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We are
proud to be creating partnerships and building bridges so Jewish college
students can meet Jewish alumni in the Cleveland Jewish community. On April 2
along with the Jewish Law Student Association at CWRU we co- hosted a
networking event that brought together law students, alumni and faculty of
CWRU's School of Law.
Students
discussed with Jewish alumni practical and ethical issues relevant to their
profession both at a reception and during small group discussions. The law
students developed career networks with the alumni, while learning about living
and working in Cleveland.
The graduate students also made social connections with other Jewish law
students and found out how Hillel and JLSA can connect them to additional
social, educational and religious activities. 
We are
uniquely positioned to bring together these constituents and the legal
community, in order to serve one of Cleveland's best assets- the large number
of Jewish graduate and professional students studying on campuses here. We are
grateful to the attorneys that served on the host committee and gave their time
to mentor these students. We want to thank our sponsors for their generous
support that made this event possible. Click Here for a full list of sponsors
As one of the participants wrote; "It is not
often that mother and son are able to attend an event together and both benefit
professionally and socially. But the well planned and attended networking event
for Jewish alumni and students of CWRU School of Law, hosted by Cleveland
Hillel Foundation provided just such a chance. The students gained valuable
insights from the alumni and learned about the ongoing activities of the Jewish
Law Student Association staffed by Hillel. The alumni greatly enjoyed mentoring
the students and talking with other alumni. It was a pleasure to be apart of
this special evening."
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61st Annual Meeting
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The 61st
annual meeting of the Cleveland Hillel Foundation held April 9 was enjoyed by
students, parents, alumni and community members. Featured speaker Dr. Barbara Snyder, President of Case
Western Reserve University, spoke about the university's vision for the future
and Hillel's role as a partner in providing an enriched experience for students
at CWRU and bringing value added to campus. Other highlights of the evening
included recognition of Jewish student leaders from Cleveland State,
Oberlin and CWRU, State of the Hillel address by Cleveland Hillel President
Scott Siegel, and the election of directors. Rachel Heiser was elected as a new officer and new directors are Rabbi Matthew Eisenberg, Joel Falck, Peter
Haas, Gail Kopelowitz, Joel Ratner, Rabbi Stanley Schachter, Lynn Schonberg,
and Michal Soclof. For a full list
of officers and directors Click Here.
CWRU undergraduate and professional graduate
students with Barbara Synder, President of Case Western Reserve University.
Left to right: Emily Amdurer, Rayna Karoll, Stephanie Camaglia, Adam Zollman,
President Barbara R. Snyder, Arkady Polinkovsky,Ariella Goldman, Adam Garber, Juliana Gildener-Leapman, Barak Daon
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April 24th, 2008
19 Nissan 5768
Dear Friends,
I hope
you had inspiring and meaningful Seders or Seder and that this Passover
Holiday has been enjoyable so far. Since
the Seders were over the weekend and because Pesach is such a family centered Holiday, many students took the opportunity to travel
home and join their families in celebrating. For those students who were unable to get home, Hillel offered Seders
both in Cleveland and Oberlin for both nights as well as home hospitality for
interested students. We are proud that any
student interested in being at a Seder had the opportunity to do so. The Seders were in part planned by the
students and at the first Seder at Oberlin there was a focus on four uniquely
themed cups; Jewish customs from around the world, modern day oppression, the
environment, and Jewish folk songs. The
Hillel Seder in Cleveland the first night of
Pesach was covered on a Cleveland
area television station.
Our
programming continues during the remaining days of Passover. All students who are interested in Passover
food have their needs met both in Cleveland and Oberlin, there is a social
justice program planned regarding Darfur, Passover traditions are being brought
to the campuses of Cleveland
State and John Carroll,
and an educational interfaith seder is planned for the last day of Passover.
As
Passover ends, our academic program year will be coming to an end as we commemorate
Yom Hashoa, celebrate Israel@60 on Yom Haatzmaut, and wish mazal tov and
B'Hatzlacha (much success) to all the students graduating in May. Because of Israel's
special birthday we are planning 60 ways to celebrate Israel @ 60
throughout 2008. We have started these
celebrations as you will read later in this report.
The flow
of Holocaust Memorial Day followed a week later by Israel Independence Day and
both in the same month as graduation from Case
Western Reserve University,
Cleveland State
University, Oberlin College
and many others can teach us an important lesson. As a people we have suffered great tragedies
and also have celebrated wonderful events.
