{"id":53548,"date":"2016-03-31T10:10:37","date_gmt":"2016-03-31T15:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=53548"},"modified":"2016-03-31T10:10:37","modified_gmt":"2016-03-31T15:10:37","slug":"purim-remember-nyu-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/purim-remember-nyu-students\/","title":{"rendered":"A Purim to Remember for NYU Students"},"content":{"rendered":"
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NYU students deliver matanot l’evyonim<\/em> to the Bowery Mission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rabbi Joe Wolfson went to sleep Purim night on a high after one of his greatest religious and communal Jewish experiences ever.<\/p>\n

As the OU-JLIC Torah Educator at New York University, Rabbi Wolfson and his wife, Corinne Shmuel, serve as role models and community organizers on campus in partnership with Hillel.<\/p>\n

In the weeks leading up to Purim, the Wolfsons found themselves brainstorming with nine student leaders how to make this Purim different from all other past celebrations.<\/p>\n

They set out to change what matanot l\u2019evyonim<\/em> meant for college students.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe might not think that brushing our teeth, having a warm pair of socks, or putting on deodorant is a great luxury\u2014but for hundreds of people who spend their days and nights on the streets it is a small way to maintain dignity and achieve a modicum of comfort,\u201d said Rabbi Wolfson.<\/p>\n

With the enthusiastic support of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Life at NYU, Rabbi Wolfson and his team of dedicated students formed partnerships with Knock Knock Give a Sock<\/em> (an NYU student-run nonprofit donating socks to the homeless), Showering With Hope<\/em> (an NYU student-run nonprofit seeking to improve the quality of hygiene for the homeless), and Rabbis Aviad Bodner of the Stanton Street Shul and Gavriel Bellino of the Sixth Street Shul, whose communities wished to join in.<\/p>\n

\"package
Assembling the packages on Purim eve.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A campaign was launched by Rabbi Wolfson and his student leadership a month before Purim to raise money. Postcards were created and social media helped spread the word to collect donations. An account was set up using Venmo,<\/em> a free digital wallet phone app, for students to donate. \u201cOne of the great things about using Venmo was that it allowed students who are on study-abroad programs to directly participate,\u201d Rabbi Wolfson noted.<\/p>\n

Money was not the only valuable means to donate. Students across the Jewish spectrum were encouraged to volunteer their time to help purchase, package and deliver the items.<\/p>\n

\u201cLiving in New York City with circumstances such as homelessness around us, we don\u2019t even realize to what extent they are going on. I wanted to get involved because I wanted to give back to the community in some way,\u201d shared student Tamar Cohen, who headed the social media campaign.<\/p>\n

With more than 200 students donating via Venmo<\/em> alone, the NYU OU-JLIC team raised $3,600 plus donations from the student charities of socks and hygiene products towards the care packages. Additionally, $1,500 was collected for needy Jewish families on the Lower East Side, as well as $1,000 for Yad Eliezer<\/em>, Israel’s largest poverty relief organization. The students chose to give gifts containing essential items needed for people who are homeless: two pairs of warm, clean socks; deodorant; soap; and a two-ride MTA Metrocard.<\/p>\n

In the days leading up to Purim, 400 socks, 200 toothpastes and brushes, 200 soaps, 200 MTA Metrocards, 200 granola bars and 200 personal notes to strangers were purchased and collected by the Wolfson\/NYU student leadership team.<\/p>\n

\"stage\"
The matanot l’evyonim<\/em> were displayed at the Bronfman Center Purim party before their delivery.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On Purim eve, 25 students assembled 200 of the care packages which were lined up for all to see at the Bronfman Center Hillel Purim party the following evening. Pens and paper were placed among the tables at the Purim celebdration for students to write personal notes to a stranger. After the megillah <\/em>reading, 60 students marched downtown to the Bowery Mission to deliver the packages. Rabbi Wolfson contacted the rabbis on the lower east side with monetary donations to be distributed to Jewish families within their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past I gave money on Purim, but I never knew who the recipient would be. This meant so much more than dressing up. It was very hands on and it was a high note after the holiday ended,\u201d Tamar Cohen reflected.<\/p>\n

\"bowery\"
Delivering matanot l’evyonim<\/em> to the Bowery Mission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cA student said to me afterwards, \u2018modernizing the meaning of matanot l’evyonim<\/em> has thrust the beauty and intention of Judaism back into my life,\u2019\u201d Rabbi Wolfson said. \u201cI thanked him but told him that this was not about modernizing but rather opposite\u2014going back to the original sources and letting them inspire our practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPurim is a wonderful holiday but it has turned into a day all about excessiveness\u2014the food, the costumes, the drinking,\u201d shared NYU student Adina Lichtman, founder of Knock Knock Give a Sock<\/em>. \u201cWe learn about matanot l\u2019evyonim<\/em> in school and here we got to exercise that muscle. It was a very eye-opening way to celebrate Purim.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rabbi Joe Wolfson went to sleep Purim night on a high after one of his greatest religious and communal Jewish experiences ever. As the OU-JLIC Torah Educator at New York University, Rabbi Wolfson and his wife, Corinne Shmuel, serve as role models and community organizers on campus in partnership with Hillel. In the weeks leading<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":775,"featured_media":53557,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\nA Purim to Remember for NYU Students - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/purim-remember-nyu-students\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Purim to Remember for NYU Students - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Rabbi Joe Wolfson went to sleep Purim night on a high after one of his greatest religious and communal Jewish experiences ever. 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