From One College Campus — Todah Rabah Shlichim |
Last night at our UVM Hillel’s Yom HaZikaron dinner I deeply felt the impact of the Jewish Agency for Israel shlichim on our campus and around the world.
That day our Israel Fellow spent hours in the kitchen cooking the favorite recipes of Ohad, Gal, Or, Adir, and Noa. She and other students filled the Hillel with smells from cultures around the world that found a home in the kitchens of Israel. These recipes transmutated from paper into neshama and zachor, tastes of memories and sensory experiences to help remind us of those lost and the lives they lived. Around the table were a group of students and staff, with very different views on Israel, Judaism, and the world. We dined together hearing stories about the lives behind the dishes we ate and hung out afterward playing Rummikub appreciating just being in community together.
It’s approaching finals on campus and this was a night that everyone seemed to need, to just exist and appreciate and reflect without preconditions or expectations. Everyone had their own private reasons for attending this memorial program on a Tuesday night and they decided to share it together. It only happened because of the leadership of our Israel Fellow and the student leaders who wanted to do more about Israel engagement and education on campus. It was a moment we strive for at Hillel – to be boldly proud of who we are and celebrate our holidays and rituals while sharing the welcoming and kind atmosphere we have with our broader UVM family.
I think it was the table covered in memorial stickers where I felt something truly different about this year’s Yom HaZikaron observance. The vibrancy of the colors, the text of their names, the joy and happiness on their faces…gone forever but reflected here for a time in Vermont. As I looked over the stickers, our Israel Fellow told me that this was something new in Israel since October 7th, that everywhere you go you can see faces of those lost defending their right to live in peace. It’s a constant reminder of friends and family and neighbors gone forever. Their faces made the day so much more real for me in a way that previous observances had not.
These days, fewer UVM students travel to Israel to study abroad or participate in Birthright. It’s why we’ve invested in having Israelis on our staff. It’s why we’ve increased our campus presence when it comes to Jewish life, learning, and Israel with programs, learning cohorts, and just more Israeli food, music, and fun. Students are responding too. More and more college students are seeing past social media and wanting to learn from personal experiences. Hillel is here to support them learning more about how Israel fits in their evolving Jewish identity with resources, conversation, and questions.
Quite simply, if students aren’t going to Israel, we must bring Israel to them.
Eventually, hopefully…travel will normalize and peace and the status quo can hold again. Until then and after then, it’s vital for our Jewish communities outside of Israel to experience the personal connections that shlichim provide. In a state like Vermont where it can be hard to be Zionist or connected to Israel these student leaders and our shaliach lead the way with inspiration and an invitation to be in community. I’m grateful that leadership exists on our campus and campuses around the world.
To the campus-based Israel Fellows with Hillels, and the thousands of Israelis living abroad and working in unfamiliar communities to make our world a little bit better, I know it’s hard. From here in Vermont, we thank you for making Israel real for us and our Jewish communities.