Lila Zinner

2018-2019 Rising Voices Fellow Lila Zinner

Lila Zinner is a junior at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. She is an assistant teacher at the Hebrew School and an active “Hebrew High” attendee at her local temple, and she loves leading the congregation as the Religious and Cultural Vice President of the youth board. She also indulges herself in Jewish service learning at her local Jewish Federation. She loves traveling with a purpose and has participated in community service in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Peru. She also enjoys theatre and dance and performs in her school’s musicals and is in her high school’s dance company.

Blog Posts

Sneaker with butterflies on it

Butterflies and What They Mean to Me

Lila Zinner

I love butterflies because, to me, butterflies represent freedom and bliss.

Rising Voices Fellow Lila Zinner in Fifth Grade

American Education: Classrooms, Competition, and Corruption

Lila Zinner

This education system, this one-sided method of teaching, this constant competition, is not working.

Topics: Schools, Children
Yuba Noodles with Tofu

I’m Vegan, But That Shouldn’t Stop You From Reading This

Lila Zinner

Veganism is hard to uphold, mainly because of issues related to accessibility. For American families living in poverty, fast food—comprised of cheap animal products—is often the only affordable option. I’m extremely grateful that I’m able to maintain a vegan lifestyle, but I also recognize that it’s a privilege.

Topics: Food
Lila Zinner in Fifth and Eleventh Grade

Reclaiming “Bossy”: How Sexism Shaped Who I Am

Lila Zinner

As a child, I was loud and outspoken. I prided myself on my intelligence and eagerness to learn; I truly had killer confidence. I told people I was going to be “the dictator of the world” when I grew up. But as time went on, it became increasingly apparent that the education system didn’t have room for a personality like mine. Well, at least when that personality belonged to a girl.

Lila Zinner at Consecration

Growing Up Jewish

Lila Zinner

I made the decision to continue Hebrew school after seventh grade when my friends informed me that they signed up because it “sounded fun.” That decision, although not well thought out, was one of the best choices I’ve ever made.

How to cite this page

Jewish Women's Archive. "Lila Zinner." (Viewed on December 1, 2023) <https://jwa.org/blog/author/lila-zinner>.