At the start of the pandemic, the Jewish Initiative for Animals urged our community to consider the well-established links between industrial animal production and pandemic risk. The way we raise both kosher and non-kosher animals for food, especially chickens, poses a consistent and growing threat to our public health. Even the seemingly wild origins of pathogens that spur virus outbreaks often trace back to agricultural encroachment that has disrupted wildlife patterns. Preventing the next pandemic means stopping it at the source (host animals), and to do that, we need to address our obligation to consume fewer animal products.
Reducing the number of animals to prevent the spread of disease also coincides with another important goal: mitigating climate change. The climate impacts of animal products dwarf most plant-based foods.
Religious student groups find community in limited in-person gatherings dailynorthwestern.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailynorthwestern.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Religious student groups find community in limited in-person gatherings
As COVID-19 restrictions loosen, some student religious groups are holding in-person events to welcome students to campus.
To recreate feelings of community, Catholic, Muslim and Jewish students on campus have been hosting a mix of religious and social events remotely or in-person.
Rabbi Jessica Lott said Northwestern Hillel has been building community by distributing Shabbat care packages to students. The feeling of community, Lott said, is an important part of Hillel and being Jewish.
Hillel President Tamar Jacobsohn said she appreciates the opportunity to connect with other Jewish students, especially incoming freshmen and sophomores. Jacobsohn said celebrating the High Holidays in September could have been “isolating” and “difficult” for some since many synagogues were closed. The Friday night Shabbat meal pick-ups allow for even the smallest of interactions, which Jacobsohn said makes a differenc
The Daily Northwestern Jason Beeferman
Jason Beeferman is a Medill sophomore from Great Neck, NY majoring in journalism and international studies, with a minor in Latin American Studies. He writes for the campus and city desks. Outside of the Daily, he is an active member of Northwestern Hillel and Northwestern’s Society of Professional Journalists chapter. He also competes on Northwestern’s Club Fencing team. You can reach him via email or twitter. All content by Jason Beeferman
After exchanges between University President Morton Schapiro and NU Community Not Cops this fall, Northwestern Hillel tackled questions about Zionism, anti-Semitism and racial justice in a weeklong symposium this month.
After demonstrations outside his home in October, Schapiro said in an email to the University community the protesters’ rhetoric toward him held anti-Semitic undertones. In response, NUCNC said they condemned anti-Semitism and their words had been misconstrued by Schapiro because “anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism.”
Hillel Social Justice Coordinator Lydia Greenberg, who helped organize the symposium, told The Daily many Jewish students felt “hurt, confused, (and) frustrated” either at the administration or other students after the heated back-and-forth in the fall.