28 | AUGUST 26 • 2021
T
his past year, I took the time to
“Marie Kondo” various parts of
our home — drawers, closets,
our entire basement. Utilizing Kondo’s
renowned practice, we put it all on the
floor and decided what
we truly needed, what
brought us joy, what could
bring more joy to someone
else and what was ready
to be tossed for good. For
those of you who have
done this before, you
know how challenging it
can be to have to let go or to reimagine
how to make all the pieces fit.
So, too, did our Hillel have to let go
of so many things and reimagine how
to make our offerings fit into more
limited spaces and restrictions due to
COVID. Like many other Hillels, all our
programming and services had to be
laid out and decisions had to be made
about what was essential, what could we
make fit, what could we adapt and what
would we simply need to let go of.
This exercise invited tremendous
creativity around how we ran our
programs, often leading to surprising
results. For example, we adjusted to
limited gathering sizes by running
the same program, multiple times, to
welcome as many people as we could.
What we discovered was by capping
the numbers and replicating the
program, we actually created a more
intimate environment that was more
conducive to fostering relationships and
encouraging group conversation.
We also got creative about space.
Rather than hosting one large Shabbat
meal in our Hillel space, we supported
dozens of meals every week in students’
homes to make the experience more
accessible and safer. As a result,
Shabbat and holiday meal participation
increased last year rather than
decreased because students could bring
this Jewish practice into their homes,
among friends, and fit Shabbat more
seamlessly into their lives.
Last year’s restrictions made indoor
High Holiday services impossible for
our Hillel. As a result, we got creative,
even bold, and brought shofar blowing
out to public locations around campus.
Bringing this Jewish ritual into the
public was a moment of pride for so
many students, and a safe, accessible
way to experience the holidays.
As we look to this year, we are not
rushing to put everything from our pre-
pandemic time back in place. Rather,
we find ourselves approaching Fall 2021
with the same creativity, laying it all out
— programming during the pandemic
and pre-pandemic — and deciding
which model really works that will
drive us forward, or could we possibly
experiment further with a new hybrid
approach.
So while we are so excited to return
Bear Claw at Hillel: Students enjoy a hot drink on a cold day with the Bear Claw Coffee Truck at Michigan Hillel.
Tilly Shemer
What We’ll Keep
U-M HILLEL
for college students by college students
Aug. 26, 2021 / 18 Elul 5781