes. I'm actually

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Speaker 2: going to be in Tennessee for a two week book

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Speaker 2: tour about thirteen programs, six different schools, speaking to a

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Speaker 2: little over three thousand students plus their faculty members. And again,

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Speaker 2: most of those students are not going to be Jewish.

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Speaker 2: For me, I want to be a light in the

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Speaker 2: places where nobody has ever brought a survivor, or go

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Speaker 2: into schools where possibly no one has ever met a Jew.

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Speaker 2: You know, when I first started my work as out

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Speaker 2: of college and I was working in the nonprofit world,

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Speaker 2: I thought Israel was so controversial, no one's going to

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Speaker 2: care about what I think only Jewish people. But the

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Speaker 2: more I went into schools and I shared my story,

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Speaker 2: I realized so many children can resonate with what it

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Speaker 2: feels like to be singled out and to not be

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Speaker 2: allowed to sit at the lunch table, you know. And

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Speaker 2: the biggest thing too, and what inspired me to start

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Speaker 2: the Rose Grows four years ago, is I realized there

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Speaker 2: are so many kids out there who want want to

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Speaker 2: be leaders, but not all of them have access to

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Speaker 2: positive mentors, you know, especially if they're only following people

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Speaker 2: on TikTok.

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Speaker 3: Not all of these students come from a faith.

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Speaker 2: Based background where they have opportunities to get involved with

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Speaker 2: their church or their synagogue, to travel and gain leadership experiences.

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Speaker 2: So and everything that I do, I really want to

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Speaker 2: empower young people to do that first big thing. But

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Speaker 2: I also really emphasize to them that when you do

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Speaker 2: it together, when you work with people who are different

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Speaker 2: than you, different in talents and different in backgrounds, then

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Speaker 2: sometimes what you're able to create, what you're able to

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Speaker 2: make is beyond anything you know that you ever imagined.

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Speaker 1: Let's take a quick commercial break we'll continue next on

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Speaker 1: a Tutor Dixon podcast. It's interesting to me because I

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Speaker 1: think about my own kids and we don't really have

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Speaker 1: a lot of assembly is where the kids come together

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Speaker 1: and hear a speaker like this. But I remember in

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Speaker 1: school this was a couple times a year at least,

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Speaker 1: and I think that it was you know, I just

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Speaker 1: had never even struck me before you said that. How

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Speaker 1: impactful that is as a kid to hear someone who

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Speaker 1: comes in and they're young and they say, this is

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Speaker 1: what I lived through and you can relate. And I

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Speaker 1: think so often that's what kids need more so than

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Speaker 1: you know, don't do this or don't do that. Live

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Speaker 1: this way. I get you, and I think that's what

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Speaker 1: kids are finding on TikTok in a really negative way.

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Speaker 1: I get you in this way, and you know, rebel

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Speaker 1: and do this. How do we talk to more schools

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Speaker 1: about this? How do we get more people like you

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Speaker 1: out there inspiring young people because we are in this

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Speaker 1: mental health crisis right now, and I do believe that

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Speaker 1: a lot of that has to do with kids having

439
00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,359
Speaker 1: no understanding that there is a bright, there is a

440
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,120
Speaker 1: rainbow on the other side. You know, there's something right

441
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:02,800
Speaker 1: to get to.

442
00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:10,880
Speaker 2: Truly, if I could speak in elementary schools and that

443
00:27:10,960 --> 00:27:15,919
Speaker 2: was it, I would be so happy. But the truth is,

444
00:27:16,119 --> 00:27:21,160
Speaker 2: financially a lot of these schools don't have budgets. Many

445
00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:27,119
Speaker 2: times I'm having to get grants or find sponsors. And

446
00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:32,800
Speaker 2: what's really interesting with my assembly is it meets the

447
00:27:33,160 --> 00:27:38,240
Speaker 2: state standards in Florida on Holocaust education in terms of contextualizing,

448
00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:43,920
Speaker 2: you know, understanding differences and what anti Semitism means. And

449
00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:48,360
Speaker 2: Tennessee and other states guidance counselors are very supportive because

450
00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:53,119
Speaker 2: it helps with the social emotional learning. The only reason

451
00:27:53,160 --> 00:27:55,920
Speaker 2: my book came about was because when my father passed away,

452
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,600
Speaker 2: I wrote a poem about him in my journal. So

