Sept. 11 marked the first night of Rosh Hashanah and the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. Students at the University of Maryland will honor both with a “reverse tashlich” on Sept. 18.

“We actually found that it was an interesting coincidence — an opportunity — that 9/11 fell on Rosh Hashanah,” Rachel Gordon, Maryland Hillel’s assistant director for student life, told Washington Jewish Week. “Just as we’re having this moment of rebirth and rejuvenation and new beginnings starting again, we’re also dealing with this immense tragedy and heartbreak that happened only 25 years ago.”

Maryland Hillel is among the 15 college campuses nationwide that plan to combine Jewish learning and reflection with hands-on community service in honor of the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

Hillel International and the Jewish service nonprofit Repair the World engaged more than 800 college students across the nation in community service. Supported by a grant from 9/11 Day and AmeriCorps, select campus Hillels hosted volunteer projects addressing food security, environmental stewardship and other “pressing local needs,” according to a news release.

With the exception of a few, most current college students weren’t alive on 9/11 and have no firsthand memory of the day.

“We wanted to make sure that just as Rosh Hashanah becomes a tradition and remains a tradition that these college students experience every year and take with them, that remembering 9/11 and all of the implications that came from that horrible day is also something that they’re able to take with them as they’re transitioning into adulthood,” Gordon said.

Tashlich, a Jewish ritual performed during Rosh Hashanah, is a ceremony in which participants symbolically “cast off” their sins into a natural body of water.

“We’re integrating that into our 9/11 [commemorative] programming,” Gordon said.

But they’re putting an eco-friendly twist on the tradition. Instead of tossing the traditional breadcrumbs into the water — which have been shown to be harmful for fish and wildlife — some Jewish groups have taken to reversing the process: removing litter and “human sin” from bodies of water.

Reverse tashlich was created by Rabbi Ed Rosenthal, who founded the service organization Repair the Sea.

“We’ll go to a local river and we’ll clean it up,” Gordon said. “We’ll pick up garbage, we’ll pick some of the plants, we’ll pick up any broken-down branches … and leave the place looking a lot better than we found it.”

Dan Kling, Maryland Hillel’s director of Israel experiences, will run the Friday afternoon of service, which isn’t limited to members of Maryland Hillel or Jewish students.

“We have students from all walks of life, from all denominations, Jewish [and] non-Jewish, who are coming [and] who want to do service,” Gordon said.

Before the reverse tashlich, Maryland Hillel will facilitate a discussion about civic engagement, unity and caring for one another. Student interns were actively involved in the planning process.

“The plan is to integrate Sept. 11 remembrance into that discussion as well, making sure that people know when you’re facing tragedy, environmental issues, political issues, God forbid, terrorism, God forbid, death, what it means to come together as a community and rally around, just as people did right after 9/11,” Gordon said.

She spoke to how New Yorkers gathered in Lower Manhattan to help clear away debris, aid in the search and rescue, feed firefighters and police officers on duty, and join in remembrance of those who were killed.

“We’re trying to recreate that [effort] as it relates to us,” Gordon said.

Student participants will also have the opportunity to share stories of how 9/11 impacted their families, if they have them, or personal experiences dealing with tragedy in general.

“[We want to] make sure that everybody has a chance to participate in at least one of the aspects of what we’re doing: the discussion, the ritual, the history or the service,” Gordon said. “There are so many different things going on all at once to create this event that hopefully everybody will feel a connection to at least one part of it.”

This effort is one example of an 800-student-strong initiative across the nation.

“It’s amazing,” Gordon said of the level of participation. “It’s incredible that Maryland Hillel is so dynamic and so diverse, and that the students seek such ownership in what we’re doing, and they care so much about the community — it’s not just the staff that’s driving everything. It really is the students who are planning and brainstorming and facilitating.”

She added that Maryland Hillel is the organizational backing that supports students.

“The students take a lot of leadership and ownership … so it makes our work a lot easier because the students are the ones driving everything,” Gordon said.

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com