New Fellowship Connects Jewish Students Across the World

With antisemitism surging on college campuses across the Western world, Hillel International and the Matanel Foundation have selected 15 Jewish students for a spot in the inaugural year of the Matanel Fellowship for Global Jewish Leadership, a 12-month program which aims to foster their “sense of responsibility” for the worldwide Jewish community.

The program is at its half-life, having started in January. For the past six months, the students have participated in online lectures, solidarity building exercises, and a “Shabbat Retreat” to Budapest for the purpose of experiencing the Hungarian city’s rich Jewish life and culture, which has been sustained there for over a millennium.

They have already created memories that will last a lifetime, Matanel Fellow and Barnard College student Yakira Galler told The Algemeiner during an interview.

“So far, it’s been amazing. We’ve had three or four Zoom sessions and then we had our midway trip to Budapest,” Galler said. “In our first day in Budapest, we explored both the history of the community, before the war and also under communism, and that was really interesting both because there is a specific type of Jewish sect in Hungary — the Neolog sect — which I had never heard of before. It was also really interesting because Theodor Herzl was born and raised in Budapest, which prompted me to reflect on what that means for this community and the immensity of the intellectual life within it.”

The Matanel Fellows are convening amid a moment of rampant antisemitism not seen in the world since World War II. Following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, colleges across the US and the world erupted with effusions of antisemitic activity, which included calling for the destruction of Israel, cheering Hamas’s sexual assaulting of women as an instrument of war, and several incidents of assault and harassment targeting Jews on campus.

In 2025, the American Jewish community continues to be battered by antisemitic hate incidents, forcing law enforcement to stay hot on the trails of those who perpetrate them amid a wave of recent outrages. Earlier this month, for example in the Highland Park suburb of Chicago, an antisemitic letter threatening violence was mailed to a resident’s home. So severe were its contents that the FBI and the Illinois Terrorism and Intelligence Center were called to the scene to establish that there was no imminent danger, according to local news outlets. Later, the local government shuttered all religious institutions as a precautionary measure.

Another recent antisemitic incident occurred in San Francisco, where an assailant identified by law enforcement as Juan Diaz-Rivas and others allegedly beat up a Jewish victim in the middle of the night. Diaz-Rivas and his friends approached the victim while shouting “F—ck the Jews, Free Palestine,” according to local prosecutors.

“The group then came after them, and one of them punched the victim, who fell to the ground, hit his head and lost consciousness,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement. “Allegedly, Mr. Diaz-Rivas and others in the group continued to punch and kick the victim while he was down. A worker at a nearby business heard the altercation and antisemitic language and attempted to intervene. While trying to help the victim, he was kicked and punched.”

Now, the world’s only Jewish state is fighting an existential conflict against Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, that will determine its viability as a refuge for the Jewish people, as well as the regional order of the Middle East.

Last week, the Israel Defense Forces carried out preemptive strikes on Iran’s military installations and nuclear facilities to neutralize top military leaders and quell the country’s efforts to enrich weapons-grade uranium, the key ingredient of their nuclear program. The move prompted retaliatory ballistic missile assaults, placing all of the country on high alert.

Forging ties between Jews around the globe has never been more important, said another Matanel Fellow, Avihu Sela of Tel-Hai College, located in northern Israel.

“For me, connecting Jewish people around the world is something we need right now. I’m so happy that they did it, and now I have connections with Jewish people from an array of countries and cultures,” Sela said. “When we all flew out Budapest, it allowed us to have the really deep talk, and to be honest I went in with some deep concerns because I did not know how it would be there. When I arrived, and we did all the tours, exploring everything and seeing Jewish culture and learning about historic events, I felt deep inside that I am part of something so much bigger than myself.”

He added, “I’m so proud that I’m Jewish because of this trip. It really opened my heart.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

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