On Monday evening, students from the new group Coalition Against Anti-Semitism in Europe, or CAASE, held a launch event for their group—a vigil in Fellows Garden commemorating the victims of recent anti-Semitic attacks in Europe.

The vigil was CAASE’s first event since it formed only a few weeks ago and was simultaneously held at several other campuses across the east coast, including Drexel University, the University of Rochester and Rutgers University.

The vigil was organized primarily by CAASE members and by Hillel at Brandeis but also had help from many other student groups at the University, whose leaders were present at the event.

In an interview with the Justice, CAASE member and co-founder Rebecca Sternberg ’16 said that the vigil was inspired by the one that took place on campus in November to commemorate victims of an attack on an Orthodox synagogue in Jerusalem.

Sternberg said that the co-founders of CAASE were “amazed by the student turnout” for the Jerusalem vigil and wanted to reflect that in commemorating European victims of anti-Semitism as well.

The vigil included a list of the recent anti-Semitic attacks in France and across Europe, as well as remarks from Co-Director of the Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus Rabbi David Pardo and the University’s Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Elyse Winick ’86.

Community members also had the option of writing letters and messages of support to the families of the European victims or to those suffering from anti-Semitism in Europe. About 125 students were present at the vigil. Those present held candles and stood in a circle, singing a prayer in Hebrew. At the end of the event, the circle of people widened to about 100 feet, and everyone in it could see everyone else.

“I believe in this mission and I believe in the students who are spearheading it,” said Pardo of the group and the vigil. “Some of us look back a couple years and see the previous generation had fights worth fighting: the struggle for Soviet Jewry, civil rights. I believe we have students on this campus and others that have found their fight.”

According to their new website, CAASE is “the burgeoning American movement that defends the right of European Jewry to live proud and unmolested lives.”

While the group was founded at Brandeis and is currently only present here, Sternberg says they hope to spread to other schools to become an “intercollegiate organization.” Sternberg said that while the idea for the group originally came from Misha Vilenchuk ’16, there are ten co-founders and current leaders of the club. Along with Sternberg and Vilenchuk, students Sam Marlowe ’16, Sigal Sax ’18, Brian Budik ’17, Lieba Hall ’16, Daniel Shpilsky ’18, Roy Buchler ’16, Jack Podolsky ’17 and Ryan Yuffe ’15 have been active in pushing the club forward.

CAASE’s website states that the group “seeks to rouse Europe’s conscience.” “CAASE believes European anti-Semitism must be regarded with the utmost importance,” the website reads. It describes itself as a “well-organized activist movement” that “actively collect[s] research and statistics, participate[s] in outreach … and organize[s] awareness campaigns and events.”

“We’re basically an awareness campaign,” Vilenchuk said in an interview with the Justice.

“We want to change European Jewish perception, and eventually policy, through awareness … very few people know about the extent of anti-Semitism in Europe.”

“The goal of CAASE is first and foremost to raise awareness of the anti-Semitic attacks in Europe … and bring light to the fact that this is not okay,” Sternberg said.

The CAASE website also lists several goals of the group, including calling on regional, national and European Union institutions to “ensure the security [and] well-being of European Jewish communities,” “establish a ‘working definition’ of anti-Semitism” and “hold accountable those who perpetuate or incite anti-Semitism.”

“We won’t stop acting until these goals are met,” Vilenchuk said.

While the club is not currently chartered by the Student Union ,Sternberg says they have plans to do so in the near future in order to receive funding for future awareness projects and events.

Vilenchuk said the group has many initiatives planned for the future including potentially taking a trip to Europe to “talk directly to Jewish community leaders” and enact change.