CURRENT EVENTS
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
I know we've all been horrified these last couple of weeks, as antisemitism raises its ugly head yet again.
First let me say how proud we are to know you! Students with (seemingly) so many differences are uniting to stand up in the face of this unabashed hate. I know it hurts, and I know you're losing friends over it. That's a really sad thing to experience, it can make you feel incredibly alone.
Please keep fighting hate. As was so well put by Edmund Burke: "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing".
It may not always be comfortable, and it's not easy, but the best response to these hateful cowards is to reaffirm our Jewish pride. It's like when wild animals attack - run, and we'll surely be chased. Standing our ground is our best bet.
To that end, here are some practical things we can do to show our Jewish pride and stick together in this difficult time:
1) We will be giving out Jewish Panther Pride Yarmulkahs (Kipas), with matching Shabbat candle holders in the works. We already have the Yarmulkahs, candles should be ready by the start of the new School year.
These have been generously sponsored by Mordechai and Jennifer Milworn, in memory of רוחמה בת מרדכי יקותיאל
2) Do an extra Mitzvah! This has the dual benefit of the spiritual, as well as a very practical benefit of showing your Jewish pride to all.
My personal recommendations for showing Jewish pride would be Mezuzah, Tefillin, and lighting Shabbat Candles. Please reach out to me or Mushkie if we can help you with these or any other Mitzvah you would like to do.
3) On a note of more physical protection, we commit to bringing down once again a Krav Maga expert, to teach and to train us in basic self defense, in case Gd forbid someone attacks with a knife or a gun. I have a strong inclination to offer this every semester, until it's no longer needed. May none of us ever need to use such training.
If you would like to not wait until next semester, and you would want a session now at the Chabad house, please let me know and we'll try to put a group together.
4) As always, we're here for you. If you want to talk, learn, vent or join us for dinner. Now that Covid restrictions are lessening, if you would like to join our family in person for a Shabbat dinner, we'd love to have you!
Wishing all of you to stay safe, strong and proud, and praying for our success in building a better and more loving world together,
Yankel and Mushkie Lipsker
.jpg)