453
00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:02,960
Speaker 2: other big thing that I really emphasize with the kids

454
00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,159
Speaker 2: is not just journaling, and I give them like different,

455
00:28:06,240 --> 00:28:11,480
Speaker 2: like practical tools for how to do it, but the

456
00:28:11,560 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 2: significance in writing a thank you note. Because I'm thirty

457
00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,359
Speaker 2: one years old. You know, I think I got my

458
00:28:18,359 --> 00:28:23,000
Speaker 2: first all email in first grade, but I grew up

459
00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,560
Speaker 2: at a time where you know, when I was bought mitzbud,

460
00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:28,720
Speaker 2: I couldn't take the present until I sent the thank

461
00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,560
Speaker 2: you note right and when I was growing up, you

462
00:28:31,600 --> 00:28:33,840
Speaker 2: could check email once or twice a week. It wasn't

463
00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:37,920
Speaker 2: like this daily thing. And for a lot of children,

464
00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,720
Speaker 2: you know, when I'm going into the schools, for many

465
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 2: of them, I'm teaching them how to write their feelings

466
00:28:44,560 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 2: for the very for the very first time. Does that

467
00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:50,880
Speaker 2: necessarily mean that they're going to be, you know, a

468
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:57,160
Speaker 2: writer or a speaker. No, But these children, they really

469
00:28:57,200 --> 00:29:02,640
Speaker 2: really really need outlets, and unfortunate, there's not really places

470
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:07,000
Speaker 2: for them to talk about their challenges out loud. I'll

471
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:10,640
Speaker 2: never forget I went into an Orthodox Jewish school and

472
00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,360
Speaker 2: I did like a female empowerment program and it was

473
00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:17,880
Speaker 2: so like just emotional and amazing. And when I had

474
00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,040
Speaker 2: spoken to the principle afterwards, she was like, you know,

475
00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,400
Speaker 2: half the day they're studying Jewish classes, half the day

476
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:26,720
Speaker 2: they're studying English classes. There's never a time for the

477
00:29:26,720 --> 00:29:30,560
Speaker 2: girls to just come together without you know, an adult,

478
00:29:30,680 --> 00:29:32,720
Speaker 2: a teacher in the room, for them to really just

479
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 2: express what they're going through. And when we do these exercises, again,

480
00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 2: it's not about being best friends with whoever's sitting next

481
00:29:42,120 --> 00:29:42,320
Speaker 2: to you.

482
00:29:42,920 --> 00:29:44,520
Speaker 3: It's about having empathy.

483
00:29:45,160 --> 00:29:45,360
Speaker 1: Right.

484
00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 2: You know, when I was growing up and I went

485
00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:48,520
Speaker 2: to that Orthodox school.

486
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:50,720
Speaker 3: The people who came from out of.

487
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:52,720
Speaker 2: Town, I just thought, Oh, they don't have a Jewish

488
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:54,920
Speaker 2: school in their community, so that's why they come here.

489
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 2: When I did that exercise with the teen women, and

490
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:03,760
Speaker 2: some of them talked about you know, sexual abuse, drug abuse, having.

491
00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,680
Speaker 3: Terrible, terrible parents.

492
00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:09,920
Speaker 2: And just some of the traumas that they that they've

493
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:14,360
Speaker 2: been through as teen women, not loving their body, abusing

494
00:30:14,440 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 2: adderall all these different things. It was such an emotional

495
00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:22,280
Speaker 2: experience because all of a sudden, how we carry ourselves

496
00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 2: on the outside was put to the side, and.

497
00:30:26,040 --> 00:30:30,440
Speaker 3: Our soul and our heart was brought to the front.

498
00:30:30,840 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 2: And you know, throughout my life there's been a lot

499
00:30:33,400 --> 00:30:35,480
Speaker 2: of people who try to make me feel bad for

500
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:39,880
Speaker 2: you know, shedding a tear there, or you know, being emotional.

501
00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:42,800
Speaker 3: I did a fourteen minute interview the other day on

502
00:30:42,880 --> 00:30:43,920
Speaker 3: the on the news.

503
00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:47,720
Speaker 2: It was emotional for three seconds of the fourteen minute interview,

504
00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:53,440
Speaker 2: but they headlined it as emotional Jewish women. That so

505
00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:58,560
Speaker 2: I'm like, okay, Like there's the double standard, like clickbait.

