The Jewish Bund at Brandeis, an organization focused on “[c]ampus action and building radical space at Brandeis,” recently held a series of events, including a Shabbat gathering on Jan. 31, a funeral procession for the lives lost in Palestine combined with a vigil for those same losses on Feb. 5 and a study-in hosted in the Farber Library on Feb 6.
The Shabbat event on Jan. 31 was attended by around 80 people. Bund event organizers told The Hoot that they sang “Shalom Aleichem” and a selection of Yiddish songs, made Kiddush, said Motzi and intended the event to be a community-building opportunity. The event was supposed to be held in the Shapiro Campus Center’s Multipurpose room. Although this room was reserved by Brandeis Hillel, Bund organizers told The Hoot that they had received authorization from a Hillel employee to use the space prior to their Shabbat event. This authorization was revoked shortly before the event, and the Shabbat gathering was instead hosted in a public part of the SCC.
Shortly after the event, Brandeis Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Seth Winberg wrote an email to Hillel-affiliated Brandeis community members, beginning by thanking Brandeis community members for their efforts in the weekend’s Shabbat events. He continued, saying that he had recently “learned of false rumors that Hillel at Brandeis is supporting or assisting a group of students identifying as the ‘Jewish Bund.’ I encourage everyone to approach rumors with skepticism and verify information before accepting it as fact. The group is not affiliated with Hillel, nor does it receive recognition or support from us.”
He went on, describing the Bund as an unrecognized student organization and “an anti-Zionist group on campus that has, among other things, conducted activities in the library that many students have found disruptive, hindering its function as a space for focused study and scholarship.” Winberg went on, saying “regrettably, some individuals connected with the Jewish Bund have misrepresented Hillel and our professional staff, and have tried to misuse Hillel’s space reservations for their activities. This is unacceptable, and we are exploring appropriate steps in response, including working through established Brandeis University channels. This is not about any particular group—it is a matter of principle and ensuring that all students adhere to the University’s Student Rights and Community Standards.”
He closed by noting Hillel’s support for Israel, saying that “as a campus rabbi and Hillel professional, I recognize that misunderstandings about our role are inevitable. Some people may not fully appreciate Hillel’s deep commitment to nuance and education, as well as our unwavering support for Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with safe and secure borders. Others may hear only part of a conversation and take it out of context. These dynamics are natural in a diverse and intellectually engaged environment of young adults.” Finally, he added that “Hillel remains committed to fostering a welcoming, vibrant, and supportive Jewish community. We also envision a campus where free expression is upheld while all students—including Jewish students—are protected from harassment. I strongly encourage students with concerns about community standards, harassment, or discrimination to report them to the University.”
Bund organizers who saw this email provided The Hoot with their organization’s response to Rabbi Winberg’s comments. They wrote that “on February 9th, it came to our attention that Rabbi Seth Winberg of Hillel published a statement regarding our most recent Shabbat dinner and university ‘study-ins’ which mischaracterized some of our activities. Before covering these mischaracterizations, it is important to acknowledge that, as Rabbi Winberg wrote, Hillel does not assist the Bund in any organizational capacity. Moreover, the Bund has never tried to claim that it has Hillel’s backing. The remainder of this address will be dedicated to clearing up inaccuracies present in Hillel’s email, the first of which being the claim that the Bund ‘tried to misuse Hillel’s space reservations for their activities.’”
The Bund’s statement continued, and they added that “in reality, the Bund had received prior verbal authorization from an employee at Hillel to use their MPR reservation in advance of the event. This authorization should not have been given, as was made clear 2 hours and 45 minutes before the event started when Rabbi Winberg emailed an organizer reversing the previous decision to allow the Bund to use the space. This went unnoticed until organizers arrived at the MPR, at which point SCC staff informed us that we had to vacate. We complied, and held Shabbat in a public area in cooperation with staff.” The Bund clarified, also saying that they “did not use the MPR once the event had started, and vacated once we were informed by SCC staff. No Bund organizer spread any ‘rumors’ claiming that Hillel was facilitating our Shabbat (or any other events) beyond relaying the narrative above. In the end, that Shabbat dinner ended up being one of our most successful events so far, with great food, and uplifting singing and speeches!”
The Bund’s statement continued, focusing on Rabbi Winberg’s comments on their activities in the library (which they refer to as ‘sit-in’s or ‘study-in’s). They wrote that “Rabbi Winberg referred to these events as ‘activities in the library that many students have found disruptive, hindering its function as a space for focused study and scholarship.’ While we respect that this claim comes from the desire to protect students from harassment, this statement is categorically false, and may embolden students to actually carry out said harassment.” The statement held that “All events held in the library have been done in coordination with library staff. The only students under threat of discrimination are those participating in the study-ins, or engaging in the productive discourse that they foster. As was reported in the Justice, far-right Zionist students consistently attempt to dox and harass organizers and participants. One agitator even called the police during our first study-in, after which an officer directly asked uninvolved students if the event was disruptive. The answer was unsurprisingly ‘no,’ and, quoting the Justice, the police ‘determined no wrongdoing.’ These incidents (including doxxing attempts and illicit photographing) have been compiled and we are in contact with the university regarding next steps.”
