Dear Bronfman Center Community,  
It has been almost a month since we closed the Bronfman Center building (March 12). It feels like an eternity. Since then, NYU moved its entire operation online and New York has become the epicenter of this pandemic. If you’re watching the news from outside the city, it looks like a war zone, or so I’m told by my parents who live in the South.   
Until this past Saturday, I had not been outside of my one-bedroom apartment for two weeks. When I finally went out on that sunny Shabbat afternoon, I saw empty Chelsea streets, shuttered businesses, people scattered about wearing masks, and I cried. A war zone is not how I would describe it, though it is eerie how empty the streets are, and heartbreaking to see local coffee shops and restaurants boarded up.   
And it is scary. I’m nervous to admit that I’m scared but I fear for the health of my parents, my in-laws who are over 65, my grandparents, my friends expecting babies soon, my husband, my two-year-old son, my nine-month-old daughter, myself. But New Yorkers know how to handle fear. Every evening at 7pm, we go out on our tiny terrace and clap and cheer. For the medical personnel, for the delivery folks, for the grocery store employees, for the MTA workers, for the taxi drivers, all risking their own health. Every time, I’m moved to tears when my two-year-old asks, “Ima, who they clapping for?” I explain to him, “For New York. For all of us.” And amidst the fear and uncertainty, there’s hope and comfort in the resilient spirit, represented by those cheers, that is uniquely New York.  
I am hardly the only person experiencing fear and grief. And as we move into the holiday of Passover, I wanted to share with you an idea that is keeping me calm: we’ve been here before and we will, collectively,  persevere. Many of us have felt the full burden of this disease, and we have to acknowledge our fear and grief during this time. But the Jewish people have endured millennia of hardship and through it all, Jewish life has persisted.  We have adapted over time to the harshest of conditions yet somehow carried on learning, doing good in the world, and celebrating joyous occasions, even during times of crisis. As I write this, I’ve gotten no fewer than a dozen WhatsApp messages from one group devoted to the daily study of Tanakh (somebody’s still doing that amidst all this chaos?), another buzzing with halakhic questions (can we Zeder, or Zoom Seder, or not?), and several from my staff sharing stories of student engagement and personal wisdom for our own seder prep (a voice note from our friend, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks was particularly moving). Monday morning, as part of the Killing COVID With Kindness initiative started by Rabbi Joe Wolfson, NYU’s OU-JLIC rabbi, Bronfman Senior Associate for Global Leadership Initiatives, Jonathan drove a van full of kosher for Passover food to the Javits Center so that over 100 Jewish COVID-19 patients being treated in the field hospital there could observe the holiday.   
The worst is probably not yet behind us and I wish my message today could be more uplifting. But I hope you take some solace in the idea, like I have, that we are part of something larger than ourselves, something that will continue long after this plague has turned our society upside down, something that we and others who came before us have worked hard to build.  
While the Bronfman Center will be providing virtual seder options on Wednesday and Thursday, our staff will be taking a much-needed break from remote work until April 20th. We will be using this time to rest and connect, from a distance, with our family and friends. We are passionate about what we do and will continue to provide our students with the support they are accustomed to when they contact a Bronfman staff member. We invite you to:
	•	Celebrate Passover with us: Links to virtual seders, guides, content 
	•	Volunteer with us: Killing COVID With Kindness started by OU-JLIC at NYU 
	•	Connect with us: 
	◦	We can be reached on Facebook and Instagram. If you are feeling isolated or in need, please be in touch by using our Instagram (@bronfmancenter) direct messages as a “hotline” for help navigating these uncertain times.  
	◦	Visit our Virtual Home. 
 
I want to thank you all for your support, wisdom, and encouragement over the last few weeks. Wishing you and your loved ones a healthy, restful, and joyous Passover!
 
Rebekah