506
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:02,960
Speaker 2: So even though we have come very far as women,

507
00:31:03,240 --> 00:31:07,680
Speaker 2: and we have come very far as Israel advocates, it's

508
00:31:07,720 --> 00:31:13,040
Speaker 2: important to not get lost in the challenges, because the

509
00:31:13,120 --> 00:31:15,920
Speaker 2: challenges are always going to be there, and in my opinion,

510
00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:18,400
Speaker 2: we should take that challenge and we should use it

511
00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:20,320
Speaker 2: as a catalyst to create change.

512
00:31:20,640 --> 00:31:22,920
Speaker 3: And if people don't want to hear my message, then

513
00:31:23,080 --> 00:31:24,440
Speaker 3: I'll go talk to somebody else.

514
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:28,040
Speaker 2: I'm not going to change who I am or stop

515
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:34,040
Speaker 2: sharing my story, because that is infused in every single

516
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,520
Speaker 2: thing I do, whether I'm speaking on a college campus

517
00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:41,800
Speaker 2: or corporation teenagers, or I'm having you seven hundred elementary

518
00:31:41,800 --> 00:31:45,800
Speaker 2: school students write a happy birthday card to a child

519
00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:52,280
Speaker 2: who has no friends. It's this idea of we each

520
00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:54,960
Speaker 2: have a voice and each of us is a light.

521
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:59,200
Speaker 2: But when we can come together and amplify each other

522
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:04,200
Speaker 2: as especially if we're from different communities, then people start listening,

523
00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:07,080
Speaker 2: and then people really start paying attention. Well.

524
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:11,000
Speaker 1: I think it's so important also to recognize that as parents,

525
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:13,960
Speaker 1: and I know a lot of our listeners are parents.

526
00:32:14,280 --> 00:32:17,760
Speaker 1: As parents, we can only put so much. We can

527
00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:22,000
Speaker 1: only fill our children's buckets so much that they get

528
00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:26,560
Speaker 1: that there is, like I said, a bright side, There

529
00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,160
Speaker 1: is green grass, There are are happy days, Their sunshine

530
00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:33,160
Speaker 1: will come out again. And when you hear someone else's experience,

531
00:32:33,200 --> 00:32:36,200
Speaker 1: you go, okay, well this is meaningful. So I think

532
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:39,280
Speaker 1: it's important that our schools understand that our kids need

533
00:32:39,320 --> 00:32:42,280
Speaker 1: these speakers, that our kids need multiple voices to speak

534
00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:45,640
Speaker 1: into their lives and speak into their future and to

535
00:32:46,000 --> 00:32:49,080
Speaker 1: breed something that they may not know was there, plant

536
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:52,600
Speaker 1: that seed. So I wanted you to really quick before

537
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:54,880
Speaker 1: we go, tell folks where they can find you and

538
00:32:54,920 --> 00:32:57,480
Speaker 1: how they can talk to you about coming to their school.

539
00:32:58,440 --> 00:32:59,640
Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Tudor.

540
00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:03,160
Speaker 2: You can find me on all social media platforms at.

541
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:04,200
Speaker 3: The Rose Grows.

542
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,440
Speaker 2: My email is na our a y na at the

543
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:12,920
Speaker 2: rosegrows dot com. In addition to all the stuff that

544
00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 2: we talked about today, I also do a lot of

545
00:33:15,840 --> 00:33:20,960
Speaker 2: work with Holocaust survivors. Unfortunately, this is you know, they're

546
00:33:21,280 --> 00:33:25,120
Speaker 2: they're getting old. It's getting harder for them to move around.

547
00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:30,280
Speaker 2: You know, it's really tragic. Yesterday a ninety eight year

548
00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 2: old Holocaust survivor passed away and I had to call

549
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:35,760
Speaker 2: a ninety five year old Holocaust survivor to tell her

550
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:38,479
Speaker 2: about it. And we used to speak together in schools

551
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,080
Speaker 2: all the time, and at the end of the call

552
00:33:40,240 --> 00:33:43,880
Speaker 2: she was telling me, you know, she was losing her mind,

553
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,520
Speaker 2: and you know she couldn't she couldn't remember my name.

