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

