Hillel inspires students spiritually and culturally

As a freshman at Oberlin College, Anna Schuettge “started going to Hillel simply as a way to meet people
and make friends on campus.” Now a senior about to graduate, Schuettge says she is amazed by how involved she became with the organization.

“My freshman year, I helped out organizing the Chanukah party; my sophomore year, I was the treasurer. I
have now worked my way up to senior co-chair” of the organization, she says.

In addition to making “tons of friends” through Hillel, the organization also became very important to her Jewish identity, adds Schuettge.

“I went to Hebrew School and Sunday school, and attended shul through most of my childhood, but my family was less traditional than the average Conservative family. I didn’t really identify with any particular Jewish
identity, but the very first time I attended a Hillel function – the Orientation Shabbat – something just clicked for me.”

For the first time in her life, Schuettge says she felt great potential to be part of a strong Jewish community.

“We were Jews, a single community in the broadest sense of the word. There was one service and denominations didn’t even exist. For me, the absence of denominational barriers was a perfect fit. Because of Hillel, I will take a strong Jewish identity with me after graduation.”

Life can be extremely busy for a law student, says Brian A. Kazmin, a graduate student in his third year at
Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He credits the tireless efforts of Allison Peterson, director of
graduate students and special events at the Cleveland Hillel Foundation, for helping him develop a cultural
appreciation of Judaism. Kazmin grew up in Los Angeles, moving to Ohio during his sophomore year of high school. He was the only Jew at Willard High School but, Kazmin shrugs, that didn’t really bother him at all.

“I went to Ohio State, where there was a very big Hillel on campus, but I never was very active in it. It was only after I came to law school and some friends from the Jewish Law Students Association encouraged me that I really became involved with Hillel.”

The students come up with ideas for programs, notes Kazmin, but Peterson is the powerhouse who brings everything to fruition. “She helps us plan the events, takes care of the resources, does all the advertising. She makes it all possible,” he says.

Hillel’s events on campus and the numerous speakers the organization has brought in have helped Kazmin develop a “culturally Jewish identity.”

The organization has also helped others on campus understand Judaism, Kazmin notes. “We brought
hamantaschen at Purim and falafel in the fall. It was for everyone at the law school. That way, the non-Jews were also able to participate in, and thereby learn about, Jewish culture as well.”

In addition, speakers Hillel brought in on topics such as Israel and the situation in the Middle East were
extremely helpful in addressing those issues from an academic standpoint, says Kazmin. The law student credits Hillel with helping him grow over the past three years “from a nominally committed Jew to the president of the Jewish Law Students Association.”