Woah, it has been difficult to find time to write here. All of a sudden my workload ramped up from just a couple of sketches per class to dozens, even hundreds—that’s product design for you.
I’m gonna write down some of the highlights from the last couple of months.
After the Tu B’Shevat event, Hillel organized a group prayer for the hostages in the school’s prayer room. It was a little intimidating because the Muslim community on campus has basically taken over the entire room and social hall outside. They installed a custom-cut mat to the size of the room, and I guess that they didn’t want us to go in with shoes on. Just about when a conflict was about to begin, some guy took his shoes off and rolled the mat aside. Our ‘minyan’ consisted of six women, not quite 10, and not quite male, but the prayer was very powerful. Afterward, we went to a very little hang out room where I was able to introduce myself to other members of Hillel. It was very nice to begin meeting people. We talked about having little breakout clubs for more specific bodies of Jewish students, and about some of the antisemitism on campus lately. Hillel got us custom cups and solidarity dog tags for the hostages!
Then we had a Shabbat dinner! We ate Chinese food, which I had never tried, and it was also my first time seeing candle lighting in person. It was very cool, many people came who were genuinely interested in the ritual. But there was a lot of noise, and I couldn’t find anyone to talk to, and I got overwhelmed. I left early, not by much, but I still enjoyed it!
Afterward, we had a Hamantaschen Bake, it was very nice—and delicious. When I was coming in, I was disappointed that 'Sarah' (to protect the lovely person) was not there. She works for Hillel organizing and providing what’s needed for events. She has always been kind to me and I feel more comfortable when she is around. However other Hillel members I knew from previous meetings were there.
And on the Thursday before Purim, after the minor fast ended we had a party at an arcade! I got a t-shirt with a Magen David made of Hamantaschen and everyone loved it. I was with my friend for most of the time, we played Tetris—which I suck at—and racing games. Hillel got us very delicious Mishloach Manot. I think this was the first time I’ve been to a party in a very long time.
Lastly, this event was very special. We set up a Shabbat table with 134 empty seats in solidarity with the hostages in the middle of the quad. The scale was shocking, it really helps you realize what 134 people look like, missing. We put a plate and cutlery for everyone. We also took out candlesticks and spread them around the tables. I was in charge of taping many posters to the back of the chairs, staring at every single photo, name. I guess my subconscious memorized them because I would later recall when I was putting them on while reciting a prayer at temple. When we were done we sat at one of the outdoor tables on the quad and contemplated everyone walking by. Some took their time to read the information sign, others scoffed after looking at it for just a second, and others were confounded by the massive table and amount of empty seats. A group of Muslim students came around and just overlooked as we were setting the table. They suddenly walked off while shouting something. Later on, a lot more returned they sat at the stairs in front of the cordoned area we had. There was a crazy amount of police, but they wouldn’t really do anything against them. Until one of the people sitting took out a sign, which they were not allowed to. Although we had to complain before police did anything. We were ready to take everything down as soon as out allowed time ran out to avoid having the growing group outside give us shit because our time was over. They just sat there watching us take down all of the posters and everything. When we were done, everyone got a challah to take home. It was quite terrifying walking out of that cordoned area, but everyone was safe.
Actually, I also participated in another event though not from Hillel. It was the Community Mitzvah Day from the Jewish Federation. It was very cool. I gave tzedakah and volunteered to pack food for Pesach. When I went into the building the rabbi there welcomed me and a family in front of me in Hebrew. The mom replied something in Hebrew and then rabbi asked me if I also spoke Hebrew, to which I nervously replied “no…just English.” My guess is that he asked the family the same thing and the mom replied something with the word anachnu, which was the only thing I picked up, to say that they all spoke Hebrew. Anyway, Rabbi said we could help assemble boxes of set up a station for a specific food item. I went for the boxes given my recent experience doing the same in Mexico when we emptied our old apartment and put everything in self-storage. I had set for myself the goal to be as social as possible, so I talked with the person who was already assembling boxes, whose name I regretfully can’t remember. When I told him that I go to college and that I am part of Hillel he got excited since he is involved with Hillel. Sarah arrived shortly after and we all had a good time assembling boxes. Later, Mark came by to help but we didn’t have an extra tape gun, so he proposed he’d fold the box and I would tape it. We were going crazy fast, we were stacking the boxes in a pyramid but it got sooo big, I was completely boxed in at the very end, I couldn’t take a step. I then went around the food stations a couple times. Sarah waited for me for her final lap and we took a selfie for Hillel’s page.
I’ve managed to do so much after deciding to convert to Judaism. Never before had I attended such events from a group at school, or gone to parties with friends. I’m really excited about this journey and proud of the steps that I’ve taken so far.
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