The Ben and Esther Rosenbloom Hillel Center for Jewish Life pictured on a sunny and peaceful autumn day in College Park, Md., Nov. 17, 2020.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, UMD's Hillel center has been extremely cautious about letting members of the UMD Hillel community enter the building. Students who would like to enter the building must use their student ID and complete an online survey that lets Hillel know that they are COVID-free. In addition to the safety measures put into place before one enters the building, Hillel has also set up a display inside the building - almost immediately after walking in - to remind students, faculty, and Hillel members to remain cautious. Among the festive fall decor, a list of COVID-19 protocols, a bottle of hand sanitizer, and a flier filled with other information about COVID-19 precautions are placed on a small, round table, as seen here on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, in College Park, Md.
MJ Kurs-Lasky, the assistant director at the Hillel center, works in an office space with the door wide open as students and staff members come in and out Thursday Dec. 3, 2020, in College Park, Md. Kurs-Lasky has had to make do with the current situation; having to use a cereal box as a makeshift laptop stand and always keeping his mask near-by for when someone enters.
During a regular school year, Hillel offers a meal plan for students who are living near the building and/or keep kosher. At the time, students were able to freely enter and exit the dining facility to get their meals and sit down inside wherever they'd like. Now, during COVID-19, students must take all safety precautions by waiting their turn to go get their food and then take it outside to eat. One student stands close to the "Stand Here" sign, which keeps the six-foot distance between the students who are waiting, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, in College Park, Md.
Adina Fleisher, a sophomore engineering major at UMD, sits at a table by the entrance of the dining facility during her volunteer hours. Fleisher is acting as the supervisor, or what in hebrew is called a mashgiach, or mashgicha (for a woman). The role of the mashgiach is to inspect the kitchen and to ensure that the kitchen is abiding by the kosher policies. Along with that, Fleisher also makes sure students are checked in when coming to pick up their food. She is seen here patiently waiting for students to come for lunch Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, in College Park, Md.
Another responsibility of the mashgiach is to check for bugs on a light board using a technique called the shmatte bedika (thrip cloth) method. Fleisher turned on the LED light to show the strength of the light box Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2020, in College Park, Md.
A group of boys act as the mashgichim on another day, Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, in the Hillel dining facility in College Park, Md. They work together to make sure that the scanner (for the student IDs) is recording the information properly.
Two UMD students on the Hillel dining plan chat from a distance while picking up their food for takeout from the dining facility in College Park, Md., Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020.
Hillel's kitchen is split into two for kosher law - the dairy side and the meat side (not pictured). One of Hillel's kitchen staff members cooks a vegan patty in the dairy side of the kitchen in College Park, Md., Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020.
A kitchen staff member prepares one student's meal in a to-go box and hands it over, laughing, after engaging in a fun conversation Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, in College Park, Md.
A small group of boys bring their dinner outside and sit under a lit up tent in Hillel's front parking lot Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020 - a chilly, dark night in College Park, Md.
A door to a library located on Hillel's second floor is left wide open, but there's nothing going on. There are no lights on and no students studying inside Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, in College Park, Md.
A study room located on the first floor of Hillel, which is normally used for indoor prayer services, holiday celebrations and study sessions, has also remained unoccupied. Though the lights are on, as seen here on Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, no one goes inside. The lights provide the lobby area of the Hillel center in College Park, Md., with just a little bit more light than usual.
Elan Burman, the capital campaign director at the Hillel center in College Park, Md., talked briefly in his quiet office space Monday, Nov. 30, 2020, about how Hillel has been working to address the significant financial repurcussions of the pandemic.
Along with COVID-19, Burman explained that Hillel was faced with another problem Sept. 10, with Rosh Hashana right around the corner, when a storm hit the area and flooded the center, causing $200,000 worth of damage. The aftermath of the flood is as shown here on Nov. 30, 2020 in College Park, Md.
The library room has a battle wound of its own - a leakage from the flood - as pictured here on Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, in College Park, Md.
Since services cannot take place inside the Hillel center this year, students and members of the UMD Hillel community have observed Shabbat and held services every week in different locations on campus. A group of people gather at one of the locations, the tent in Hillel's front parking lot, to hold services on another cold night Friday, Dec. 4, 2020, in College Park, Md.
For Hanukkah, which began Thursday, Dec. 10 and ended Friday, Dec. 18, Hillel offered both in-person and online candle lighting reservations (as lighting candles in the dorms is not permitted). Hillel also hosted a "Latkes and Lights" event where students could pick up free latkes and doughnuts and light candles with Rabbi Ari Israel and other Hillel staff members online. Olivia Hazlett, a Springboard social justice fellow at UMD's Hillel center, is pictured here at the Hillel center waiting for students to come pick up their latkes and doughnuts and meeting students over Zoom for candle lighting Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, in College Park, Md.
University of Maryland's Hillel center has been faced with numerous unforseen predicaments, but has been able to overcome them all. The Hillel center, as pictured here on Nov. 17, 2020, in College Park, Md., remains standing and has continued to provide support for its students.
No comments:
Post a Comment