H eadlines
Hillels Reunited and It Feels So Good
E DUCATION
LEAH SNYDERMAN | JE CONTRIBUTING
WRITER FOR HILLELS ON college
campuses over the last year, the
absence of in-person program-
ming was palpable.

Like seemingly every other
organization, Hillels across the
world had to adapt to different
circumstances because of the
pandemic and, with colleges
now returning, there are
new questions they’ll need to
address. Namely, what will
programming look like, and
who is back on campus?
The time away, though,
has bolstered the resolve of
students and staff to get back
on track.

“A year of distance is
causing students to want to
be together more than ever,
to gather and create in-person
communities,” said Rachel
Saifer Goldman, director of
operations at Penn Hillel.

Hillel representatives said
building relationships with
peers is a foundational element,
and the lockdown only made
that more important. So, with
colleges welcoming students
back to campus, that will
allow Hillels to strengthen the
relationships formed online
last year.

“We meet students where
they are, in a way that estab-
lishes comfort and connection,”
said Jeremy Winaker, executive
director of the Greater Philly
Hillel Network.

Returning to in-person
operations requires planning
around new COVID guide-
lines. Because they are part
of a university, most Hillels
are following their school’s
guidelines. The
University of
Pennsylvania has required all
students and staff be vacci-
nated. Along with mandatory
vaccination, masks
are required to be worn indoors.

Penn Hillel plans on setting up
a tent outside its building for
holding programs.

“This added space will help
keep our students safe and
comfortable,” Saifer said.

Students and staff at Drexel
University are also required
to be vaccinated. Drexel
Hillel follows the guidelines
of the university’s Return
Oversight Committee, which
is comprised of public health
experts working to create safe
guidelines. Executive Director and
Campus Rabbi Isabel de
Koninck is keeping an open
mind while planning. Drexel
Hillel is staying prepared by
arranging for multiple versions
of events.

“We’re planning one version
of an event where we can have
food, one where we can’t, one
where we are indoors, another
where we are outdoors,” de
Koninck said. “Our students
are craving the opportunity to
build relationships in person,
so right now we’re seeing
Zoom/screen-based events as a
last resort.”
The Greater Philly Hillel
Network is taking a similar
approach. Zoom will still
be used, especially where
geography plays a role, but
in-person events will be
prioritized. “We will be booking
outdoor spaces, which have
the advantage of being safer,
and of helping connect to the
learning opportunity of the
upcoming Jewish year being
a shmita year,” Winaker said,
referencing the Jewish tradi-
tion of a farming sabbatical
Drexel University Hillel members
Courtesy of Anna Caplan
every seven years.

The Hillels that are part
of the Greater Philly Hillel
Network — West Chester
University, Bryn
Mawr College, Haverford College and
the Jewish Graduate Student
Network — will abide by their
universities’ policies. They will
actively encourage students to
get vaccinated if their respec-
tive universities don’t require
it, and staff to wear masks.

No matter the regulations
or requirements, Hillels and
the members are mostly just
looking forward to being able
to get together in person.

At Penn Hillel, staff is
ready to welcome students to
campus. New student orien-
tation programming starts on
Aug. 23 and will last for a week.

West Chester Hillel is partic-
ularly excited for its Shabbat
dinners, where “students are
transformed by the chance
to connect at the end of their
week,” Winaker said.

Hillels at Haverford and
Bryn Mawr are both looking
forward to High Holiday
programs, and the Jewish
Graduate Student Network
can’t wait for its New to Philly
Happy Hour! on Aug. 31.

Drexel Hillel is bringing
back alumna Danielle Brief as
an artist-educator in residence.

Brief will work with students
interested in connecting their
Jewish values, culture and
heritage to their experiences in
the arts.

“Staff and students are
enormously excited to have her
back on campus,” de Koninck
said. In fact, they’re excited for
everyone to be back. l
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Leah Snyderman is an intern for the
Jewish Exponent.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
AJC, Muflehun Launch Anti-Domestic Terror Training
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
THE AMERICAN JEWISH
Committee and Muflehun
completed its first pilot
program of Tackle! Upstander
Training to combat domestic
terrorism in Philadelphia on
Aug. 9.

