JUNE 16 • 2022 | 25
on those fronts.
I’m deeply concerned that
the congregational school
model was a broken model
before COVID. I think it’s
now laid bare its inadequa-
cies. These kids haven’t been
in a classroom in a regular
way. I’m seeing that take
shape as to where their iden-
tities, where their competen-
cies are when they’re called
up to the bimah as a bar or
bat mitzvah. It’s of concern.
Starr: I’ll shift gears a little
bit. You are on the board now
of the University of Michigan
Hillel. What is the experience
like today for Jewish college
kids? And how do you see
that impacting the Jewish
future?
Cosgrove: Not only am I a
graduate of the University of
Michigan, I have a daughter
at U-M and another daughter
on her way. So, I can look
from both vantage points. I
think this is the best of times
and worst of times to be a
college student on campus.
I’m actually not concerned
in a way perhaps I should
be because of how strong
Michigan Hillel is; but I think
the Israel BDS conversation is
manageable. I think it tends
to get more airplay than it
deserves.
I actually am more con-
cerned about the inability of
people to come together in
the same way, such as it was
for me, when I walked into
Michigan Hillel and someone
tapped me on the shoulder.
That’s not happening with the
same ease now.
It seems everything has
to be intentional these days.
You’ve got to show proof of
vaccination, and you have to
make a conscious decision
that you’re going to mask up
and sit with someone. The
numbers of Friday night din-
ners are down. I know that
for those students who are
engaged, a good Hillel has
been the anchor of commu-
nity and identity. The work of
Hillel is even more important
right now.
Starr: Just one more ques-
tion. If you could tell every
Jew in America one thing,
what would it be?
Cosgrove: Do a mitzvah.
When I say mitzvah, I mean
an act of positive Jewish iden-
tification. It might be lighting
Shabbat candles. It might be
ordering from one side of
the menu, as opposed to the
other side. It might be putting
on tefillin in the morning. It
might be any number of acts
that differentiate you as a Jew.
It’s Jewish mitzvahs we need
to do. I think this goes to the
heart of it.
We actually have a toolbox
bequeathed to us through
the generations by which
Jews form community. And
we come together at Shabbat
tables and at communal cele-
brations at Shabbat services.
“We have the tools to do
that in a distinctly Jewish way
that uplifts the soul and the
spirit.
This lecture is free and open to the
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events/2358.
Paid for by Janice Winfrey For Congress