Each year at the close of Yom Kippur we make an appeal near the end of the prayer services, just before the dynamic Shema and last lines of the Yom Kippur liturgy. Unlike most synagogues, this appeal is not for money, we’re addressing college students after all, but an appeal for a Mitzvah observance or increased emphasis or perspective for the coming year.

(Some examples of our Yom Kippur appeals from past years: The Fortnite Pickaxe, the one with Clark Kent and SuperJew, a Call to Arms, and the Take-5  etc…)

A little historical background to this year’s “Puzzle Piece” Appeal: This year 5783 is a “Hakhel” Year. In biblical times, after every 7-year cycle all the Jews would gather in Jerusalem for a national celebration on Sukkot when the king would read key portions of Torah to all the Jewish gathered together, men women and children. Nowadays we have no king and no Temple, and there’s no longer the technical obligatory criteria for the biblical mitzvah of the Hakhel gathering. The Lubavitcher Rebbe sees Hakhel (the whole year long) as an especially opportune time to gather together and spice up those gatherings with content and meaning and inspiration and performance of Mitzvot.

Our appeal for this 5783/2022-23 is to increase in group gatherings, formal and informal, especially those by student hosts (but also Shabbos House events, of course) and to infuse and spice up those gatherings with bits of content and Mitzvahs – best we can.  We’re calling it T.G.I.H. = Turn Gatherings Into Hakhels. Think of how to up the ante, how to kick it up a notch. No need to go all religious on everyone when watching a game or movie, but if you’re gathering together think of some meaningful way to spice it up a bit (spice doesn’t have to be too much to have an outsized effect), how to make this gathering a little more Jewish.

We’re bringing back our “Come One, Come All” logo and theme from the Regional Chabad on Campus Shabbaton of 2017 – see this post for more about it).

A puzzle piece can be an inspiration to many aspects and dimensions of this effort:

A puzzle is about individual pieces making up a bigger picture. It’s a symbiotic relationship. You won’t see the bigger picture without the little pieces coming together, and each piece alone doesn’t tell a full story. (As we explained in other posts, Rebbe was very big in celebrating BOTH the individual and the crowd: See this post on Rebbe’s Rashi and Waldo, and more on this theme from our son Moshe’s Bar-Mitzvah speech).

Seek Out – Help Others Fit In: A big part of puzzle making is to seek out the pieces, You sift and sort, look and relook through piles of puzzle pieces to help them fit in. Puzzle pieces don’t walk over and settle down on their own, they need someone looking out for them, reaching out, trying different ways to help them fit comfortably and become part of the bigger picture. This year let’s do a little more to reach out and help others feel comfortable and welcome and part of our Jewish campus community.

Take Time for Find Your Own Place: I’ve seen my kids work on puzzles. They don’t just try a piece once and drop it. They keep trying the same piece in different places, seeing it from different angles, trying repeatedly to make it work. It is important that we take the time and effort to give campus (or any) community a chance. Maybe you’ve only seen it from a Yom Kippur perspective when there’s a lot of prayer, maybe the event you came for had less people or too many people, or maybe you were looking for more study or more social – or whatever. Make the time and give it time to work.

See and Seek Bigger Picture: This may be an example of non-medical Long Covid. Yes, you may be vaccinated and boosted, or never feared the virus to begin with, but all this time alone at home on the computer has taken its toll on our social interaction. Remote (which has its benefits, too) has become a normal way of life. But Judaism celebrates communal, we’re wired for connection, and in-person group dynamics. Especially in a Hakhel year! It’s important to try to see the bigger communal picture, and how we play a role, and make a difference and make our own unique contribution to the collective social fabric of Jewish campus community. There’s a lot we can do on our own, but we are often better together!

Power of Each & Every Individual: Ugh, thinking of the disappointing and frustrating upset my kids feel when after working on a puzzle for days they realize its missing one or two pieces! Oy! But you might argue, it’s just one or two pieces, the vast majority of the puzzle is in place, the overall picture is clearly visible. But no – it affects the whole puzzle. The void is felt, it is evident and obvious. It’s this way when waiting for a tenth for a Minyan, too. Our campus community is the size where there’s enough people at the core to keep it going, but small enough that everyone’s presence or absence is felt and makes a difference. This highlights the power of the individual and the impact each person makes.

Value Each Piece’s/Person’s Difference: Puzzle pieces are different, that’s the point. They have different protrusions and indentations, and of course, their imaging or coloring. Puzzles are not about sameness but difference, and its the differences that are helpful and what we’re celebrating. Not only is it OK for a Jewish campus community to have Jews of varying levels of religiosity, observance, or degrees of involvement, but it all adds to the dynamic. Students have different interests, talents, backgrounds and abilities and each one brings something different and special to the proverbial campus Shabbos table. We like to think of our campus community like a rich tapestry, each student weaves their own thread in and out at their own intervals. The resulting image, cumulative over the years is a result of everyone’s involvement – each in their own way.

UNLIKE PUZZLE – this is an important disclaimer: Before I get carried away with this parable, we must remember than humans are much more complex than puzzle pieces. A puzzle piece usually has only one place to fit, but humans have richer connection points than that, much more multi-dimensional. There are many ways and aspects and times for each one of us to find our places communally, on many levels and in many ways. It’s not one-size-fit-all or all-or-nothing. With people, it can and should happen on many levels and various dimensions.

So let’s get some T.G.I.H. action happening this year. We’ll revisit this idea throughout the year, especially for Superbowl Sunday’s Hakhel Halftime, but at other occasions, too. Let’s bring Hakhel to UAlbany, to our circles of friends, to our gatherings. And let’s bring more people in. Let’s seek out puzzle pieces for a bigger picture!