Due to the recent pandemic (which I’m sure you’ve heard nothing about), for the first time ever Veida was held online, tasking this year’s steering committee with the seemingly very difficult project of moving all the magic of your usual Veida onto Zoom. I believe I speak for most FZY members when I say they did this brilliantly, captivating us all with two weeks of round tables followed with a full day of plen and elections. I asked them for any words they had to say on how they managed to do this, and how they found Veida this year, and below you can see what they replied.
“‘Veida is something I will never forget!’ Veida 5781 was my first ever Veida and FZY’s first virtual Veida. I have only been a member of FZY for a few months however after being part of Veida I feel like I have been in FZY for ages. I had the opportunity to be part of this years Veida committee and what an experience it was. I ran my first open space, took part in leading a mock Veida for Noar and took charge of the famous plen during Veida! I have met so many new wonderful friends across Veida and it has been a truly amazing first experience of what FZY is all about. It is such fun having the chance to debate and take part in heated and interesting conversations with fellow FZY members. Veida is an amazing chance for everyone to have their say and I cannot wait for next year, hopefully in person!!!!!”
~ Riley Chalfen
“Veida kicked off with nightly open spaces and round tables from the committee. It was a great way for people to get to know the committee members and engage in interesting discussions with them. Each member approached their discussion in all different ways with some using PowerPoint and others using Menti. The members thoroughly enjoyed the debates and it was so great to see so many people getting involved. Our main reason for doing the open spaces two weeks prior was to ensure people started to think about and submit motions in preparation for the main event Leading online was a very unusual experience however as the day went on every single one of us became a lot more comfortable in leading virtually and by the end it became second nature to us all.”
~ Albie Jackson
“A major part of virtual Veida this year were the elections, that took up more time than anyone would have thought! With a brand new Kol Anashim elected, future FZY decisions are in good hands. A highlight of Veida was the fact that 4 people ran for the editor of the Young Zionist which is normally an undersubscribed role, seeing so many members immerse themselves into virtual Veida and run for positions was an absolute highlight of the day. For me personally, I was delighted to become the bogrim representative to the FZY Board of directors which is a position which will allow me to understand more of what goes on behind the scenes at FZY and provide that next step in my FZY journey. Whilst Nathan Dominitz ran for Mazkir unopposed, it was incredible to walk through his FZY journey with him and hear about all of his plans for the future, exciting new and current members. It is safe to say all members who gained a position gave insightful and inspiring speeches which is really encouraging for what to expect this upcoming year.”
~ Lucy Ross
“Since this was my first Veida, I had not yet experienced the famous ‘plen til 4am’ however, I understand this is integral to Veida and was deeply missed this year by regular delegates. However, there were still several motions that kept an element of familiarity to plen, despite the online format. Most notably, the north/south divide was still prominent in debates with the annual call for more north engagement in programs such as Chavurah. A theme across the motions passed this year seemed to be representation, but not just geographical. The ‘Hoedown Throwdown Pronoun Showdown’ motion, aimed to represent those whose pronouns may not match their appearance and who may feel embarrassed to share, making future FZY events much more inviting and comfortable.”
~ Talia Bernstein
“Veida 5781 was my first Veida. Being on the committee for the FZY’s first fully virtual Veida was a unique opportunity for me as it had never been done before. We had to make a lot of changes and put in a lot of hard work in order to ensure this was a great Veida. Chairing the plen discussions for the first time was a memorable moment for me, as I felt that I contributed significantly to changing FZY for the better. Being a part of FZY is very special to me, it’s an incredible community and I’ve met so many great people through it. Being on this year’s Veida committee was a pleasure and I hope I get the chance to participate next year in person!”
~ Jamie Wise
Three cheers for the steering committee! What an amazing job they did in such difficult circumstances, so well done to all of them for that.
Additionally, during this Veida, a new Young Zionist Editor was elected, which means this will be the last article I upload as Editor. I wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed this role over the past year; reading all your articles has shown me how seriously passionate and talented everyone in this youth movement is. Creating and releasing the printed issue was one of my greatest achievements this year, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of all the incredible articles that were written for it. This whole experience will live with me forever, warmly in my heart. So thank you all, and I hope none of you stop writing, because all of you have something worth writing about. Your voice is a superpower; don’t forget to use it.
Dan Shomron
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