Both of these are part of our rich heritage as they shape our history
and are a signal to our future. As
students graduate in May from colleges and universities and embark on their
careers and professions we hope they act as proud Jews who can integrate their
particular Jewish and universally human characteristics to build a pluralistic and
dynamic Jewish community and a caring, tolerant, and better world.
As always I am interested in hearing from you, your comments, feedback, and ideas so you can either call me at 216-231-0040 or e-mail me at gcoleman@clevelandhillel.org
With Blessings,
Gary
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Recent Program Highlights from Cleveland Metro and Oberlin
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Hillel is about students
and our programs both meet student interests and challenge them to take the
next step. We also promote Jewish life
on campus and are involved in issues and programs that go beyond our regular
programming. Of course we celebrate
Shabbat every week with Friday night services, dinner and much more in both
Cleveland and Oberlin. Besides that some
of the other recent events include:
Purim
In
both Cleveland and Oberlin we were involved in a variety of Purim activities
that lasted more than a week and involved hundreds of students. Among them were:
- Undergraduate
student parties in Cleveland and Oberlin featuring Oberlin's Steel Drum Band, a
performance by the Oberlin Israeli Folk Dance Club, a raffle, and costume party
- Megilah
readings both on campus and in the community
- Dorm
programs that included mask making and hamentashen making
- Preparing
Mishloach Manot for both friends and the needy
- Graduate
student parties both at the professional schools and with young Cleveland professionals
- Students
running a Purim carnival for senior citizens and their grandchildren at a residential
home
Special Guests
and Educational
Events
During
the last few weeks we have both hosted and participated in a number of events
that have brought a variety of educators and entertainers to campus. They have spoken about a variety of issues
including, but not limited to Israel. These included:
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Israeli
professor Maurice Roumani of Ben
Gurion University
was a visiting professor at Oberlin. He
lectured in class about Jews from Libya
and Northern Africa, met students over meals, and gave a lecture about Jews
from Arab countries and their experiences moving to Israel and integrating into Israeli
culture.
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Andy
Statman visited Oberlin and gave a phenomenal concert of jazz and klezmer music
at the Cat in the Cream coffee house Lindsay Avner, founder of Bright Pink and
Heather Mikesell, Senior Genetic Counselor at University Hospitals, shared two
perspectives of breast cancer and its genetic link
- CWRU Law Alum Marvin Feldman talked with law
students about his arbitration experience with Major League Baseball
- Dr. Ron Brauner spoke about End of Life Issues
from a Jewish perspective with graduate students in health care
- The
100th Haskell Lecture Series at Oberlin hosted Professor Daniel
Boyarin of University
of California Berkeley for
a three lecture series on "The Son of Man and the Genealogy of Rabbinic
Judaism".
Israel @
60
As
mentioned we are planning to have 60 programs during the course of 2008 to
celebrate Israel's
60th birthday. We are also
conscience of our role on campus to assure that Israel's right to exist as a Jewish
State in secure borders will always be clear while recognizing the rights of
the Palestinians. This means we are constantly
working with students to both advocate for Israel and also be willing to
dialogue with those who have different views.
Some of the events during the past few weeks include:
- Bringing
a Taste of Israel to the lecture halls and residential communities
- At
Oberlin Professor Jonathan Lipow spoke about the complexities of the economic
situations of Jews and Arabs in Israel
- At
CWRU hundreds of students participated in a large birthday party on the KSL Oval
for Israel
with Israeli food, information, t-shirts, and the band MILES
 200 Falafel Sandwiches, 360 Israeli Flags,180 Hershey Bars,144 Blue and White Cookies,120 Israel @ 60 T-shirts, Israeli Information, Beautiful Weather, Great Band, Hundreds and Hundreds of Students VERY VERY VERY STALE BAZOOKA GUM
The experience.............. PRICELESS
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Thank You's , Request and Summer
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1. We could not program without the financial support of hundreds of
individual donors, family foundations, and grants that we receive from alumni,
community members, friends, parents, and other stakeholders. Especially noteworthy are the Jewish
Community Federation of Cleveland, Hyman and Esther Rapport Trust, and The
Cleveland Foundation. We thank all our
supporters for helping us cultivate Jewish student life on all our campuses
2. Request: I ask both those of you who have supported us
and those who have not to consider a gift to our Hillel so we can continue to
assure a brighter Jewish future.
Donations can be made on line at www.clevelandhillel.org or by
sending checks to our office at 11291
Euclid Ave, Cleveland OH 44106
3. As we have reported our Hillel is now a twelve month program center. We are in the final phase of placing
undergraduate students in summer internship positions in businesses and not for
profit organizations. We are also
starting the planning of summer educational and social programming. More about this next time.
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