Tekiah Magazine

By the Tekiah Exec Board

Credit: Zachary Crystal

The Spring 2026 semester has proven to be a particularly successful time for achievements local to the GW Jewish community. From advocating for the rights of students on campus against antisemitism to cultural and religious celebrations, our Jewish population has done incredible work throughout the semester. 

In February, two current students and one former student spoke publicly at the United States Commission on Civil Rights. Archer Berenson, Mara Riegel, and Sabrina Soffer (class of 2025) spoke about their experiences with antisemitism on this campus, the broader trends they have noticed from both students and administrators, and their hopes for how antisemitism will be handled going forward. 

This testimony came during a public comment session wherein the students spoke directly to Commissioners, including a former Congressman. The hearing was attended by professors, students, and other parties with an interest in on-campus antisemitism coming from near and far, including the president of Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity at UC Santa Barbara who was hosted by the GW chapter of AEPi shortly beforehand. 

Following this testimony, a select few board members of GW for Israel (GWI) published a response to this testimony in the Hatchet. Their stance was that while the experience of those who testified is personally true, their experience dealing with administrators on the same subject matter has been different. 

This article was read broadly and showcased the difference in experience and perspective within the Jewish community, from those who have directly dealt with the CESA process, to those who have chosen to bring their grievances up more informally. It should be noted as a point of strength that our community is close enough to exemplify these differences and still be unified and aligned on the issues that matter, including the fight against the hatred of Jews all around. 

In further news, two different GW Jewish organizations brought members of Congress to speak to students this semester. On March 24th, Jewish on Campus brought Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FL-25) to Elliott to discuss governing while Jewish, the handling of antisemitism over time, and her hope for young Jewish-American students. 

The Congresswoman gave a wonderful account of what it means to govern with Jewish values in mind. The conversation was engaging, authentic, and important, and JOC is grateful for the Congresswoman’s participation and insight. 

Credit: GW for Israel

The following day on March 25th, GW for Israel brought Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05) to Elliott for his own discussion about the future of Israel and other related Jewish issues. The appearance was part of a larger evening centered on Jewish student leadership, and it included a further conversation with Bradley Tauber, a legislative staffer for Congressman Greg Landsman (OH-01). 

The evening was spearheaded by Margaux Jubin and Joshua Horwich, who further conducted the moderation of both discussions. The event drew Jewish leaders from a broad range of organizations across the school, and went beautifully. This opportunity was an incredible chance for Jewish leaders to gain exposure to the very people making policy concerning them and gain a perspective as to how to advance their own work and leadership skills. 

GWI also partnered with their American University counterpart, Chabad AU, and Chabad GW to bring two surviving IDF soldiers of the October 7th attack to campus. These brave soldiers who were injured in the process of saving their fellow soldiers and citizens came to GW to provide accounts of their sacrifice, persistence, and subsequent recovery since the attack in a deeply moving conversation. 

Continuing along the vein of organizations with an explicit interest in Israel and the Middle East, J Street GW held their own event this semester. J Street hosted GW Professor Arie Dubnov, J Street National VP Adina Vogel-Ayalon, and Author Peter Beinart for a panel on the future of Israel and Palestine, encouraging the intellectual variety present within our community. 

Continuing on, TAMID at GW, a subsidiary of the TAMID Group, which focuses on finance and consulting for Israeli startups businesses, has done excellent work this semester in giving students the opportunity to delve deeper into the world of business and finance. On March 29th, TAMID GW and their Georgetown and University of Maryland counterparts hosted Ron Kimhi, the Head of Global GTM at Monday.com for a discussion about his experiences with entrepreneurship and his specific work at Monday.com. 

Chabad GW as well as Chabad Rohr have also both held many events this semester for Jewish students, some of which were designed to be impactful and reflective, while others were geared toward being fun and celebratory. Both Chabads have held regular baking events, themed shabbats, social gatherings, and Hebrew and Torah learning classes. Both Chabads, as well as GW Hillel, have further celebrated Purim and Passover in their own ways, each holding respective celebratory and religious events to commemorate the holidays.

Chabad GW has specifically held a speed-dating event for Jewish students to meet one another in the hopes of finding their besheret, with students coming both from GW and American. They have further held tefillin-wrapping sessions every Sunday morning called BLT (bagels, lox, tefillin). 

Chabad Rohr has also entertained multiple collaborative events with Jewish students from University of Maryland this past semester, typically more local to UMD. They have further held more specific social events, including a gathering for senior students.

This semester GW Hillel and the Jewish Student Association have held a wide variety of cultural and religiously-engaging events, from events focused on arts, to prayer, to the holidays. With Hillel, there is no shortage of options from which students can choose if they are hoping to become more in touch with their Jewish identity, be it religious, cultural, or ethnic.

All of these amazing events and successes showcase the incredible work and effort put in by GW’s Jewish community this semester. We are a community of diversity in thought, action, and goals, and we are so proud to have had the chance to fully display that recently.