Photo taken by Evelynn Schoenthal
By Evelynn Schoenthal
On Monday afternoon, students and community members gathered in front of the Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) campus house for a Torah procession and solidarity rally after the fraternity fell victim to a suspected antisemitic hate crime a few days prior.
When TKE brothers returned to their house early morning on October 31, they found their house vandalized and the sacred texts, formally hung on the wall inside the house, desecrated. The walls were smeared with hot sauce and laundry detergent was poured on top of a replica Torah scroll used to induct brothers into the fraternity. A Bible was placed where the Torah once was, left untouched.
Nationally, antisemitic crimes are on the rise. According to the Anti-Defamation League, an organization that has been tracking these events since 1979, found that there has been a 12% increase in antisemitic attacks in 2021 compared to 2020. The desecration of a Torah follows the upwards trend although nearly a quarter of GW students identify as Jewish according to Hillel International.
The brothers in TKE worked swiftly with Chabad Colonials and GW Hillel to organize a procession to perform a proper burial of the Torah that was destroyed. The purpose of the rally was for students to come together to condemn antisemitic crimes and stand in solidarity with TKE as well as the Jewish community at GW.
Rabbi Yudi Steiner, the Rabbi for Chabad Colonials, spoke directly to the crowd of hundreds that participated.
The crowd marched to the on-campus Zeta Beta Tau house, a Jewish fraternity, and the Alpha Epsilon Phi house, a Jewish sorority, while singing and clapping traditional songs in Hebrew. Once at the houses, a Mezuzah, a small encased scroll with prayers in it was fixed on their doorposts to bring protection and pride in the Jewish identity.
Afterward, the procession made its way to Kogan Plaza to gather and listen to Monday’s Torah scripture to celebrate the Jewish faith. Steiner called upon his fellow Jews to have “faith in God and mankind and make this truth known.”
A new project was announced in response to the violation of the Torah that a mezuzah will be placed upon the doorposts of Jewish students at GW to display their religion proudly. Jewish students who wish to request a mezuzah click here.
Adena Kirstein, director of GW Hillel, stated, “I know it is enticing to point fingers, but the power of nuance and conversation about what we can and can’t control about antisemitism works to build bridges across communities.”
A student, Sophia Caione, identified herself as a proud Jewish student. “We must not shy away from our Jewishness and we must be proud of who we are,” she said. “Never be afraid of who you are and we must embrace ourselves and each other.”
The rally concluded with a reading of the Torah and a unique event of raising two Torahs—a new Torah and the desecrated one—and a song sung by the crowd.
Nearly 400 people attended the rally and procession and in doing so, showed the community’s commitment to ending antisemitic events and dialogue on-campus. As Rabbi Steiner stated, “it is time to stand with peace, love, and solidarity.”
