Brandon Meyer

My campus wasn’t political about the Middle East before October 7th. It was like a light switch that turned on after Oct. 7th. I started to see pro-Palestine flyers all over campus after the terrorist attack on Israel.

I headed down the advocacy route and became the voice for the Jewish students on the Buffalo campus. I hosted a peaceful Israel March, education session, vigil, and united all the Jewish organizations on campus.

Because of my outspoken stance on Israel. I got harassed by a fellow student on 3 separate occasions. On one occasion, he saw me at the Pro-Palestine protest and pointed me out. He shouted at me and my friend and called us “Nazis, Fascists, and Kikes.”  And told me “go back to your grandma’s homeland….”

A week later, he took a photo of me and created a flyer of me that said “'Palestians are insects…' -this Zionist Child”  He put the flyer all over campus. Antisemitism definitely increased on my campus and there were 4 Palestinian protest on my campus in one semester. I felt like the school was divided between pro- Israel and pro-Palestine students and faculty.

I grew up in a reform synagogue.  On my mom's side, we come from Austria, Poland and Israel.  On my dad's side, Russia and Poland.

One interesting thing about my ancestry is that on my dad's side, there were one or more family members who were Lubavitch.

I heard about TPF from my college friend Nicole, who was (already) doing TPF.

My reaction was that earning money while learning about Judaism/Torah sounded awesome. I though it was a easy way to make money. Later on, I fell in love with it and enjoyed learning more about Judaism with my mentor.

I would not have done the program without the $15.

My mentor is Rabbi Corlin (Rabbi Zalman Corlin of Ohr Somayach, New York).  At first I just did the Fellowship for the money. Later on, I fell in love with learning with Rabbi Corlin and enjoyed our weekly talks about different topics in Judaism. I felt comfortable with the rabbi and I felt like he was relatable.  He was born in a reform house and wasn’t religious, so he understands where I’m coming from.  (He understands that) the questions I asked weren’t meant to be rude, but just curious. Some of the topics we talked about is orthodox way of dating, explaining why one specific sect of Judaism hates Israel, and the different holidays.

My favorite topic was the Jewish way of dating and raising a family. I forgot who was the speaker.

TPF brought me into a deeper sense of understanding of Judaism.  (Through the weekly TPF student emails,) I kept getting trip offers.  Because of the current war, my birthright trip got canceled and I was looking at different trips.  One trip was Israel solidarity with JLE Ohr Somayach. That trip definitely brought me into a deeper understanding and more meaningful perspective of Judaism.

I started to put on Tefillin after the October 7th attack.  Thanks to my Chabad rabbi, I got my own pair of tefillin and I started to wear my kippah around campus.

I feel like at the moment I’m a conservative Jew as of right now. I stopped eating shellfish. I really enjoy Shabbat, so in the future I want to try to keep Shabbat more often.

I want to infuse more Judaism into my life.  I don't have kids yet, but I want to raise my kids in a Jewish way, and I attribute that to all the Jewish learning I've been doing.

"The podcast fellowship is an easy way to learn the Torah and different topics of Judaism. Also, TPF brought me into a new world of Jewish trips worldwide, and new connections that will last for a lifetime."