A phone call I got from Yoni

I want to tell you about a phone call from Yoni, a University of Pittsburgh senior who happens to be my son. It was a regular Friday evening over Labor Day weekend, and I expected the call to be similar to others – what’s going on, what do you need?

I wasn’t expecting what he told me — on a walk with friends to Shabbat services and dinner at the University of Pittsburgh Hillel house, a man charged at him and a couple of his kippah-wearing peers. The attacker struck one of Yoni’s friends with a glass bottle. Yoni and others tackled the man and held him down until police arrived. In terms of the violent manifestations of campus antisemitism today, this couldn’t have hit closer to home.

At the same time, Jewish life on campus is so much more than the attacks and hatred my son and others have experienced.

In a recent meeting with Hillel directors from American University, George Mason University, George Washington University, and University of Maryland, I witnessed a “doubling-down” of their commitment, and strategies, to build vibrant Jewish communities for our students. Programs have started off with broad participation and excitement, and I am so grateful that our local Hillels and campus partners are there to ask our students every day, what’s going on, what do you need? They are lifting up our students in real-time.

There is no doubt that these are tough times for our students and community members. I invite you to join me at our community’s gathering to mark October 7^th. It may not be an easy night, but it will be a chance to ask each other: what’s going on, what do you need? I hope to see you there.

Shabbat Shalom,
Gil