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Content warning: This article includes mentions of violence.
More than 500 University of Michigan community members gathered on the Diag Friday evening for a rally celebrating Jewish unity in the face of recent antisemitism on campus. The rally, hosted by the Jewish Resource Center, was planned for parents and family weekend to provide an opportunity for families to celebrate their community and heritage together, according to Rabbi Yitz Pierce. “These events are critical for students to see that we have strength,” Pierce said. “As a minority group on campus, if you just go hide in the shadows, then you just feel that much more pushed down or oppressed. If we come together as a large group and show our strength, I think everyone is lifted up through that.”
LSA junior Daniela Portnoy, JRC president, said in an interview with The Daily that she hoped the rally would bring the Jewish community on campus together following recent assaults on Jewish students in Ann Arbor.
“Our entire purpose of this event was to come together as a community and show parents — especially — that are here this weekend, that we are strong and we are proud to be Jewish, and this is a safe place for our students to be,” Portnoy said. “And while this was a very rough week — we had multiple assaults on Jewish students — and rising antisemitism within the country and issues in Israel, we thought that this was the way to do it. And together we will rise to overcome everything.”
In her remarks at the event, Portnoy expressed feeling a sense of fear as a Jewish student after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Portnoy said she found comfort and joy through the Jewish community at the University.
“Jewish joy is resilience,” Portnoy said. “It’s the joy of overflowing and overcrowded Shabbat dinners. … It’s the joy of feeling connected to people across the world, it’s the joy of tradition, culture and community that has sustained our people through countless challenges. Jewish joy is an act of defiance. It’s the ability to celebrate even when the world feels heavy, to say that we are here, we will thrive, and we will hold onto the traditions that make us proud to be Jewish.”
LSA sophomore Gabe Silverstein, president of Sigma Alpha Mu, said he feels a strong connection among the Jewish community on campus, whose traditions remain vibrant during difficult times.
“What they don’t see, and what has become increasingly apparent over the last year, is not the existence of Jewish hate, but the persistence of Jewish celebration,” Silverstein said. “The unity among Jews on this campus is what keeps us all afloat amidst an existential flood of negativity, hate and darkness.”
Rabbi Fully Eisenberger said in addition to more displays of Jewish pride on campus over the last year, Jewish people continue to daven, or pray, and take action to bring the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7 home. As of last week, at least 97 of the 251 people taken hostage are still being held in Gaza, at least 33 of whom are presumed dead.
“Many people don’t even know that every single day, Jews are davening, they’re praying, to make these soldiers safe and to bring the hostages home,” Eisenberger said. “That’s what we do. We’re one nation. We care about each other.”
Maya and Itay Regev, two siblings who were taken hostage by Hamas at the Nova Music Festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, told the crowd about their experiences. As their father stood with them, Maya said she and her brother were separated when they were taken to Gaza and held hostage for more than 50 days while suffering from gunshot wounds.
“I was alone, and the only thing that kept me going was thinking about my family, thinking about the people in Israel, that I know that they are doing something to help me,” Regev said. “I know we have an amazing community, an amazing country, and they will do anything to help me and all the other hostages.”
Jen Airley, the mother of an Israeli soldier who died in combat, encouraged other members of the Jewish community to perform acts of kindness and mitzvot, the 613 commandments in the Torah.
“I’m asking you to take on one thing, one commitment,” Airley said. “I want you to take on something, whether it’s a mitzvah, whether it’s an act of kindness … because that is going to be your weapon in fighting this war.”
Daily Staff Reporter Elizabeth Stafford can be reached at libstaf@umich.edu.
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