Bloomington, IN – Over 15,000 people have now died as a result of the Israel-Hamas war. For the students at IU Hillel, almost every single member has some sort of relation to at least one of those killed. 

IU Hillel has been serving the Jewish community at Indiana University since 1938. It serves as a place of family, community, and safety for Jewish students on campus, many of whom are struggling right now because of the war. For these students, Rabbi Sue is there for them.

Rabbi Sue Silberberg is the lifeblood of IU Hillel and has been for almost 35 years. After growing up in Indianapolis, she attended Indiana University and later ordained as a rabbi in 1988. After about a year of living in Israel, she came back to Indiana University to take over as the executive director of IU Hillel.

Since then, she has been instrumental in planning and running events with IU Hillel. More recently, she has been helping Hillel members get through tough times caused by the war. 

Reported acts of antisemitism have gone up by nearly 400%, not just on campus, but nationwide. According to Rabbi Sue, people shouting obscene remarks like “Hitler should have finished what he started,” and antisemitic chalkings like “From the River to the Sea” are encounters that have become less foreign to Jewish students over the past couple of months.

Antisemitism has also permeated through more professional outlets. On November 15, two members of the Indiana Student Government resigned from its executive branch. IUSG Treasurer Alex Kaswan and Co-Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Makiah Pickett both left, criticizing the leadership in the organization for not properly addressing the increase in antisemitism on Campus. 

Rabbi Sue says the best way to get through all of this is to come together as a community and to keep doing the things at Hillel that make them proud to be Jewish.

Echoing that sentiment is IU Hillel’s Greek Life Director, Julian Albright.

Albright hails from St. Louis, Missouri, and graduated this past spring. After graduating from the University of Kansas, he came to Bloomington to work at Hillel. 

He has been instrumental in running various programs and is a key link between IU Hillel and the rest of the student body on campus. 

Albright himself runs a weekly event called Sports Grille where students can come to Hillel and watch the 1 p.m. football games and eat as much food as they can. Not everything has to be solely about Judaism.

IU Hillel also does a lot of service work, including making Challah bread for the hungry, supporting the IU Dance Marathon, and Rabbi Sue is also spearheading a fundraiser to sell t-shirts for a “blue out” at an upcoming IU women’s basketball game to help raise awareness about the war. Other events like classes, get-togethers, and even acapella sessions, are ways that students can cope.

IU Hillel has also been active in making their voices heard at rallies. In fact, on November 9, Rabbi Sue led a demonstration at Showalter Fountain. Rows of empty chairs and strollers were lined up around the fountain to represent the 242 hostages taken in by Hamas, at least 33 of whom are children.

Participating in these events and fundraisers is the best way, according to Albright and Rabbi Sue, to make it through this war. Walking into IU Hillel would mean meeting happy, welcoming people who are proud to be Jewish, who are proud to be a part of such a faithful and tight-knit community, and who are proud to be getting through it one day at a time.