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March 14, 2008
Students mourn online
Internet promotes solidarity after terrorist attack.
EVA COHEN
The tragic terrorist act on March 6 was a harsh reminder to Jews around the world of how fragile the situation in Israel is. Although the global Jewish community works together on a regular basis, it sometimes takes an event like what happened at Mercaz Harav yeshivah to bring people together. If anything good can be taken from what happened, it was the immediate response of solidarity. In particular, the student response in North America to the attack was very strong.
The attack occurred at a yeshivah, and all of the victims were students. This in itself held a major impact on high school and university students in the Diaspora. Immediately after the attack, students used the Internet to contact one another, all looking for a way to deal with what had happened.
With feedback from students across the continent, Aish Hatorah's Hasbara Fellowships responded with the idea of a phone vigil. They contacted several Jewish organizations, including Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity and the David Project.
"This was something spontaneous," said Natalie Menaged, managing director of Hasbara Fellowships and organizer of the phone vigil. "The feedback came from students everywhere who were disconnected, and we thought doing a phone call would be a nice way for people to get united emotionally."
The call attracted about 200 students from across Canada and the United States. Many more people couldn't get through because the lines jammed from so much traffic. Tehillim were read, along with statements from the heads of organizations, followed by an open forum. Callers from campuses got to exchange ideas on how to react to what had happened, and students received advice on how they could respond at their universities.
"The phone vigil gave students a chance to find other people who feel as passionately about Israel as they do," said Menaged. "A student may feel like they walk around their campus and are the only one who cares, and this call gave them the opportunity to connect with other Jews who have the same love."
Many people on the call were part of groups who were already in the process of arranging physical vigils on their campuses, but as most of them were planned for after Shabbat, the call gave people the chance to speak and receive comfort more immediately.
One large-scale effort publicized in the open forum was a call for people to wear blue the next day, Friday. Immediately after it was mentioned on the phone, students from Wellesley University created an event on Facebook, a popular social networking website, called "WEAR BLUE: Show Solidarity with the Victims of Yeshivat Mercaz Harav." More than 9,000 students were sent invitations, and more than 2,000 responded within hours, saying they would be wearing blue.
A look on Facebook reveals student reaction to Mercaz Harav. People's personal messages have been expressing their upset: "We have seen evil around us today, and we will respond with hope. Please say Tehillim for the injured students!" wrote Hana Grossman of Leeds Metropolitan University. Many students also changed their profile pictures to photos of them in Israel, or doing something distinctly related to Israel. And, most tellingly, more than 21,000 students have joined the group called In Memory of Those Killed in the Attack on the Mercaz Harav yeshivah. Here, students and other members of Facebook have been posting messages of hope for the recovery of the injured, along with posts about vigils in different cities and news stories relating to Israel.
Menaged is on Facebook, and said the online response really speaks to how students are feeling, and to their emotional needs.
"The goal for us as professionals is to be student-centric and to support their needs," said Menaged. "One thing they need to see is unity."
Ben Feferman, the Canadian campus co-ordinator for Hasbara Fellowships, tours around the country to aid campuses in their Israel activism and provide them with material. He agreed with Menaged that students needed to see unity because the situation on campus can be very difficult.
"On campus, we vow to stand up against terrorism and call a spade a spade," said Feferman. "We will confront the difficult issues that are necessary in order to preserve the dignity of all who of suffered from terror and all who fight for the state of Israel."
Those involved with efforts following the attack say they hope something like this will not happen again, but if it does, they will be prepared.
"If we would have to do this in the future," said Menaged, "our hope is that people would feel comfortable calling in even if they weren't affiliated with one of the organizations and would just call because they were a student."
Eva Cohen is a Vancouver freelance writer.
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