Dear Wolverine Community,

This weekend, we celebrated a beautiful Shabbat at Hillel, including three different Friday night services where hundreds of students gathered together for our last Shabbat dinner before Thanksgiving break. It was a wonderful 25 hours filled with joy, celebration, community, and song. 

That peaceful and joyous celebration, however, stands in stark contrast to what we saw just before Shabbat, when a group of anti-Israel protestors pushed and shoved their way into the Ruthven Administration Building, the building which houses President Ono's office, injuring two university police officers in the process before the protest was broken up.

We’re grateful for the dedication of the University of Michigan Police and local law enforcement who arrested 40 of the protestors, and dispersed the crowd without further incident. Thanks to the communication and coordination between Michigan Hillel and the University, we contacted Jewish Community Security on Friday evening, and raised our level of security in and around our Hillel building prior to Shabbat as a precaution. We know that these incidents can be scary, and want to reiterate that our Hillel staff is available for ongoing support during these turbulent times. We will continue to work hand-in-hand with university administration, university police, and local Jewish communal partners to ensure that our building and campus remain a safe space for Jewish students to live and celebrate vibrant Jewish life.  

As I shared on Friday, immediately following Thanksgiving break, from November 28 to 30, there will be a full campus vote on two petitions that were sent to the Central Student Government (CSG) for consideration. One, AR-13-026, was written by Hillel student leaders and calls on the University to understand the personal impact the war between Israel and Hamas is having on students across campus and requests that U-M seek out opportunities to bridge students together in this time of increased division and tension. The other petition, AR 13-025, is an anti-Israel effort that smears the Jewish state with charges of apartheid and genocide. To defeat this motion and pass the other one, Hillel is working closely with student groups on campus to stand for our community and with Israel. If you know a student(s) on campus, please make sure they know to vote in this important election!

Despite the challenges that Jews around the world have faced in recent weeks since the October 7 attack on Israel, we are so proud of the flourishing Jewish community we serve in Ann Arbor, and of the courage, resilience, and optimism of our students. Our Hillel will always be a safe and welcoming place for Jewish students — physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

Am Yisrael Chai, and wishing everyone a week of peace,

Rabbi Davey

Interim CEO