Most children of modern society understand that violence is never an answer to problems. However, for a group of local Jewish teens, this understanding came from the first-hand experiences of a former Academy student.

At a recent National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY) sponsored Latte and Learning event at a local Starbucks, Jordan Nussbaum, a former Jewish gang member, shared the experiences he acquired while being a member of a Jewish gang in the early 90s.

Nussbaum went to the Academy until eighth grade and then to a Shawnee Mission public high school. There he was exposed to different ways of life and different perspectives on how to deal with problems.

One problem that Nussbaum and his friends encountered was a growing amount of anti-Semitism in the Kansas City area. Nussbaum and his friends began to fight back against this anti-Semitism by organizing the Brotherhood, a gang devoted to preventing anti-Semitism through education and colloquy.

They soon realized that discussions and presentations did not solve the conundrum; Nussbaum and the Brotherhood faced ever-increasing anti-Semitism. They felt that crimes against Jews were not receiving justice. They had enough and realized that, in order to clarify their message, they were going to need a new method.

This new method was violence. In short, the Brotherhood decided to fight fire with fire, and answer insult with injury. The Brotherhood began to find out about anti-Semitic events and plan to attend.

Over time, the Brotherhood continued to become increasingly violent, and eventually broke up, but not until after a great amount of violence, including the beating of a young man who had acted out against the Jews. The Brotherhood, originally founded with a mission to promote a positive look on Judaism, had turned into a violent gang.

“Our gang got to the point where it did not matter what the other side did, we would start a fight,” said Nussbaum.

Through his story, Nussbaum hoped to bring an understanding to teens and adults regarding the issue of anti-Semitism. He hoped to have listeners walk away with the understanding that violence doesn’t solve problems.

“Violence is not the answer,” Nussbaum said, “I learned that the hard way. I hope you all learn from my mistakes and choose a different path.”

Nussbaum made an impact on all of the teens in his audience.

Daniel Rosenthal, an attendee at the Latte and Learning session, said, “ I understand that standing up for my beliefs does not mean that I have to be violent and that is a point that he made so clear.”

Leah Belson was another student affected by Nussbaum’s experiences.

“Even though anti-Semitism is terrible, no one should resort to violence because of it. That is only stooping to their level, and we, as Jews, have a responsibility to make a Kiddush Hashem.”