News

Sharing Symbols of Jewish Resilience Across California

Author

University of California Israel Leadership Network Cohort

Date

February 11, 2025

How do you introduce Jewish symbols of resilience to 300,000 University of California students spread across eight campuses? You gather a team of 30 Jewish student leaders who, through research, creativity, and social media savvy, bring these ancient Jewish symbols to life.

On January 29, Jewish students across the UC campuses, displayed Symbols of Jewish Resilience exhibits highlighting the meaning, history, and modern relevance of seven powerful Jewish symbols: the hanukkiah/menorah, the Star of David, the mezuzah, a dove and olive branch, chai, a shofar, and the yellow ribbon.

This collaboration of Jewish unity spanning the UC system was the first of its kind, made possible through Hillel International’s Israel Leadership Network (ILN)’s UC Cohort. This pilot cohort identified an outstanding student leader from each of the campuses to spearhead the initiative. 

“It was incredible to create such a powerful collaboration and to work together over the past several months to bring this project to life,” said Shir Diner, student at UC Irvine and the UC Trustee for ILN. “I am so proud of our teamwork, even when spread across California.”

The Symbols of Jewish Resilience program allowed Jewish student leaders to come  together to highlight their strength, proudly defining it based on their own stories. Shani Menna, University of California, San Diego student and chair of ILN, said, “Students approached us with curiosity instead of hostility for discussions about the Jewish people”.

In addition to physical exhibits on each campus, each group of students added to a digital Unity Wall, a collaborative space for the schools to come together.

Students at University of California, Davis and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) also chose to create unity walls on their campuses to further bring the project to life. 

The UCLA ILN representative Eli Sánchez said, “We saw a tremendous amount of connection from students who stopped by to draw what resilience means to them and learn about resilience in Judaism.” 

An incredible mural had a special double meaning at UCLA, where  students have shown resilience on a daily basis following the recent Los Angeles fires. To show their support for UCLA’s Jewish students,  each campus also displayed a resource that connected how the Jewish symbols highlighted relate to the ways these students are staying strong in the aftermath of the fires.  

The resource also included donation links to the Los Angeles Jewish community, the broader LA community, and the UCLA community. 

This collaboration across the University of California campuses brought together dozens of Jewish and Israeli student groups as they created a united network of students coming together with the goal of spreading Jewish pride across the state. “It was so powerful, having friends show up and celebrate our culture, then opening up my phone and seeing so many have the exact same experience across the UC campuses”, said Nadiv Meltzer, University of California, Santa Barbara’s ILN representative. 

“Jewish students continue to amaze me with their strength and resilience,” said Jon Falk, Hillel International’s vice president of Israel engagement and confronting antisemitism. “This display of unity, creativity, and Jewish connection from the Jewish students in the University of California system is an incredible example of those qualities in action.” 

To learn more about Symbols of Jewish Unity, visit the @uc_jewish_unity on Instagram.

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