Hillel Ontario is always finding new ways to engage students and to appeal to our interests. Last Wednesday Feb. 3, 2021, I was fortunate to moderate an event organized by Hillel International’s Hillel@Home. 

Our guest speaker, Dr. Steven Hoffman, provided an engaging discussion on the current reality of COVID-19, while also providing us perspectives on the road to recovery. As a Health Sciences student, I was excited to facilitate, alongside my fellow McMaster Hillel student Daniella Mikanovsky, a conversation on the pandemic with a global health expert and provide my peers with the opportunity to ask questions to a leader in the field. 

Dr. Hoffman is a McMaster University alum who specializes in global health law, global governance and institutional design. His research leverages various methodological approaches to craft global strategies that better address transnational health threats and social inequalities.  With connections to Jewish community of Toronto and Canadian universities, Dr. Hoffman’s insights and messages resonated with many participants on the webinar. I learned we need to look beyond just solving the virus antidote and focus on improving the socioeconomic challenges revealed by the pandemic. Instilling values of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and collaborating with each other to strengthen our societies will be more important than ever on the road to recovering from COVID-19.

Sam Neumark, McMaster Hillel President