News, stories, and updates from Hillel communities worldwide
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Even before the pandemic, Hillel professionals had reported seeing stress increase across the board, as students grappled with fears, loneliness, tech burnout, and more. More and more Hillels across the United States are adding social workers or licensed therapists to their teams to help their students cope with stressors.
In 2019, the Anti-Defamation League recorded the highest number of antisemitic incidents nationwide since it began tracking them 40 years ago. Last year, Hillel International counted 178 antisemitic incidents across the 550 North American campuses it serves—an all-time high, even though some campuses were closed due to COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic forced institutions and leaders of all kinds to significantly change how they do their work in an era of social distancing. Jewish organizations, including Hillels, were not spared from this tumult. Still, in the face of these challenges, anecdotal evidence suggests that Hillels have been successful in engaging college students and responding to their needs.
Jewish life presents a unique opportunity for students to explore the complexities of their identities, and active Jewish engagement during college can play a pivotal role for many interfaith, Jewish college students. These students, many of whom are the leaders of their Hillels and other Jewish groups on campus, have embraced Judaism in college.
In a letter to his freshman self, Sam Kricsfeld, student at KU Hillel, encourages his younger self to get involved with Hillel and recounts what he has learned throughout his Jewish college experience.
Hillel International is proud to announce the hiring of six Jewish college students as TikTok Ambassadors. These students are part of a semester-long paid partnership that will bring original content to Hillel’s channels and elevate the voices of the Jewish future.
In 2016, 47% of college students reported experiencing food insecurity, meaning they didn’t know where their next meal would come from. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing problems — nearly three in five students reported experiencing food or housing insecurity in 2020.
Observed each February, Jewish Disability Advocacy Month is a worldwide Jewish effort to promote education, awareness, and inclusion of people with disabilities. Throughout the month, Farbstein and other speakers engaged with hundreds of Hillel students about the intersections of Judaism and disability and the importance of inclusion.
On Purim, we remember that one Jew has the power to single-handedly prevent the story of the Jewish people from ending. That “one Jew” is Queen Esther, who is rightfully enshrined as one of the most important figures in our culture.
As Hillels around the world prepared to begin the 2020-2021 school year under unprecedented circumstances—fully remote, on-campus but without the ability to gather, and everything in between—Hillel student leaders and staff members alike worried in particular about how to engage and support first-year students.
