IMPACT IN NUMBERS
Updated numbers since campuses closed down due to COVID-19 in mid-March:
- 10,038 conversations between educators and students, including virtual chevrutah learning and check ins.
- 8,160 students and their family members took part in the 676 chaburot and shiurim given by OU-JLIC educators.
- 1,547 students were delivered food by OU-JLIC educators.
- 1,389 divrei Torah were sent by educators to a total distribution of over 45,000 people.
- 4,032 halachic questions were answered by OU-JLIC educators, and 1,356 of these questions were related to COVID-19.
THIS WEEKS HIGHLIGHTS
Here is how OU-JLIC has continued to engage, support, inspire and educate its students and their families this past week:
#OUJLICSTUDYBREAK – The semesterly #OUJLICstudybreak has been a FAVORITE tradition on many campuses, including Columbia/Barnard. During finals week, the Columbia University/Barnard College educators usually deliver about 125 snack bags with juice boxes, gushers and other snacks to energize and uplift students all around campuses – in dorms, libraries, cafes and wherever they may be. Not wanting anyone to miss this experience because of COVID-19 , they packed bags with homemade treats (rugelach, cookies and a small challah) and delivered the study snack packages to students within close driving distance of NYC. Nothing quite replaces seeing someone in person and 16 hours 44 minutes, 411 miles and 6 counties later, 48 incredibly happy students and parents were able to came to the door and receive a snack and quick shmooze from a distance.
YOM HAZIKARON – At IDC Herzliya, the community is proud of all of their students who have chosen to pick up their lives and make aliyah and many students that have served in the IDF. The student leadership was therefore particularly passionate about creating a meaningful and personal Yom Hazikaron ceremony. 7 students spoke about someone dear to them who they had lost including Ari Fuld, Ezra Schwartz and others. There were over 65 zoom devices on the call and another 400 on facebook live.
SHABBAT MEALS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS – At NYU, the educators prepared Friday night dinner for their alumni who work as first responders/essential workers. Freshmen students delivered the dinners.
A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY – A University of Chicago student was frustrated last Friday after traveling over an hour via public transportation to a kosher supermarket and finding out he couldn’t enter without a mask. He then got on the wrong train home and ended up far away in a dangerous neighborhood. On his way back, he stopped by the OU-JLIC educators’ place to say hi (from a distance) and pick up Shabbat food they made for him. He expressed how much the home cooked meal meant to him and helped him get into “Shabbat mode” after a particularly hard day.
LIFE’S BIG QUESTIONS – The OU-JLIC educators at Binghamton University, ran a class for their Jewish Learning Fellowship on ‘Continuing to Learn While Living with the Questions’. This weekly program included reflective and discussion-style learning about “life’s big questions,” for a cohort of day school graduates. In the last session, the students shared how much they had learned from each other. One student shared, “This cohort helped me realize that when I have difficult hashkafic questions, I am not alone – there are others who have gone through it too, and I can learn from them.”
ALUMNI MISHMAR – The OU-JLIC educators at Rutgers University organized a special mishmar with eight alumni sharing brief divrei Torah. Several current students texted the educators that they now want to return as alumni to share Torah with future students.
HILCHOT KEDUSHAT BEIT HAKNESSET – The OU-JLIC Educator at Western University of Health Sciences started a new Hilchot Kedushat Beit Haknesset series. He felt this was a particularly opportune time to teach this chabura given that klal yisrael is denied the privilege of being present in shuls and Batei midrashim. He is teaching the the Halachot of proper conduct in a shul with hopes of a speedy return and a second chance at making our shuls the mikdashei me’at they are really meant to be.
One student asked, “Can I volunteer at a food bank and make non kosher food for non Jews?” Another student wanted to know, “I am on a volunteer list for the Jewish Federation, to buy and deliver groceries to elderly people in quarantine. Someone, who seems to be Jewish, ordered non kosher meat. How do I handle this situation.” And a different student wanted guidance on how to have a halachic wedding while protecting the safety of the bride’s immunocompromised father. These are just some of the questions educators helped their students with this week.