Goucher Hillel Newsletter Summer 2015

FRIENDS OF

GOUCHER H LLEL SPRING 2013 SUMMER 2015

Goucher Students in Bolivia for an “alternative spring break”

STAFF

FROM THE executive director

FROM THE STUDENT CO-PRESIDENTS

Rabbi Josh Snyder

(L to R) Marlee Goldshine ’17 and Rachael Hollern ’16

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Rabbi Josh Snyder, Executive Director Rachel Plotkin, Jewish Student Life Coordinator Karin Hasin, Israel Engagement Coordinator Lola Hahn, Development Director

2014-15 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Sally Ross Davis ’84, Chair Tina Sheller ’74, Vice Chair Dr. Amalia Honick, Secretary Merle Intner, Treasurer Nancy Brandt Gertner ’72, Past Chair Marlee Goldshine ’17, Student Co-president Rachael Hollern ’16, Student Co-president Joey Fink ’15, Student Representative Scott Falkowitz, Board Observer Dr. Patricia Attman ’74 Elana Cohen ’08 Rachel Eidelman ’74 Aliza Epstein ’03 Dr. Margaret S. Ravits Goldfarb ’72 Beth Goldsmith ’72 Bettina Heiman ’69, P ’04 Jill Karliner P ’17 Ruth Lenrow ’74 Caryn Lerman Aileen Losin Barbie Prince ’85, P ’12 Barbara Roswell Lisa Weiss P ’11 Judi Davidson Wolf P ’14

GOUCHER HILLEL: INVEST IN A JEWISH FUTURE We would like to thank all of our donors who contributed this year. The past year has been a very exciting time to be involved with Goucher Hillel. As we enter our new fiscal year, please consider helping us to make Goucher Hillel an even stronger organization.

Any donation made to Goucher College will result in full recognition from the college and Hillel. Simply make your check payable to Goucher College and write “Goucher Hillel” in the memo line.

Donations are also accepted online at www.goucher.edu/hillel.

he use of Chai (meaning “alive,” denoting the number 18) is now ubiquitous in Jewish life, particularly in the realm of philanthropy. People often say Chai means life, but that would be Chayyim, which has a numerical value of 68. There are two reasons we use Chai rather than Chayyim. The second generation of Chasidic leaders used Chai to encourage people to give meaningfully at manageable levels in the communities they served. Chai also denotes an ongoing and dynamic process, whereas Chayyim is either an abstraction (e.g., “That’s life!”) or a completed span of living. Chai means that vitality is still flowing, e.g. Am Yisrael Chai–the Jewish people live!

Goucher Hillel is celebrating its 18th year, going back to our founding in 1997. In those years, countless students have been engaged in Jewish life while students at Goucher.

Their ongoing engagement in Jewish life is our greatest success. We continue to grow as a campus organization, adding new staff members, renovating our campus space, and opening new gateways for students to enter and be inspired.

As I complete my seventh year as director, and Goucher Hillel its 18th, I am continually infused with vitality for the opportunity to make a difference in students’ lives during this key four-year period, starting when they are 18. This year I met children of former students, officiated at the wedding of a former student, and officiated at the conversion of a current student. As a rabbi and the Hillel director, these moments are so fulfilling because I can see the long-range effects of the work we do every day. I am proud to say Goucher Hillel Chai—we are 18, and we are alive!

s the student co-presidents, we are incredibly proud of the huge changes we have seen take place this year.

Our goal was to spend this year transforming the Goucher Hillel space into an environment that would make every Goucher student feel as welcomed as we have, and we’ve seen nothing less than that with the renovation of our lounge. We started our fall semester off with a crafts night that attracted more than 100 first-year students into this new space during Orientation Week.

We’re really proud of the It’s On Us campaign that Hillel played a huge part in presenting.

This campaign calls for the end of sexual assault on college campuses. Eli Kaufman and Joe Weintraub composed an It’s On Us video, which featured students, faculty, and staff calling for an end to sexual assault on campus. Additionally, Hillel hosted an It’s On Us Shabbat dinner featuring Goucher’s all-female a cappella group and the premiere of the video. A very diverse group of students attended, and the event was a huge success.

Goucher Hillel’s 67th birthday party for Israel could not have been any more spectacular, with a student-run, Israeli-style BBQ, tie-dye and crafts, a photo booth, and lots of laughter and smiling faces. To the students: Thank you for bringing your enthusiasm and passion for Jewish life on campus to everything that we do. To our board of directors: Thank you for working endlessly behind the scenes to make what we do possible. And finally, to our incredible staff: Thank you for celebrating our successes with smiles and hugs, holding us up through our failures, and leading us to work as a team. We couldn’t be more grateful for having Hillel in our lives.

Rachael Hollern ’16 and Marlee Goldshine ’17

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1. First-year pizza party with (L to R) Molly Frankel ’18, Olivia Dickert ’18, and Hellen Shapiro ’18. 2. Group outing to Sky Zone 3. Seniors ’15 (L to R) Stephanie Stern, Yasha Rayzberg, Eli Kaufman, and Joey Fink

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

by Rachel Plotkin, Jewish Student Life Coordinator

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s my first year at Goucher Hillel comes to a close, I can wrap up our work in one word—engagement.

