Ella Messler Upholds Democracy, Jewish Advocacy With the Nexus Project

It was the “obvious” next step for Ella Messler to pursue a career in Jewish advocacy after college.

The recent graduate is a program associate for the Nexus Project, a national organization that aims to combat antisemitism, uphold democracy and protect free speech.

Messler holds her bachelor’s degree in history and politics from Brandeis University, where she worked for the advocacy organization Jewish on Campus.

She lives in the Washington, D.C., area and belongs to Shaare Torah in Gaithersburg.

Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I went to Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School from kindergarten through 12th grade — we call it being a “lifer” at the school — and my brother goes there now. I say to my parents all the time how grateful I am for that education; it just really set in stone for me how much I care about my Jewish identity, and it gave me a really great understanding of my family’s history, our background and culture and the way that that informs the decisions we make today.

I grew up keeping kosher; we belonged to a synagogue. It honestly wasn’t even something that I recognized until I was an adult, but it was really impactful to see the way that my parents’ decisions and the way they raised my brother and I have impacted our identities.

Was it important to you to pursue a career in combating antisemitism?
Of course it’s important to me, but it was just something that made sense. I got involved in Jewish advocacy when I was a freshman in college with Jewish on Campus. It was founded in 2020, during the beginning of the pandemic. It was something that just felt automatic to me, like of course I’m going to get involved in this because Jewish advocacy has been a part of my life, so why would I do anything different? [Jewish advocacy] felt like the correct next step.

What are your responsibilities with the Nexus Project?
The Nexus Project is a really small organization, so I sort of get involved with everything; I’m involved with advocacy work, I’m involved with fundraising, I’m involved with our work with the task force, a group of professionals and scholars on antisemitism … and Jewish history. These leaders in Jewish thought and advocacy come together, share ideas and come to conclusions, and a lot of that work will drive the advocacy of the Nexus Project. It’s been really great to work alongside all of these people.

What has your work in advocacy taught you?
The biggest takeaway is that in Jewish advocacy in particular — also just in any activism — it’s OK to change your mind. It’s OK to rethink. I think as we observe this very real moment of crisis for the Jewish community in America and around the world, as we see antisemitism rising, as we see antisemitism weaponized by our leaders for their own political aims — which is a big focus of the Nexus Project — I think this moment of crisis makes it really easy for us as a community to go into very simple black-and-white terms, and, at the end of the day, that’s just not the way the world works. I think it’s incredibly important in any advocacy, but specifically in Jewish advocacy, to preserve our ability to hold multiple truths at once.

Now, in working with the Nexus Project, I feel like I’m able to hold that value closer than ever because it’s an organization that values that nuance above all else. It’s been positive to work for an organization where disagreement is something good.

What’s your favorite Jewish value and why?
Probably the value of debate and disagreement. It’s something in Jewish thought and Jewish history that has been present for thousands of years. At JDS, we spent a bit of time studying Talmud, and it was always really fun in high school to look through those debates and have debates in class. Even though, of course, our lives as Jews look very different from rabbis writing in the times of the Talmud, I think debate is still inherent to the Jewish community and is something that’s key to American democracy.

What’s something that you’re looking forward to?
I think this period in anyone’s life is a really exciting period. I’m 22. I just graduated from Brandeis University. I could go anywhere; I could do anything. I love my job. I’m at a really exciting point in my career where I have so much to learn, and it’s an honor to work alongside people who are willing to teach me and willing to help me grow, not only as a professional but as a person.

I’m looking forward to the next five, 10 years of my life, growing and learning more about myself and learning more about Jewish advocacy, because you’re never done learning. And also putting my education to the test, and taking everything I’ve learned in college and my time in Jewish day school and applying it as someone who is now a full-time Jewish professional.

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