News, stories, and updates from Hillel communities worldwide
891 results
With Yom Kippur approaching, and with the intensity of this week’s commemoration of the October 7 attacks, I’ve been reflecting on what this holiday really means to me. Growing up, I heard all these daunting things about how I was supposed to act on Yom Kippur: fasting, wearing white clothes, and disconnecting from electronics.
On college campuses in the United States, Canada, and around the world, students came together one year after the horrific October 7 attacks on Israel: to mourn, to pray, to hope, and to gain strength from one another in community. Hillels serving students at hundreds of colleges and universities took a leading role in organizing […]
Imagine taking 365 days of self-reflection, and compressing it into one, single day. That, in essence, is Yom Kippur.
Memorializing tragic communal events is ingrained in our practice and our liturgy. Some historians believe that the Ashkenazi tradition of saying Yizkor originated to commemorate the victims of the Crusades. Each Jew is a monument to a great family tradition that has survived incredible odds. As Jews, we do not build monuments of stone; rather, we fill our sanctuaries with stories.
On the one-year commemoration of October 7, we reflect on profound loss and take comfort in what we can learn from our Jewish tradition of mourning. The Kaddish, a foundational prayer recited in memory of loved ones, offers a framework for understanding how Jewish mourning rituals provide space not only for grief, but also for […]
On October 7, 2023, my cousins Ofer, Sahar, and Erez Calderon were kidnapped and taken hostage in Gaza. For 52 excruciating days, they endured unimaginable conditions — deprived of adequate food, water, and even oxygen — before Erez and Sahar were finally returned to Israel as part of a hostage exchange deal with Hamas. Ofer Calderon, the father of Erez and Sahar, remains in captivity. Almost a year into his abduction, we’ve received few details regarding his mental or physical condition or even confirmation of whether he is still alive.Â
For Engu, life in Israel was the fulfillment of a dream. Born in Ethiopia, she was only five years old when her family emigrated to Israel, carrying with them the hopes of generations who yearned for a Jewish homeland. However, in the wake of the October 7th attacks, Engu — who had built a thriving career at the Israeli Ministry of Finance — left everything behind to become a Jewish Agency Israel Fellow, determined to ensure her family’s dream survives.
We, as a Jewish people, spend a lot of time marking important dates and holding on to them throughout time. We remember the day we received Torah at Mt. Sinai, and we make it the sacred festival day of Shavuot. We remember the day we left Egypt, and celebrate it as the festival of Pesach, telling the story to our children as though it happened to us. We celebrate new beginnings with songs, feasts, and stories, gathering family, friends, and guests to share our joy as widely as we can. On Rosh Hashanah, we celebrate the day the universe began. We say Hayom Harat Olam. Today, the world was born.Â
October 7, 2023 will forever be etched in my memory. That morning, I woke up next to my mom, who was visiting for Parents’ Weekend at the University of Miami, and we watched as the shocking and heart-wrenching news from Israel unfolded. That day changed the lives of Israelis and Jewish people around the world, including mine.Â
Managing stress in the context of trauma, especially around significant anniversaries like marking one year since Hamas’s attack on Israel, can be particularly challenging. The emotional weight of such occasions can amplify stress, anxiety, fear, and flashbacks to anti-Israel protests on campus. For many Jewish students, October 7 will be filled with sadness, and for some, it may be too painful to remember.Â
