Advocating for his community is integral to senior Musa Suriel’s life. As a member of the Indianapolis Jewish community, Suriel is passionate about bringing awareness and educating others about his religion.
“Outside of North Central, I do a lot of work in the Jewish community, specifically with this program called YoPhI, a young Jewish philanthropy group,” Suriel said. “I’m also in a program called Student to Student, where we go to neighboring high schools around the city to give presentations about what Judaism is and what it means to us.”
Suriel’s passion for his community is also reflected in his hard work in other aspects of his life. He is involved in the Symphony Orchestra, has played soccer for three years and is the vice president of the Jewish Student Union.
His teachers praise his dedication and overall character. Suriel is in James Tallman’s AP European History class.
“I think he epitomizes camaraderie and collegiality,” Tallman said. “He’s easy to befriend, and I believe that he isn’t just a part of the school’s social makeup but someone students can rely upon. And as a teacher, he’s someone I can rely upon.”
Tallman also praises Suriel’s work ethic within the classroom.
“He has a lot of energy and involvement in everything we do,” Tallman said. “He’s an outstanding student, and he portrays himself as forward-thinking. He understands the material; he works hard; he’s most certainly a student that other students are going to for direction.”
Suriel’s outreach goes farther than the classroom or even his local community. He is a member of a youth group called BBYO.
BBYO is a national organization, and Suriel participates in a local chapter. Through this chapter, Suriel was exposed to the World Jewish Congress and the opportunity to draft a resolution combating extremism, which Suriel is passionate about.
“I was just researching because the World Jewish Congress does an international conference every year,” Suriel said. “I just applied for it. It was a cool program, so I was happy to have the opportunity.:
The program was panel-like. Suriel and the other participants listened to meetings and then broke off into smaller group conversations, where they worked on different aspects of the resolution.
“We would each draft our part, and then at the end of the program, we would all come together and put it together,” Suriel said. “We presented it to the entire conference.”
Outreach has always been an influential part of Suriel’s life.
“I’ve been doing volunteer work for as long as I can remember; even when I was six years old, I would go to our local Jewish food pantry and help set up,” Suriel said. “Because the community here is pretty small and tight, we all try to help eachother out.”
Suriel has a special connection with his family, particularly his mom. She is his main inspiration in life and ultimately inspired his passion for advocacy.
“It was just me and my mom for a long time in my life, and she had to work hard both to raise me and get where she is today,” Suriel said. “She does a lot of similar work to what I am trying to do, so she inspires me both in her work ethic and that aspect. She is trying to instill that in me as best as she can. I aspire to be like that.”
Suriel feels a particular responsibility to educate the public about Judaism, specifically about who his community is and what they believe.
“There’s just a lot of misinformation out there, and I think it’s essential to make sure that people are educated about things that they don’t know about,” Suriel said. “This is very personal to me. If I can educate people and help advocate for what I believe in, it will be useful for my community and the rest of the world.”
Suriel also has a strong relationship with his peers. One of his closest friends is senior Ruth Rosenberg. They met in middle school when he moved into her neighborhood and started riding the bus together.
“Musa is a very caring guy,” Rosenberg said. “He takes a personal investment in all his friendships and is also ridiculous. If I had to describe Musa in one word, I would say passionate. He puts his whole heart into everything he does, in his friendships, his interests, his sports, and working out,” Rosenberg said.
His peers also recognize his involvement in the Jewish community, which leads them to admire his passion.
“He’s the most Jewish guy I know. He is my go-to Jew,” Rosenberg said. “He does a lot of stuff with Chabad, a temple organization. He tutors and teaches Hebrew to the kids at the temple and takes his Hebrew classes to further advance his Hebrew knowledge.”
He finds excitement in introducing his friends to his culture and enjoys sharing his traditions.
“We are hosting a Passover seder dinner together this weekend,” Rosenberg said. “I asked him if he would host, and he was super excited about it so we could show all our non-Jewish friends about Passover.”
This is only a small example of his passion. Suriel has big plans for his future and the future of his community.
“I hope we can continue educating people about who we are and what we believe. I want people to accept that we are here and here to stay.”
Suriel has committed to IU to study international relations, a major he hopes will aid his passions.
