Hillel, the self-described home for Jewish life at Stevens, is holding their annual menorah lightings in celebration of Hanukkah. The lightings, as well as the Hanukkah party that was held on the first night on December 7, hold special significance this year in light of the October 7 attacks on Israel by Hamas and the ongoing conflict in Gaza. To learn more about this and other events that Hillel has sponsored this semester, The Stute spoke with its president, Dennis Vink.
Vink, a senior majoring in Quantitative Finance, encouraged students to attend the lightings, which are being held in the UCC second floor commons at 6 p.m. until December 15, the final night of Hanukkah. “On the first night, we gave out menorahs that were sponsored by Hoboken Chabad. Every night we do the blessings, and we just try to create a good atmosphere. With everything happening, community on campus is very important.”
He stressed the importance of creating a community space for Jewish students to share in their faith in a positive and joyful atmosphere, especially in a time when many Jewish students on American campuses are concerned for their safety and feel besieged by antisemitic rhetoric.
“On campus, Jewish students definitely feel unsafe,” said Vink. “On our campus, there has been no conflict, which is great. But students at Columbia University, New York University, Cooper Union, there have been students receiving hate crimes. With everything going on on social media, there’s so much negative energy directed towards Jewish students. Hanukkah is the festival of lights and we’re trying to bring joy to campus.”
It’s that celebration of the beauty and joy of Judaism that has provided so much meaning to the lighting ceremonies this year. Despite having relatively minor significance as a religious holiday, Hanukkah has gained enormous cultural significance as a symbol of the resilience and unity of the Jewish people. It celebrates the liberation of the Second Temple of Jerusalem in the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the second century BC, and the subsequent miracle in which one day’s worth of sacred oil burned for eight days and eight nights. “It’s the Festival of Lights representing the perseverance of the Jewish people,” said Vink. “Jews over history have spread into a diaspora, and generally the Jews have faced constant persecution throughout history, such as the Holocaust, so the point of Hanukkah, amidst other things, is to represent the perseverance of Jews.”
In the news and on social media, many across the world are being exposed to stories of conflict and mistrust between Jewish and Muslim communities, especially in highly multicultural communities like U.S. college campuses. Commenting on the state of Stevens’ campus since October 7, Vink said that he has been encouraged by the relative lack of conflict compared to nearby universities, especially those in New York. “However, it almost feels like people have been ignoring [the situation].” Additionally, he said that he and other members of Hillel voiced their concerns to the administration that a statement made by President Farvardin in the wake of the October 7 attack was inadequate in how clearly it condemned the killing of Israeli civilians.
In response to this, Vink says that it has been a major priority of Hillel and the Muslim Student Association (MSA) to hold events that demonstrate the unity between Jewish and Muslim students at Stevens, including a joint Unity Dinner. “We wanted to hold it because there are all these conflicts on campus. We wanted to show we can come together in high-stress times, in emotionally charged times,” said Vink about the outcome of the event. “We wanted to show we can come together as a community at Stevens. We’re of different faiths, but we’re all people, but we’re all individuals. […] The President of MSA spoke, and I spoke. I spoke about lessons from the Torah, and he spoke about lessons of the Quran, and it went exceptionally well.”
The two organizations also participated in a Community Gathering for Israel and Palestine, at which attendees had the opportunity to donate to Doctors Without Borders. “These events have definitely brought our campus communities together in times when our larger communities have seemingly been pushed apart.”
Vink says that he hopes the events on campus help both Jewish and Muslim students feel safer and more trusting of one another, despite the contentious environments on many campuses. “I hope these events create a safe place on campus for Jewish students but also offer a place to bring in people of all faiths and mindsets to understand Judaism and see why our community is so strong, and to see the values behind our religion.”
Speaking specifically to Jewish students, Vink stressed that the Jewish community is strong and is held together by more than just religion. “Judaism is an ethno-religion. It doesn’t matter how religious you are, it doesn’t make you any less Jewish. I don’t wear a kippah, I don’t go to synagogue four times a week, but that doesn’t make me less Jewish.”
