United in Hope: Bringing Jews Together on Campus

It was late July, and I was hunched over my laptop on yet another Zoom call, staring at a grid of faces, some that I’d never met, some who hadn’t spoken to each other in months. We were debating what it meant to “unite” Jewish life on campus, cautiously tip-toeing around to find common ground. It felt impossible, but I knew we had to make it work.

After joining a relatively unestablished club, J Street U, my freshman spring, I still felt that Jewish life on campus was fragmented and hard to access. It made me upset.

Coming out of the encampment, a semester worth of violence in Gaza, and rising antisemitism in America, it was a confusing and lonely time to be Jewish at college. I knew something had to change—and I felt personally responsible to make that happen.

I began reaching out to leaders from every Jewish-affiliated student group I could find. I sent emails, instagram direct messages, other times, when people were harder to reach, I hounded them in person for their phone numbers or the number of a friend. Some groups I didn’t even know existed, some that I knew didn’t speak to each other due to conflicting political views, and some that openly disagreed. I spoke with Chabad, the Wesleyan Jewish Community (WJC), small environmentalist collectives, left-leaning political groups, prayer circles, and students putting up hostage posters. What connected us was that were were all tired of being Jewish in separate, quiet silos. I proposed something new: a Jewish student coalition; not one group above another, but an umbrella that could amplify us all.

The work was challenging. All summer, I organized Zoom meetings, coordinated leaders with opposing vision, and built trust. We experimented with different models until we landed on one where every group had equal representation and a shared sense of responsibility. I coordinated with Rabbi David Teva, the University Jewish Chaplain, to get a list of incoming Jewish students and we sent a unified welcome email. This was something that had never happened before. We designed a colorful, lively zine introducing over 10 Jewish groups, each creating its own page. I managed the design process, edited, re-emailed, and kept everyone on deadline. The start of the school year was fast approaching.

In the fall, we tabled side by side at the club fair as a united front. Over 100 students signed up. For the first time, it felt like being Jewish on campus meant belonging to something bigger, something we had built together.