For their first event, USF St. Petersburg Hillel celebrated Tu Bishvat, the birthday of the trees.
Courtesy of Aviya Hirschmann.
By Alisha Durosier
Celebration of the Jewish holiday Tu Bishvat, the birthday of trees, was brought to the University of South Florida St. Petersburg in early February with a planting picnic hosted by USF St. Petersburg Hillel, a community of Jewish and Jewish-allied students. The celebration marked the official commencement of the USF St. Petersburg Hillel, which was created earlier in the spring semester.
“Overall, my goal is just to build a big welcoming Jewish and non-Jewish community,” Freshman Aviya Hirschmann, founder and president of USF St. Petersburg Hillel said. “There isn’t really a big Jewish population here or much Jewish representation. So, my goal is to just bring that into the campus and the entire city more and increase the Jewish presence,”
USF St. Petersburg Hillel’s events that have taken place this past semester have mainly centered Jewish Holidays. The club celebrated Purim for their second event, making traditional baked goods and masks. For their third event, the group hosted a breakfast signifying the end of Passover.
“They’re really like a mix of teaching you what you’re even doing, why you’re doing this and then also just making sure to have fun with it,” Hirschmann said.
Hirschmann sought to create the club after something known as the March of the Living, an opportunity for Jewish students to go to Poland and visit historical sites of the holocaust such as concentration camps like Auschwitz and Treblinka and Jewish ghettos like the Warsaw and Krakow ghetto.
On the last night organizers of the March of the Living handed out pins with the Hebrew word for “remember” etched on them and left all attendees with an important question.
“They were like one at a time, go around and say something you’re gonna do more Jewish now on,” Hirschmann said. “I said, I think I need to start the Hillel on my campus. That’s what I need to do more Jewish. And they gave me the pin and they said, remember, don’t forget to do that. So, I came back and I immediately started it after.”
With the help of USF Tampa’s Hillel, USF St. Petersburg Hillel was up and running by early February.
Along with an increased Jewish presence, Hirschmann aims to create a support system for Jewish Students through allyship.
“So, if it were just the Jewish students on campus coming to the clubs, there would be maybe ten people, you know, just really getting that support system in so we can get our voice louder,” Hirschmann said. “It’s not a time to cower when antisemitism is at a high rate, we need to make our appearance more known and say we’re not going anywhere, we’re here.”
Along with the significant rate of antisemitism, books and educational initiatives centering Jewish history and holocaust studies are under threat with Florida Legislature like the “Stop Woke Act” and the proposed HB 999, prompting the ban of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“It’s erasing a history that already exists very little to so many people,” Hirschmann said.
Next semester, USF St. Petersburg Hillel hopes to reinforce the sense of allyship.
“It’ll probably be a next semester event; we’re hoping to do a joint dinner with BSA (Black Student Union) since both groups are experiencing similar issues with you know, the “Stop Woke Act” and then also the banning of a lot of black history books in schools,” Hirschmann said.
The club also seeks to build relationships with other university Hillels, surrounding synagogues and the Florida holocaust museum.
“I really hope that people can come and learn about Judaism and why it’s beautiful,” Hirschmann said.
USF St. Petersburg Hillel holds their general body meetings every Tuesday, and more info on the club and upcoming events can be found on their Instagram @usfsp.hillel.
