Shayna Han

Shayna Han

Shayna Han (she/her) grew up in New York and is a member of Temple Israel of New Rochelle. The intersection of Judaism and social justice is a deep and abiding part of Shayna’s life and identity: she was involved with NFTYUrban Mitzvah CorpsCrane Lake CampHillelBirthright, Masa Israel Teaching Fellows, and the RAC’s very own L’Taken and Machon Kaplan programs. Shayna graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Union College. She earned the Minerva Prize her senior year for her history thesis on watershed literary heroine Nancy Drew and her work to establish the Committee for Consent Education (a group dedicated to combating sexual assault). After graduation, Shayna interned for U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in New York City and earned a Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certification. From 2016-2021 she lived in SpainIsrael, and South Korea, teaching English to elementary school students. Her experiences abroad enriched her cultural knowledge by allowing her to learn different languages, meet new people, and experience different foods, holidays, and beliefs. 

Shayna’s portfolio includes gun violence preventionenvironment and climate change, Israel, foreign policyantisemitism, the Holocaust, international religious freedom, and Native American rights. She is proud to be in the first cohort of the Jews of Color Initiative partnership with the RAC LA program.  

Fear, Not Freedom

Jacob Greenblatt
Lillie Heyman
Shayna Han
Israel Harris
Rachel Klein
July 8, 2022
This year, July 4th was especially difficult to celebrate. As young leaders in the Reform Movement, we are troubled by the current state and future of the U.S.

What the Unity March Means to Me as a Korean Jewish American

Shayna Han
June 14, 2022
In April 2022, I went to Farragut North Station to refill my metro card. As I walked to where the escalators go down to the subway level, there was a woman leaving. When she saw me, she changed directions, going back to the down-escalator entrance. She didn't go down the escalator when I gave her the right-of-way, just stared at me, so I got onto the escalator.

Enough is enough: What you can do to help stop American gun violence

Shayna Han
June 8, 2022
Buffalo, Uvalde, Tulsa, and other recent incidents of gun violence highlight the fact that the U.S. has been locked in a cycle of apathetic “thoughts and prayers,” while little federal action has been taken on this public safety and public health issue. We must end the helpless, apathetic cycle of “thoughts and prayers.” Enough is enough. To stand idly by and do nothing in the face of such senseless slaughter is unconscionable and antithetical to our Jewish values and beliefs. To paraphrase Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, we will pray with our marching feet and voices.

Modern-Day Plagues of Injustice and Inequality

Shayna Han
Israel Harris
Lillie Heyman
Rachel Klein
Jacob Greenblatt
April 1, 2022
On Passover, we recount the Ten Plagues that were put upon the Egyptian people. While acknowledging the ancient plagues, we invite you to also incorporate into your Seder an accounting of some of the "plagues" and injustices that afflict our present-day society.

Lessons from Megillat Esther: The Need for Study and Action

Shayna Han
March 16, 2022
When I was a child, I remember saying to my mother about the Purim story, "Maybe Haman wouldn't have done anything if he'd known Queen Esther was Jewish." King Ahasuerus' easily manipulated nature laid the foundations for the story, while Haman's vociferous antisemitism drove the story forward.