The training, designed by
AJC and Muflehun, a resource
center that designs programs
to address “complex social
challenges,” takes a communi-
ty-based approach to confronting
antisemitism and anti-Muslim
bigotry on the federal, local and
individual levels. It was funded
in part by a 2020 grant from the
Office for Targeted Violence and
Terrorism Prevention within
the Department of Homeland
Security. The Philadelphia Circle of
Friends, the local affiliate of
the Muslim-Jewish Advisory
Council, hosted 13 leaders from
local governments and commu-
nity organizations for the
online training over two weeks
and a total of eight hours.

Both Muflehun and AJC
are active at MJAC, a coalition
created by the AJC in 2016,
where the training had its
genesis. “The idea that Muslims
and Jews can come together
to take tangible action for our
communities is what motivates
a lot of our domestic Muslim-
Jewish work,” said Ari Gordon,
director of Muslim-Jewish
relations for AJC.

AJC is a far-reaching organi-
zation with 24 offices around
the country. By partnering
with Muflehun, which designs
creative programming to enact
systemic change, the AJC
ensured that Tackle! would have
a national audience with expert
programming. The Circle of
Friends recruited training
participants in Philadelphia
who had the most contact with
those victimized by hate crimes.

According to Michael
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Michael Fabius, co-chair of the
Circle of Friends, Philadelphia’s
affiliate of the Muslim-Jewish
Advisory Council
Adnan Ansari, executive director
of Muflehun
Fabius, co-chair of the Circle
of Friends alongside Mohamed
Bakry, allyship between
communities targeted by
violence is the only way to
effectively combat bigotry.

“The most important key
is that we in our communities
can’t be isolated because that
will make us all more vulner-
able,” Fabius said.

The training uses a
public health lens to address
extremism and
bigotry, meaning that Tackle! takes a
holistic approach in identifying
the factors that drive domestic
terrorism and the resources
already in place to address
them, such as law enforcement.

However, by recognizing the
limitations of those structures,
the training program aims
to create interventions on a
local level and take preven-
tative measures, so as not to
stress resources limited in their
scope. The localized approach
to the training adapts the
curriculum to the specific
needs of the communities it
aims to serve.

Over the next six months,
AJC and Muflehun have
planned 10 pilot trainings,
hoping to reach 150 people.

“As we’re going to move
forward, we will need to better
understand the resources
available in each location,”
said Adnan Ansari, execu-
tive director of Muflehun.

“Those who are trained in this
program, they will have their
own resources, more informa-
tion, availability and sharing of
resources.” Muflehun and the AJC
designed Tackle! to take a
proactive outlook to addressing
bigotry before it escalates into
domestic terrorism.

“Hate might be a precursor,
but then people take action on
Courtesy of Adnan Ansari
Courtesy of Ballard Spahr
their hate,” Ansari said. “That’s
when more damage happens.”
The training consists of
the Department of Homeland
Securit y
Communit y
Awareness Briefing, which
addresses recruitment tactics to
hate groups; recognizing signs
of violence; and dissenting case
studies to better understand the
progression of extremist ideolo-
gies to violent hate crimes.

According to Gordon,
Philadelphia emerged as
a strong candidate of where
to launch the pilot program
because of the Circle of Friends’
connections to public officials
and civic institutions who
could benefit from the training,
as well as a strong connection
between the area Muslim and
Jewish communities.

“Out of that trust, they are
looking for tangible actions to
take,” Gordon said.

Tackle! was conceived and
funded under President Donald
Trump’s administration and
remains a timely resource. On
June 25, the Biden adminis-
tration published the National
Strategy for Countering
Domestic Terrorism, under-
scoring the importance of
continued action to address
bigotry and violent extremism.

Through the continued
rollout and eventual expansion
of Tackle!, AJC and Muflehun
hope to increase awareness of
antisemitism and anti-Muslim
bigotry and continue to build
connections locally and
nationally. “It’s good for us as Jews; it’s
good for us as Muslims, but it
also contributes to the health of
our democracy,” Gordon said. l
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AUGUST 19, 2021
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