The Bund closed their statement by writing that “Rabbi Winberg concludes the statement by implicitly encouraging students to report event organizers. This is despite the fact that no university rules were violated on either occasion. We understand that it is natural that rumors, especially when spread by the same students harassing others at events, have the capacity to do serious harm and generate confusion among Hillel and University staff and other students. As a result, we are not accusing anyone involved in creating the Hillel statement of deliberately misinforming. Rabbi Winberg’s statement is titularly devoted to dispelling misinformation, and we feel it pertinent to give our perspective. This will not deter us from organizing this semester. We understand our rights and responsibilities as a non-chartered student group at Brandeis, and will continue to work with staff in the public locations where we organize. We look forward to more successful events, including holding a Bund Shabbat again in the future!”
A few days after their shabbat event, the Bund hosted a funeral procession that immediately preceded the vigil for lost Palestinian lives, both on Feb 5. Shortly before the event, Betar, a group that identifies themselves as “a 100 year old Zionist movement for tough strong proud Zionists. We are Jabotinsky Jews. Jews fight back!,” created a post on Instagram. The post showed the same flier posted by the Bund to advertise their vigil, including a caption saying “@brandeisuniversity Another sick school where the ‘Jewish Bund’ are hosting an event tonite [sic] for jihadi terrorists. Join Betar hear [sic] playing loud Zionist Israeli music. Any school which wants to honor terrorists has no business getting funding. Please take video — including of those terrible people hosting for @icegov and other government entities. Please share this with anyone who may want to attend. DM us to meet.” Neither The Hoot nor Bund organizers are aware of any counterprotestors that were present at this event.
The Bund told The Hoot that they faced significant difficulties in setting up the procession and the vigil, providing an official statement noting that they “faced significant challenges in setting this vigil up due to constant harassment and profiling by both far-right Zionists on this campus and even international Zionist organizations. Betar, an over 100 year old Jabotinsky Zionist youth movement famous for allying with Mussolini as well as harboring connections to the JDL terrorist organization abroad, posted our vigil flyer alongside a message imploring people to doxx attendees so that they can be deported. On [S]idechat [a community-focused anonymous messaging app], one student reposted our flyer alongside a telephone emoji and an ‘ice’ emoji, obviously alluding to the same thing. They want to create a chilling effect to stifle all non-Zionist and anti-Zionist speech on college campuses, even and especially among Jews. This will fail, and we will continue organizing in honor of how Israel has failed to break the will of the Palestinian people after 15 months of genocide.”
The procession began at 6:45 p.m., when students gathered at the top of the Rabb Steps around a wooden coffin and held posters with messages about Palestinian children who had lost their lives, before silently going to the SCC. The group moved silently across campus, with a small number of onlookers recording the masked students as they moved down campus with the coffin.
The group arrived at the SCC at 7:00, where they set the coffin down near the Information Desk and formed a large semi circle around it with organizers and speakers standing at one end to address the gathered crowd of roughly 60 students. Students held fliers with information about the deaths of Palestinian children, and most attendees wore face coverings. Shortly after student organizers began addressing attendees, Bund members draped a Palestinian flag over Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (BIPAC) club banner on the second-floor balcony of the SCC, blocking it from the crowd’s view. A few students who spoke at the event would later further voice their discontent with BIPAC.
Some students denounced the number of civilian casualties that have occurred in Gaza, the broader context of the Israel-Palestine conflict and the United States’ involvement in the conflict. Then, a Bund organizer announced the group’s demands of Brandeis to attendees. The formalized list of demands was obtained by The Hoot and are as follows:
#1 – “[A] Formal apology to students beaten, and arrested at Nov 10 protest.”
#2 – “A formalized meeting with Brandeis President and admin, with students of color, international students, women, and queer students about a functional plan to defend their rights in the oncoming [T]rump administration, with actionable and timeline.”
#3 – “A statement defending the first amendment rights of students in support of the Palestinian struggle, and anti-racist students.”
#4 – “The reversal of the new policies severely restricting free speech and re-affirming the right to protest in accordance with our constitutional rights.”
#5 – “[A] university declaration of support of the right of return of Palestinian refugees to historic Palestine, in accordance of the Jewish value of ‘Tikkun Olam.’”
#6 – “A direct line of university communication for all students advocating for environmental, feminist, anti-colonialist, anti-imperialist and anti-racist causes.”
#7 – “A statement of condemnation of Trump’s anti-immigrant policy and his calling for US security control and the removal of all Palestinians from Gaza.”
#8 – “[A] re-chartering of SJP.”
#9 – “Complete financial transparency towards [B]randeis investments.”
The Bund also told The Hoot that they will formalize and begin organizing on the basis of their demands after February break concludes.
Following the announcement of the Bund’s demands of Brandeis, the organizers opened the floor to allow any willing attendees to speak to the whole of the gathered group. Several community members took the floor, speaking about the death toll in Gaza and sharing their observations on how pro-Palestenian and anti-Zionist protestors are treated at Brandeis. In closing, organizers thanked attendees for their presence and encouraged them to become more involved in the Bund if they had interest in doing so. They also encouraged the group to come visit them at the study-in they would hold the next day. At this study-in, held on Feb. 6, Bund members set up educational materials and cookies at a table in the Farber Library, answering questions from community members while studying from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The Hoot reached out to Brandeis Hillel and Rabbi Seth Winberg for comment, asking them for more details on how the Bund misused Hillel’s resources and how they view the Bund fitting into the Jewish community at Brandeis. Rabbi Winberg responded, saying “Hillel at Brandeis is a welcoming community where students of all backgrounds can come together to celebrate and participate in Jewish life. We welcome all students—regardless of their Jewish practice, prior knowledge, political beliefs, financial means, or any other aspect of their individual identity—to participate in our community. To foster this welcoming environment, all students are expected to uphold the standards of conduct set by both Hillel and the University.”
