By Chloe Baker, Features Editor, and Hannah Wasserman
The week following October 7, students were found in airports, underground parking garages, and massive warehouses. They were organizing, packing, and distributing duffel bags for soldiers with much-needed equipment. Group chats were created, tehillim groups were organized, and money was raised… all with young Jewish college students at the forefront. Yeshiva University students stepped up to the plate and blossomed as “leaders in the Jewish community” at home, globally, in-person, and online. Most students have a personal connection to the war, as many students studied in Israel or served in the Israeli Defense Forces. Many of us have family members, friends, and members from our own communities fighting to keep the Jewish homeland. This war hits home in some way for every single Yeshiva University student. Each one of us has been active in chesed on behalf of the state of Israel. Four months after the start of the war, the question arises if students on the Beren campus are doing the most that they can to support the Zionist cause.
Five weeks after October 7, the “March For Israel” occurred in Washington, D.C. 300,000 people traveled from all over America to attend. Fortunately, YU canceled classes for the day and provided 40 buses for their students, which transported approximately 50 people per bus. Roughly 2,000 YU administration, faculty, and students traveled to D.C. These participants woke up at 4:00 a.m. and traveled four hours there and back, all while standing for seven hours at the march. The Yeshiva University dedication that was shown was truly inspiring, and something to be very proud of. But did that dedication continue in the months following? On Thursday, February 1, the organization “Bring Them Home” held a peaceful rally in front of the United Nations at 8:00 a.m. on a Thursday to bring attention to the remaining hostages in Gaza. With the United Nations being a 15-minute walk from the Beren Campus, there was ample time for students to attend the rally, which lasted for roughly half an hour, and be back in time for the day’s first classes. While standing at the rally and looking around, the unfortunate truth was shown: only three Beren students were in attendance. The rest of the attendees were middle-aged adults, family members of hostages, and a few high schoolers from Yeshiva of Flatbush. Considering the proximity to campus, the lack of attendance from Beren college students was arguably appalling, all the more so due to the fact that a flier was sent for the rally twice in the famous “Stern in the Know” chat.
Another example of the Beren campus students uniting to support the chayalim was at the tzitzit tying event on Tuesday, November 28, at 7:15 pm. The amount of students who came to learn how to tie tzitzit was incredible, with about 40 girls in attendance. Everyone was so enthusiastic to help be a part of the impactful event. Due to the students’ response, another tzitzit event was scheduled for Wednesday, December 20, at 7:15, following a shiur by Rabbi Burg. The thought process was obvious – because of the continuous large turnout at shiurim, it was expected that the attendance for the tzitzit event following would be just as significant, if not more. Surprisingly, that statement could not have been further from the truth. There were less than ten students in attendance. Multiple flyers were sent out on Beren campus chats, along with reminders when the event started and throughout the event. Due to the minimal turnout, a third tzitzit event had to be scheduled for Motzei Shabbat to complete the tying process of the remaining hundred tzitzit. Knowing that relying on Beren students to tie the tzitzit was no longer an option due to the poor turnout on Tuesday, and subsequently, Motzei Shabbat, a senior student had to take the remaining untied tzitzit home for her community to complete tying. Undoubtedly, students who have such a strong relationship to Israel, and care so deeply about doing our part in this war, would take an additional 20 minutes out of their day to help. The need for such actions is still extremely high, as the demand for tzitzit has increased as the war continues. The usual excuse that the students have homework, are busy or are too tired did not apply here, considering the number of students who take time out of their day to attend shiurim and tehilim groups. The excuse of lack of convenience is not a valid excuse for lack of action. Therefore, the question needs to be asked: why is convenience a primary factor for not participating in tangible activities regarding this disastrous war?
Weeks later, Beren students had the incredible opportunity to hear from Rabbi Leo Dee about his life following the devastating murder of his wife and two daughters in a terrorist attack last Pesach. Since this event was on December 3, a Sunday night, the turnout was not nearly as strong as it should have been. Why is it that our beautiful Beit Midrash can fill up with hundreds of seats for a Monday night shiur, but when a Rabbi who lost three family members in a disastrous terrorist attack comes to give us chizuk and tell his story on a Sunday, the crowd is not nearly as big as it should be? The argument of convenience is what first comes to mind. Due to most of the students being “in-towners,” it’s not “convenient” for them to return to school on Sunday; instead, they take a 7:00 a.m. train Monday morning to return for classes. Convenience seems to be the only reason the students were not in attendance. On Wednesday, January 24, Roi Assaraf spoke on the Wilf campus as a survivor of the Nova Festival massacre. Due to this event being so high profile and essential, YU provided busing for Beren Students to attend. The school ensured a massive turnout for such a vital and impactful event was as easily accessible to attend as possible. Again, the question arises: What would have been the turnout from Beren students if it had been on a less “convenient” day?
Just because we are four months into the war and have seemingly settled down and gotten more comfortable, doesn’t mean our fight in the West is over. If anything – it’s just begun. It’s essential that we keep showing up whenever we can – and give the same respect and dedication to events like rallies and physical action as we do to shiurim and tehillim.The Yeshiva University community is very fortunate to have so many of its students participating in events regarding the war. As soon as the war broke out, the immediate response from the students was unprecedented and exhilarating. The Jewish community could not have been more proud of the YU students taking charge in this crisis. However, has the same amount of effort continued? The Beren students have continuously shown up and put in effort towards this war. But is there more that could be done? Is the matter of convenience a deciding factor in aiding the war effort? Is it a valid enough excuse? We will let the readers decide.