{"id":8332,"date":"2022-06-02T13:41:41","date_gmt":"2022-06-02T13:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chabadoncampus.nl\/?p=8332"},"modified":"2022-06-02T13:41:44","modified_gmt":"2022-06-02T13:41:44","slug":"naomi-in-the-spotlight-positive-influence-jewish-values-and-security-21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chabadoncampus.nl\/en\/naomi-in-the-spotlight-positive-influence-jewish-values-and-security-21\/","title":{"rendered":"Naomi in the Spotlight – Positive Influence, (Jewish) Values and Security #21"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Naomi Hammelburg (25) was born in Israel and lived in the Netherlands from the age of three until the age of fifteen, after which she moved back to Israel. In Israel, she finished high school, served in the Israeli army, and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy at Reichman University. Now she returned to the Netherlands and is almost done with her Master Crisis and Security Management in Leiden!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How was it to grow up in Doorwerth (a small village in the east of The Netherlands) as a Jewish girl?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There wasn’t really a Jewish community life in Doorwerth. We either went to Arnhem or Nijmegen with my family, but usually to Nijmegen. As a child, I went to Jewish lessons every Sunday and I also met one of my current best friends there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I think back to my youth, I think above all of the fun while celebrating the Jewish holidays. It was always very exciting in the shul, where everyone came together, everyone knew each other and there was delicious food! I loved going there for the holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rest of our Jewish life actually took place in Doorwerth. We eat kosher at home and we used to invite people over for Shabbat dinners and other holidays. However, in my opinion, it is mainly traditional at our home, a kind of cultural Judaism. For me, maybe even more than for my mother, my Jewishness – my Jewish identity -, is strongly connected to Zionism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, Zionism plays an important role for you. You eventually chose to go to Israel when you were fifteen, why?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a family, we went on holiday to Israel every year and it really felt like home to me. At one point, I was thinking of going to Israel, and actually, I wanted to when I was thirteen, but my mother thought that was too young. Eventually, at the age of fifteen, I went to a boarding school and stayed in Israel for eight years!<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the end, I returned to The Netherlands for my studies. Because I think that when you choose the same field of study for your Master’s degree as for your Bachelor’s degree, you quickly end up repeating the material. But I wanted to see new thoughts, opinions and perspectives! At first, I hesitated between Leiden and Glasgow, but in the end I ended up back in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n