When he arrived at Binghamton University in upstate New York as a freshman, Kevin Brown of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., had never heard of tefillin, much less seen them or put them on. Now, a year later, he was responsible for initiating a two-day campaign throughout campus to encourage students to put on tefillin and engage in other mitzvahs.
Brown, a pre-med biology major, along with senior Ariel Ingber of Potomac, Md., who is studying business and marketing, spearheaded the “Mitzvah Minute” campaign, mobilizing 45 student volunteers to run kiosks at four prime locations on the Binghamton campus. The main mitzvahs being promoted were tefillin for males and Shabbat candles for females, along with the opportunity for all to make a blessing on cookies, and the distribution of tzedekah (charity) boxes for students to keep in their dorms.
Tefillin and Shabbat candles on campus are nothing new, but typically it is the Chabad campus rabbis working the table in the union or at social events and programs. This time, the students themselves initiated, planned and executed the campaign, bringing a new passion and excitement to the project.
“It’s really nice to see that these students have taken to heart that inspiring others to do mitzvahs and learn Torah is the obligation of every Jew,” said Rabbi Levi Slonim, director of programming and development at the Rohr Chabad Center for Jewish Student Life at Binghamton University.
Brown unintentionally landed at Binghamton Chabad early in his arrival on campus. “I happened to walk into the Chabad center kitchen on my very first Friday night on campus and have been helping there as a kitchen manager ever since,” he said. Binghamton Chabad, famous for hosting as many as 400 students for a sumptuous festive meal every Friday night, enlists students to assist with preparation and serving.
Binghamton Chabad was founded in 1985 by Rabbi Aaron and Rivkah Slonim, and has grown into one of the most comprehensive Chabad on Campus operations, engaging many thousands of students over the years. Nearly 30 percent of the student body is Jewish, approximately 3,500 students.
Brown was first exposed to the mitzvah of tefillin while on a bus to a Chabad-sponsored cruise for freshmen when Rabbi Levi Slonim offered him the opportunity to put them on. “I wrapped tefillin a few more times after that, and then Rabbi Aaron Slonim [executive director of Chabad of Binghamton] offered to have a pair of tefillin made for me as long as I would commit to doing the mitzvah, which I did,” he explained.
#doamitzvah
Brown approached the student leaders of Chabad with his concept of a daylong tefillin wrap campaign. Binghamton Chabad student president Mariah Stein and other student leaders, together with Rabbi Levi Slonim, expanded the idea to include Shabbat candles and other mitzvah opportunities, and invited Ingber, secretary of the board, to get involved.
“We just wanted to let people have the chance in the middle of the day to do a mitzvah and get closer to G‑d,” said Brown. To spread awareness, the campaign utilized a hashtag (#doamitzvah) and created a Snapchat geofilter.
The students discovered that it takes a lot of careful planning to execute a successful event. They held a training session for volunteers to learn how to actually put tefillin on another person, how to handle potentially sensitive situations and how to encourage participation without being too pushy.
“We set up in four strategic locations around campus—two dining halls, the student union and the library,” reported Brown. “We had lefty and righty tefillin, and both actual and electric candles since real candles are prohibited in the dorms.”
Ingber says one female student was thrilled to get the electric Shabbat candles, telling her, “I’ve been waiting so long for this because I can’t light candles on campus.”
Accomplishment Beyond Numbers
The volunteers kept a tally of their efforts, reporting that they enabled more than 225 students to either put on tefillin, take Shabbat candles, say a blessing over a snack or give charity. But their feeling of accomplishment cannot be measured in numbers.
“At the end of the day, if only one person had put on tefillin, it would have been worth it,” said Ingber, echoing the talmudic adage, “Whoever saves one life is considered as if he saved an entire world.”
Participating students jumped at the chance to do a mitzvah.
“Growing up, I lit Shabbos candles with my mother every Friday night,” said political-science major Isabelle Sehati. “Unfortunately, that stopped once I got to college. I am so excited to continue the tradition away from home, and I can’t thank Chabad enough for their devotion to Jewish life on campus.”
The volunteers, too, reaped the benefits of the campaign. English major Joey Kirsch said, “I don’t usually wrap tefillin as much as I’d like to, so doing it through this event just made me so happy. It felt great to be able to do it again.”
The project took an additional dimension by joining in a worldwide tefillin campaign in honor of the 46th birthday of Rabbi Yitzi Hurwitz, a Chabad emissary in California who has been bravely battling the debilitating effects of ALS for the past five years.
Slonim also pointed out that unbeknown to the students, the timing of their campus tefillin campaign had special significance, falling within the 50th year since the Lubavitcher Rebbe launched the tefillin campaign in 1967 during the Six-Day War in Israel. “The Rebbe impressed upon us the love for every Jew, so I try to impart that whenever I can and will often offer students the opportunity do the mitzvah. It’s even more special when it comes from a student. This campaign gave me tremendous nachas, and I am grateful to have been a small part of it,” said the rabbi.
The warm feelings went both ways. David Jacobson, a computer-science major who put on tefillin, said “it’s comforting to know there are Jews on campus who are willing to devote their own time to others’ spiritual well-being. It reminds me that I’m Jewish, and is incredibly meaningful.”
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