Ben Goodman, who’s visited 41 out of 50 U.S. states and 19 countries, had what he calls a “worldly upbringing.” At Georgetown University, he studied international political economy, Spanish and Jewish civilization.
Goodman combines his studies with his love for travel as the senior associate of the American Jewish Committee’s Arthur and Rochelle Belfer Institute for Latino and Latin American Affairs (BILLA). He lives in Washington, D.C., where he belongs to Adas Israel Congregation.
Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I grew up in northern New Jersey. I got bar mitzvahed, went to Hebrew school and then abruptly stopped after that. I think that it wasn’t something that meant a lot to me at the time. I grew up in a very heavily Reform [Jewish] area, and when I went to college, I went from this 30% Jewish environment to this like 5% Jewish environment. That was the sort of awakening I needed to care a lot more about my Jewish identity and get a lot more involved and thoughtful about it. It’s really interesting because things find a way of happening. On the one hand, my family gave me all these “Jewish values,” but without much of a particularist consideration, yet I found my way to that anyway.
How did you get to where you are today?
When I was in college, I finally felt what it was like to be a true minority for the first time. I had to explain to a professor why I needed off on Yom Kippur, who didn’t know what Yom Kippur was, and I encountered opinions about Israel [that] really diverged from what I felt and what I knew to be true. Being at Georgetown [in] that environment really taught me that who I was and where I came from did matter to me, and that was me. I sort of saw myself in the mirror and had this call to action. It started a bit more narrowly, through the lens of Israel. I never thought I was the kind of person to be “political,” [but] I joined Georgetown Israel Alliance, the pro-Israel group on campus. I eventually rose up and became president.
It started as a desire to speak out on behalf of the Jewish community and shaping the way Israel is discussed and talking to non-Jewish people about this, but it led me into the community more. Once I embodied what it was like to be an advocate for my community, I wanted to know my community more. I wanted to be with my community more. And that led me to being involved in Georgetown’s small but thriving Jewish life, and [I] made some of my best friends there. Being Jewish became much more of a habit in those couple years at school.
I was in the School of Foreign Service. I majored in international political economy, and I minored in Spanish and Jewish civilization, so I was unsure if I wanted to do something for work that was Latin America–involved or something in Jewish policy, and I really didn’t know what to do. A year and a half out of college, I found AJC’s BILLA that seemed to do both, which was amazing. It’s the best of both worlds.
What are your responsibilities at AJC?
I’m in charge of executing a lot of our diplomatic missions throughout the region, [such as] our annual strategic forum for Ibero American Jewish leaders, which was held in Madrid this year. So I’m on my feet a lot, literally and figuratively, dealing with a lot of changing circumstances and current events. I work with a lot of young leaders, a lot of Latin American Jews in their 20s and 30s who are trying to become advocates and trying to get a seat at the table and influence discussions.
What do you enjoy about working at AJC?
I’ve been at AJC since early 2022, and [I have] the most amazing colleagues, [who all share the] most amazing values. Especially since Oct. 7, it’s been particularly gratifying to be part of the AJC community. Being Jewish, you’re part of a tribe, and especially during challenging moments like we’ve had in the last two years, it feels good to be part of a tribe, but we’re a big tent as the Jewish community, and we all have a lot of differences in backgrounds, agreements and disagreements.
Being part of AJC feels like being part of a tribe within a tribe. In the Jewish community, I know to some degree that people will understand me, that I belong, that my values and what’s important to me is reflected back by the community, but when it comes to the AJC community, it’s raised by an exponent. It’s like we’re all fighting for the same world.
What are your goals?
Working to achieve more Jewish knowledge and Jewish unity is what I care about the most. When I say Jewish knowledge, I mean Jews knowing each other around the world. I love working on a team that works toward that goal.
