Brown student’s Hanukkah idea goes viral

Filming the video at Brown. /Brown RISD HillelMarli Scharlin, Brown ’16, had an idea. Actually, she had a lot of ideas. When we first met on the steps by the Main Green in early September, she shared all of her creative, out-of-the-box, innovative ideas. As a new Engagement Intern through Brown RISD Hillel, she partnered with Hillel to make her ideas a reality.

The Engagement Internship through Brown RISD Hillel offers students the opportunity to create a project with a Jewish connection that will engage their greater networks on campus. Throughout the year, the 10 Engagement Interns meet weekly with staff and students to participate in project management, group support and Jewish learning.

Next semester, Marli will focus on creating a Storytelling Slam based on issues of identity. In the meantime, she found herself wanting to connect students (at Brown and RISD, in Providence and beyond) with Hanukkah in a creative way, and she wanted to engage the wider Brown community to do it. Marli partnered with a popular a cappella group, the Jabberwocks of Brown University, to create a video celebrating Hanukkah and using a song she wrote based on a popular Kanye West song.

The video, created on the East Side, celebrates the joy of the holiday and of “all of the lights” (the name of the original song). Within the first 12 hours of the video’s premiere at Brown RISD Hillel’s Hanukkah Bash on Dec. 7, there were more than 1,000 views on YouTube. At the 24-hour mark, over 2,000. And by the morning of Dec. 10, views numbered 3,000. With Brown University reaching out to share the video on their YouTube channel and website, the numbers will continue to soar.

One viewer commented: “I’m feeling excited for Hanukkah – and I’m not even Jewish!”

Join the fun by watching the video that’s sweeping the country, made right here in Providence with students at Brown (and a cameo from two Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island fourth graders):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTM2ICt09HU

ALISA KOTLER-BERKOWITZ is director of engagement at Brown RISD Hillel.