The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, also known as the Orthodox Union, delivered 180,000 letters demanding the release of Israeli hostages — including many written by Baltimore students and Jewish community members — to the White House on Wednesday, April 3. This was the culmination of the OU’s 180 for 180 campaign, which sought to have over 180,000 individuals send a pre-written letter to President Joe Biden. April 3 was the 180th day of captivity for the hostages held in Gaza.
The OU reached its goal in six days, with people from all over the country participating in the initiative. In the end, over 184,000 people participated.
“Today, hundreds of thousands of members and friends of the American Jewish community stood together, asking President Biden for complete and continued moral and material support for Israel’s mission to finish the job of defeating Hamas,” OU Executive Vice President Rabbi Moshe Hauer said on April 3. Hauer spent 26 years as the spiritual leader of Bnai Jacob Shaarei Zion in Baltimore until 2020.
Baltimore specifically saw a significant effort to recruit participants in this campaign and have them write letters. Many local day schools paused their classes for a period of time so their students could write. These included Bais Yaakov of Baltimore, Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, Bnos Yisroel of Baltimore, Ohr Chadash Academy and the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore, among others.
“The administration was blown away by the amount of people who signed, so there was value in getting as many as possible,” said Rabbi Yisrael Motzen of Ner Tamid Greenspring Valley Synagogue. “In terms of [participating] children, what so many of the schools conveyed to their students is that they have the ability to really make a difference. This is one of the few times a child can really see that.”
Motzen, along with Rabbi Shmuel Silber of Suburban Orthodox Congregation, carried packages of letters sent from Baltimore-area schools to the White House following the OU’s press conference.
A press conference held at the Willard InterContinental Hotel before the letters were delivered featured speakers Maurice Schneider, whose niece, Shiri Babas, her husband Yarden and their children Ariel and Kfir are among those still being held captive; and Rachel Goldberg-Polin, mother of American hostage Hirsh Goldberg-Polin, who joined via video. Hirsh Goldberg-Polin is one of eight Americans still being held hostage by Hamas.
“We are grateful to the [more than] 180,000 individuals who sent letters to President Biden, joining us in our call for the full-throttle support of Israel in its mission to defeat Hamas,” said Nathan Diamant, OU’s executive director of policy. “Their involvement underscores the Jewish community’s commitment to supporting Israel and our expectation that President Biden stand with Israel in its mission to eradicate Hamas.”
The OU’s press conference and letter-writing campaign follows a recent bipartisan rally in New York, where state senators from both sides of the aisle also called for the hostages’ release.
“My hope is that the administration does more to support Israel, both in action and with [the president’s] language, that the administration does everything possible to free the hostages and that more is done to combat antisemitism which is erupting all over the country,” Motzen said of the 180 for 180 campaign’s impact.
