Meet Social Justice Fellow Aaron Press Taylor

20 August 2015
[image - Aaron Press Taylor - Social Justice Fellow]

NIF/Shatil’s Social Justice Fellowship offered Aaron Press Taylor just what he wanted: the opportunity to work on issues close to his heart, to engage in grassroots activism, and to explore in a more profound way the diversity Israel has to offer.

Growing up in Spokane, Washington, Aaron was involved in the Reform Jewish youth movement. After graduating high school, he participated in the pilot cohort of a NFTY gap year program in Israel. After returning to the United States and spending three semesters at Yeshiva University, Aaron transferred to Brandeis University where he studied philosophy and sociology with a minor in Judaic studies.

The intersection of social activism and Israel have always been important to Aaron, who had hoped to make Aliyah after graduation. The Social Justice Fellowship presented the perfect opportunity, again tying together Israel and social activism.

Speaking of his fellowship Aaron said, “I gained exposure to grassroots collective activism, the larger more established NGO world, and met social entrepreneurs who were busy turning small local projects into big impact-making enterprises.”

Aaron came to the fellowship well-versed in social justice work, having spent the previous two years working as a program manager for a Habitat for Humanity-affiliated affordable housing provider in Spokane. He worked with teenagers with developmental disabilities, and managed Twin Owls Garden, a local non-profit food project.

Aaron chose the fellowship for its social justice component, but also for its promise of diversity in experience, a promise that did not disappoint. Over the course of the year, Aaron lived in both Jerusalem and Lod, two diverse historically-rich cities, one lavished in attention, the other coping with neglect. He worked at two different organizations: Jindas, which focuses on urban regeneration in Lod, and Tiyul Rihla, which runs cross-border educational tours for Israelis and Palestinians encouraging participants to explore each other’s narratives.

At Jindas, Aaron identified urban regeneration projects in similar areas internationally in order to apply lessons from those projects to Jindas’ work. Jindas aims to create a replicable model in Lod to replace old housing projects with higher quality, mixed-income developments thereby protecting the housing rights of the local population while also stimulating local growth.

At Tiyul Rihla, Aaron prepared educational materials, helping tour participants learn about the significance of the sites they visit and think more deeply about their identities and personal narratives.

“Touring together, walking together, being together creates dialogue which is not just for dialogue’s sake, but is helping people to recognize certain assumptions which they might have about the other side,” explained Aaron.

Aaron pursued variety in his free time as well, from learning the Lindy Hop and playing basketball with haredim in Jerusalem, to volunteering at a bi-national after-school program and working with the anti-occupation collective All That’s Left.

“Ten months isn’t enough,” said Aaron, adding that he is staying in Israel for at least another half year and continuing to work for both organizations.

“I found some spots where I felt like I could really contribute and they felt like I was contributing and are enabling me to do that a little bit longer,” he said.

“Through the fellowship experience I came to accept, even embrace, the reality that each individual can only hope to make very small marks on long and arduous change processes. All of those small marks, if we can keep ourselves committed to making them, slowly amount to significant dents, and then many dents result in meaningful change.”

Applications for the 2016-17 Social Justice Fellowship will be available mid-September. To learn more or apply, click here »