In Hillel, engagement means creating a relationship and working with students to connect with Judaism in a way that is meaningful to them. This year, we engaged students in many ways. Engagement interns worked one on one with students to find out students’ interests and to try to match them to Hillel programming. Student committees led high-level programming to encourage students to participate in various activities.

Staff worked together to create a vibrant and welcoming environment for all students.

Engagement Internship: A Student’s Perspective

by Rachel Kaseff ’17

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i! Rachel Kaseff here! I am a rising junior from Kansas City, Kansas, and am majoring in religious studies.

I have been an engagement intern for Goucher Hillel for two semesters and plan on continuing in that position this coming school year.

I think connecting with Judaism is especially important in college, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to be an engagement intern. Not only is college the first time away from home for a long period of time (for most students), it’s also the first time that practicing Judaism is a choice rather than something your parents make you do.

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To help our students meet others through peer-to-peer connections, we hired student interns to help connect others to various Hillel opportunities. We deliberately hired workers who were already involved in Jewish life, but who wanted to deepen their commitment. Our interns were very successful, engaging 50 students in a meaningful way and connecting them with different Jewish opportunities. Our engagement interns also work together to create an inviting environment in the Hillel space and a way for students to connect with one another. Next year we will have more interns, and we are looking forward to engaging even more Jewish students through this program.

The student board really focused on quality programming this year, and it showed. The committees were well run, and students came up with many programs that engaged Having gone to a Jewish day school through senior year, Judaism has been a big part of my life. Hillel has helped to ease me into the independence of college and the real world, while still giving me the feeling of home and comfort. That is why I try to help other Jewish students on campus connect with Hillel, because they may need that feeling as well.

A great thing about Hillel is the amazing people you meet there. Playing Jewish Geography is one of the ways I love to connect with students. No matter whom I engage, they always know someone who I know or have been to a camp or youth group convention that I have also attended.

Another way I connect with students is during the holidays. Nothing brings Jewish students together like free food on the

new students and raised the profile of Hillel on campus. The Social Committee was very successful, organizing two off-campus trips– bowling and a trip to Sky Zone Trampoline Park. The Social Justice Committee continued its work to fight global hunger with programs such as the Hunger Banquet and Challah for Hunger, with proceeds going to Paul’s Place in Baltimore. The Israel Committee had a successful fundraiser for the Save a Child’s Heart Foundation, as well as promoting Israel through game nights and a Yom Haatzmaut BBQ. This year, while we had many great events and programs throughout the year, my goal was to create relationships with students. In the midst of bowling, jumping on trampolines at Sky Zone, and eating a kabob at the Yom Haatzmaut BBQ, the relationships with students are what I cherish and what I can’t wait to expand in the years to come. holidays. One of my favorite memories of my first year was rounding up a bunch of my Jewish friends a week before Passover, going to the Kosher grocery store in Pikesville, and then making food for a seder we hosted. So many people came to eat and enjoy the company; it was a blast!

Goucher Hillel is an amazing organization of which I am honored to be a part. Being an engagement intern has taught me life skills, such as how to connect with people on a personal level. Because I am a religious studies major, I hope to work with Hillels around the country after I graduate college, and I think this experience will be invaluable in helping me to accomplish that career goal.

A NEW WAY OF SHABBAT Hillel’s Shabbat Committee breathed new life into our Shabbat program this year. The Shabbat Committee worked hard to create a welcoming and enjoyable environment every week for Shabbat. Themes ranged from fun, such as Pajama Shabbat, to more serious and introspective—such as Avi Shabbat, an interfaith discussion, and It’s On Us Shabbat, a discussion on sexual violence at Goucher.

This year, we had 30-40 students each week at Shabbat, all of whom enjoyed ending their week with their friends and a positive Jewish experience. We look forward to continued growth and to expanding our Shabbat program next year in meaningful ways.

Avi Shabbat, An Interfaith Dialogue and Discussion

1 1. Shabbat your way (L to R) Ben Saeks ‘17, Noah Schaefer ’18, and Ellie Ginsberg ’17

On February 27, Goucher Hillel hosted Avi Shabbat: An Interfaith Dialogue and Discussion. Avi Shabbat is supported by the Avi Schaefer Fund, a fund dedicated to open dialogue and respect between students on college campuses. Avi Schaefer was a student at Brown University who was killed by a drunken driver five years ago. Avi was a strong advocate for open dialogue and connections across faiths.

Students were encouraged to discuss their own traditions while learning about others’.

The event brought more than 50 Goucher students together for a Shabbat meal and dialogue. Noah Schaefer, a first-year student at Goucher and Avi’s younger brother, was very touched by the event and felt it was a beautiful way to honor his brother’s memory.

