SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Following COVID-19’s initial outbreak back in early 2020, Jillian Juni–the Executive Director for Syracuse Hillel–said she was unsure how the organization would be affected at that time, as it was far too early on in the pandemic for the general public to fully grasp on what scale the world would be impacted.
Given the circumstances, Juni opted that it would be best to direct her attention towards the students.
“When COVID first hit,” Juni said, “The immediate thought that we (Syracuse Hillel) had was, ‘How are we going to meet the needs of students?’ Everyone had gone home for spring break, we had Passover coming up shortly after. ‘Was this going to be a two-week thing? Was it going to be a longer thing?’ So, we dove into just reaching out to students.”
According to Jacob Goldberg, a Broadcast & Digital Journalism student at Syracuse University as well as a member of Syracuse Hillel, students were still allowed at times to meet up in small groups at the Gary & Karen Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life. However, the organization stayed to online means.
“When I had COVID, they (Hillel) came and sent me boxes to make me feel welcome,” Jacob said. “They’ve constantly been doing social distance activities to make sure that people are still able to come into the building. Stiffer that connection, still make relationships, and of course today it was really great to be back (in-person) for the high holiday services.”
On September 26, Syracuse Hillel members gathered at the Winnick Hillel Center where they’d begin a group walk to Tashlich in Thornden Park, the site for the Tashlich Evening Service. Following the service, the members then returned the Hillel Center to enjoy the ceremonial dinner.
Although this was the only day Syracuse Hillel would hold the groupwide walk to Thornden Park, additional services and ceremonial meals were also offered on September 25 and 26, as Rosh Hashanah spans over that duration in the Hebrew Calendar.
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Syracuse Hillel had not held a meeting void of COVID restrictions in about three years. This week, however, the organization had a bevy of Syracuse University students gather in celebration of Rosh Hashanah. NCC News’ Miles Walker went to the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life for more.
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Rosh Hashanah—a holiday considered one of the holiest days in Judaism as it marks the start of a new year—brought hundreds of S-U students to the Winnick Hillel Center as Syracuse Hillel held its first meeting for the holiday without any covid restrictions since two-thousand-nineteenth.
S-U junior and Broadcast & Digital Journalism major Jacob Goldberg said he was excited to learn that Syracuse Hillel would start meeting in-person again this fall.
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Jacob Goldberg: “One of the biggest things I looked out for in my college search was a school with a relatively decent Jewish population and Syracuse certainly had that, one of the biggest in the country. So, coming to Hillel was always something I knew I wanted to do, even before I stepped foot on this campus.”
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Although Syracuse Hillel made the switch over to zoom once COVID broke out in early twenty-twenty, Jacob took note of how the organization managed to keep its community in tact and involved despite the pandemic.
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Jacob: “When I had Covid, they came and sent me boxes to make feel welcome. They’ve constantly been doing social distance activities to make sure that people are still able to come into the building. Stiffer that connection, still make relationships, and of course today it was really great to be back for the holiday services.”
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Hillel’s Executive Director Jillian Juni hopes that with less restrictions comes more growth for Syracuse Hillel and its community.
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Jilian Juni: “So I look forward to a very continued, vibrant year of participation, engagement, and working with students to do all the things that they wanna do, and that’s my hope.”
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If you missed out on the festivities offered for Rosh Hashanah last night, the Hillel Center will be holding another morning service as well as an additional lunch for those in attendance today from 11 A-M until 1:30 this afternoon.
Reporting from Syracuse, I’m Miles Walker. NCC News