554
00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:53,160
Speaker 2: So I urge people listening that we should not wait

555
00:33:53,480 --> 00:33:58,560
Speaker 2: for Holocaust Awareness Day or Holocaust Month to start educating

556
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,240
Speaker 2: because as we can see what's unfolding in the Middle

557
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:05,040
Speaker 2: East and right now not just on college campuses, but

558
00:34:05,240 --> 00:34:10,720
Speaker 2: kindergarten through twelfth grade schools, we need to be teaching

559
00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:17,080
Speaker 2: our children because never again is right now. Jewish people

560
00:34:17,160 --> 00:34:20,960
Speaker 2: were targeted in their in their own homes, so it's

561
00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:24,160
Speaker 2: it's important for the world to realize that even though

562
00:34:24,160 --> 00:34:29,560
Speaker 2: some of these topics might be heavy, we are doing

563
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:35,560
Speaker 2: our children a service when we expose them and empower them.

564
00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 2: And that also comes too with outlets outside of school

565
00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:43,040
Speaker 2: in order to build confidence with some of those skills

566
00:34:43,280 --> 00:34:46,040
Speaker 2: that they have, whether it be speaking or graphic design,

567
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:46,960
Speaker 2: whatever it is.

568
00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:49,040
Speaker 3: Because not everyone is going.

569
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:54,400
Speaker 2: To be a straight A student, not everybody does excel academically.

570
00:34:54,520 --> 00:34:57,800
Speaker 2: So as a community, when we're looking at the children

571
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:00,600
Speaker 2: of today, we need to we need to really be

572
00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:06,720
Speaker 2: cognizant of how can we empower our children to channel

573
00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:11,280
Speaker 2: their gifts for good and to explore in a way

574
00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:16,839
Speaker 2: that is safe. But more importantly, emboldens the child so

575
00:35:16,880 --> 00:35:19,520
Speaker 2: that maybe at thirty one years old they may have

576
00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:20,640
Speaker 2: their own company too.

577
00:35:21,120 --> 00:35:24,520
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, I love that. You know I have told

578
00:35:24,520 --> 00:35:28,000
Speaker 1: this story before, but about six years ago, we did

579
00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:32,040
Speaker 1: a video special on Holocaust survivors, and you're right, they're

580
00:35:32,080 --> 00:35:34,960
Speaker 1: getting older and we won't have those stories. And that

581
00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:37,200
Speaker 1: was really why we wanted to get this on video.

582
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,759
Speaker 1: And we sat with this couple and the woman was

583
00:35:40,880 --> 00:35:44,600
Speaker 1: very hard to break through with the entire conversation. I

584
00:35:44,640 --> 00:35:47,280
Speaker 1: could tell there was just something there that she wasn't saying.

585
00:35:47,920 --> 00:35:51,480
Speaker 1: And as I walked out, she grabbed my arm and

586
00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:55,360
Speaker 1: you could see anger and pain in her eyes and

587
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,680
Speaker 1: she looked at me and she said, they hate the

588
00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:02,439
Speaker 1: Jews and they'll do it again. And in my naivete

589
00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:07,560
Speaker 1: at that time, honestly, until I saw what has happened

590
00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:10,360
Speaker 1: this week. And I have had this replay in my

591
00:36:10,440 --> 00:36:13,880
Speaker 1: mind so many times in the past few days, because

592
00:36:14,160 --> 00:36:18,160
Speaker 1: I remember walking out of there and thinking, I know

593
00:36:18,239 --> 00:36:21,640
Speaker 1: that this was obviously something she lived, but it won't

594
00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,640
Speaker 1: happen again. No one would make this mistake again. And

595
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,839
Speaker 1: here we are. So I can't tell you how much

596
00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:31,800
Speaker 1: I appreciate having you on and what you do because

597
00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:36,160
Speaker 1: it is so important that we remember that woman and

598
00:36:36,280 --> 00:36:39,960
Speaker 1: know that we will never let people forget what happened

599
00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:43,520
Speaker 1: to her. Raina Rose Exelbeard, thank you so much for

600
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:47,080
Speaker 1: being here, Thank you Tooir, and thank you all for

601
00:36:47,160 --> 00:36:50,000
Speaker 1: joining us on the Tutor Dixon Podcast. For this episode

602
00:36:50,040 --> 00:36:52,960
Speaker 1: and others, go to Tutor dixonpodcast dot com. You can

603
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,200
Speaker 1: subscribe right there, or head over to the iHeartRadio app,

604
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:59,040
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts and join

605
00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,840
Speaker 1: us next time on the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Have a

606
00:37:01,880 --> 00:37:03,600
Speaker 1: blast day,