鈥淚 got an email from GW Hillel saying, 鈥楥ome join us in our vaccine efforts,鈥� so I emailed the people that run it and the JCC and Hillel and told them I wanted to work with them. We talked about what platforms we should use and how we should reach out to volunteers and seniors. I got put on a matching team, so now my job is to review the lists of seniors and volunteers. I assign volunteers to seniors and email the volunteers saying, 鈥楾his is your senior, make sure you reach out, etc.鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 been a lot of late nights just making sure everything’s running smoothly, answering emails, reassuring people that get put down by the process. It鈥檚 been a super rewarding thing that makes me feel like I’m doing good when I’m just up late at night worried about how people can get vaccines.

鈥淚鈥檓 a part-time student and it鈥檚 a difficult job market right now. I really wanted something that I’m passionate about to fill my time and this was perfect to me. My grandparents got COVID, and thank God they鈥檙e okay, but that鈥檚 also helped me be passionate about the cause.

鈥淭his is very much like the definition of Tikkun Olam 鈥� we’re helping old people navigate a system that even young people have difficulty going through and we help them get registered and get the shots in their arm.鈥� 鈥� Noah Bennett, George Washington University

As told to Deanna Schwartz, writer in the 糖心vlogl Writers Program.

鈥淲hat I most like about being Jewish is the story behind it. The story of the Jewish people having been exiled and dispersed and still maintain culture. That perseverance is something that I love 鈥� it鈥檚 part of my culture and spirituality.

鈥淚 think the music I write is a reflection of my story. A lot of it is about my conscious analysis of what it is to be Black and Jewish. It’s my commentary on that experience. Hillel has provided that support system for me, and it has also influenced the actual art itself. My music is a reflection of things that are important to me, and because I spent so many hours in Hillel or with people who I met in Hillel, it has influenced my music. I think my song 鈥楧iaspora鈥� is an example of that because it’s a song that I wrote and performed for the first time at Hillel.

鈥溾�楧iaspora鈥� is about being unapologetically Jewish and having a connection to the Jewish homeland and recognizing the ways we’ve been influenced by the diaspora. The lyrics 鈥業’m a proud part of the Diaspora, In my heart I hold Jerusalem and Africa鈥� set the framework for the song, and the beat I made incorporates the sounds of the Diaspora from Middle Eastern to Russian sounds to even Black American and Hip-Hop sounds.

鈥淚 get inspiration from the people who came before me, like my dad who came from the Soviet Union or my grandma who fled with her parents from Mississippi largely due to racism. And here I am, a college student who is involved in my community and able to be a leader. It鈥檚 that story of honoring your ancestors and the past that is part of all of my traditions and cultures. I think my Black and Jewish identities definitely complement each other.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important that I make music as someone who is Black and Jewish and can tell that story. Sharing the lived experience of Black Jews is one part of it, but the other part is representation. Even if I have a song that’s not like 鈥楧iaspora,鈥� and is just a fun, celebratory song, I think the visibility of having someone who’s Black and Jewish rapping and creating something is important.鈥� 鈥� Noah Shufutinsky, George Washington University

鈥淚 would define myself as a Conservative Jew but probably more toward the more religious and observant end of Conservative Judaism. And that was always how I was raised 鈥� not using electronics on Shabbat or holidays, keeping kosher, going to shul every Shabbos, every yom tov…In our house, that鈥檚 how it was. There was never a fight about watching TV on Saturday mornings. It was never on the table. It was never an open question…I was observing kashrut and Shabbos for as long as I can remember so it became second nature to me. I was going to shul every week so I became well-acquainted with services and ritual…That was the baseline when I came into college.

鈥淭he thing I was more scared about going to college than anything was what Jewish life would look like. That was the existential crisis I had the day before leaving. I鈥檇 grown so comfortable with our synagogue and the idea of doing the holidays somewhere else…was really very nerve-wracking, not knowing if I would find any kind of observant community…There鈥檚 this perception, largely accurate, that college kids are not particularly observant…I was really concerned about finding a synagogue that could be a home for me.. and some type of observant community at school…I was worried I was going to be left out or stuck on my own on Shabbos…There are certainly times when it鈥檚 been an inconvenience, but an inconvenience is not enough of a reason to stop observing something that鈥檚 incredibly important to the structure of my week, the structure of my life and my understanding of Jewish observance and Jewish obligation. I have never questioned or doubted my Shabbat observance.

鈥淚鈥檝e been talking to GW Hillel about that because GW Hillel is working on a new building, and a leader asked 鈥榃hat do you think should be our policy toward kosher food vs. non-kosher food in the building? What do you think should be our policy about no electronics on Shabbat in the building?鈥� And these are good conversations to have, and I鈥檓 happy to have them, and it shows me that the effort is being made…to include more observant students in programming. I won鈥檛 be around to see what comes of those discussions, but I鈥檓 hopeful.鈥� 鈥� Zachary Bernstein, George Washington University