ORLANDO, Fla. – Chabad at the University of Central Florida is always a haven for Jewish students, and this week it is a place for the community to come together during the darkest of times.
Rabbi Chaim Lipskier shared the stories from students past and present with News 6, and explained the support available to them.
“We have alumni from Israel, and some of them have families that live on the Gaza border and were deeply impacted,” said Lipskier.
Lipskier said he received a call this week from one man who lost his former soccer coach and driving instructor, among others in Israel. He spoke about the moment his family’s home was raided.
“He was on the phone with his parents. His parents live on a kibbutz on the border. He heard the terror,” said Lipskier. “He was on the phone with a terrorist in his house, and he told me, ‘Rabbi, literally I thought I was going to hear the shots that were going to kill my parents.’”
Lipskier said that the family was, fortunately, able to lock themselves in a room and now are relatively safe as they live under the threat of a missile attack or another encounter. It’s a concern for so many young men and women at UCF, many of whom have made their own trips to Israel.
“There’s a little challenge going on social media now in solidarity with Israel to post your favorite picture from Israel, and I would say probably at UCF over a thousand students posted something because they’ve all been there,” said Lipskier.
Lipskier said that every summer, hundreds of UCF students go to Israel for Birthright trips. It’s an educational and emotional experience for many.
“They try to have students meet real Israelis, and the Israelis their age are in the army,” said Lipskier. “A lot of our students know soldiers personally. We also have two soccer players at UCF that are from Israel. They just came; they landed in the end of August. They were in the (Israeli Defense Force) as soldiers before.”
Lipskier says his focus now is to move students — and the Jewish community — forward.
“Our message to students has been from the first moment is this is something that we need to grow from This is something that needs to make us stronger as a community,” said Lipskier.
There are events at UCF every day this week for the community to come together.
A candlelight vigil in solidarity with Israel is planned for Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. It will be held inside the Pegasus Ballroom at the Student Union due to the weather.
“You need people to be present. People to be around,” said Lipskier. “Yesterday, I was traveling I had to go to Miami for some things I had to take care of, community-related. I was walking through the airport in Miami-International, and we were getting off the mover there that takes you to the rental car companies and things like that. Somebody just tapped me on the shoulder, he had Airpods in, the whole thing, just tapped me on the shoulder and touched his heart. And that’s very powerful.”
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