He spoke at the event and loved the fact that

Goucher participated in such an important program. The planning committee included three Hillel students and one Muslim student, as well as support from Hillel staff. Emily Waife ‘16, the Shabbat chair, felt it was an exceptional Shabbat and loved being part of a program that encouraged open dialogue and opportunities for new people to experience Shabbat and the Hillel space.

Goucher President José Antonio Bowen and his wife, Kimberly, were also present at the event and enjoyed being part of the conversations with students. This event was a wonderful way to create an open campus community and begin to foster more interfaith dialogue and interactions.

Shabbat Your Way: A Shabbat Experience to Match Students’ Interests Twice this year, Goucher Hillel hosted Shabbat Your Way. These Shabbats were smaller Shabbats across campus hosted by different students to encourage other students to do Shabbat on their own. Each semester, the hosts choose various themes, including Breakfast for Dinner Shabbat, Social Justice Shabbat, Homestyle Shabbat, and a Women’s Shabbat. These Shabbat experiences engaged new students, as well as created an environment for Hillel regulars.

All students enjoyed having these Shabbats, and the Shabbat Committee is looking forward to doing more of these next year.

Goucher Hillel’s Board of Directors, staff, and students express their gratitude for the support of the renovation and dedication: The Esther Ann Brown Adler Hillel Lounge Professor Frona Holzman Brown ’65 and Family The Goldsmith Family Foundation, Beth H. Goldsmith ’72 Fern Karesh Hurst ’68 Dr. Earle and Joanne Linder, parents of April Linder ’13

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1. Students pose at a scenic view in Vinto, Bolivia (L to R) Noah Kahan ’17, Nate Stein ’18, Allen Winslow ’16, Soliana Goldrich ’18, Ilana Schaer ’15, and Elizabeth Depta ’15.

2. The guys pose in front of the large statue that overlooks Cochabamba, Cristo De Concordia: Nate Stein ’18, Allen Winslow ’16, and Noah Kahan ’17

MEMORABLE BREAK IN BOLIVIA by Nate Stein ’18

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his past March I took an “alternative spring break” to Bolivia through Hillel.

As a Spanish major, I was particularly interested in taking the opportunity to go to a Spanish-speaking Latin American country.

I was also interested in taking an alternative spring break as a way to have a meaningful experience during the vacation, instead of returning home to Boston during March to help my parents shovel snow.

greeted with an incredible ceremony attended by seemingly every member of the community.

As soon as I met with Rachel to speak about the basic itinerary of the trip, I was convinced I wanted to go. After weeks of preparatory meetings, we finally were headed to the airport on March 15. We flew from Baltimore to Miami, and then from Miami to La Paz. There, we stayed in a retreat center, which was a gated complex that contained lodging, dining, and the owners’ private residence. While in Vinto, our main task was to reconstruct a classroom at a rural school.

We tiled the entire floor, as well as prepared the room to be painted by repairing the walls and doors. We played soccer with the kids on several occasions, and we were eventually

The second part of our trip was certainly more tourist-oriented. We visited a palace, took a cable car to the Cristo de la Concordia, ate at several restaurants, took a tour around the city with a historian, visited a museum, and had the opportunity to attend a service at a local synagogue. In the city, we experienced the rich atmosphere that is Cochabamba.

Despite all of the diversions, we kept in mind our focus as we helped repair and repaint a room at CEOLI, a school for students with disabilities. Our trip culminated with a farewell dinner at a fine restaurant, attended by everyone we had met throughout our time there. We left Cochabamba early the following

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Throughout the entire week, we ate food prepared at the retreat center. Our plates were evidence of the agricultural richness in Cochabamba, as we ate a wealth of fresh, exotic produce. After completing the tiling, we were set to depart the following morning, heading to our hotel in the city.

morning on a flight to Santa Cruz, near the Amazon basin. From there, we flew back to Miami and eventually made it to Baltimore on Monday morning.

This trip was a privilege and a great experience for me and for everyone else who was there. There were some purposeful elements, such as our daily reflection groups and our humanitarian projects, as well as exciting cultural experiences in the city. These different sides of the trip were in perfect balance, and I think I speak for everyone when I say it was a wonderful, meaningful experience.

For more pictures, visit the trip site https://goucherhillelasbbolivia.shutterfly.com/#

Engaging with Israel

by Karin Hasin, Israel Engagement Coordinator

As for students who have been to Israel, my focus is to empower and support them, enhance their knowledge base, and provide them with tools to initiate Israel activities on campus. The students I have worked with have impacted me in many ways that constantly help me grow professionally.

Taglit-Birthright Israel, a free 10-day trip to Israel, is an excellent example of how I am able to share my culture with different groups of students. I got a chance to experience Israel anew through students’ eyes. This past winter, our group went to places that no other group had seen before—the Iron Dome defense system and a Druze village with a private tour—as well as taking in the inspiring experiences of a welcoming Shabbat at Jerusalem and watching the sunrise from Masada. I know these were once-in-a-lifetime experiences for each and every one of the students.

Encouraging participation in Israel travel experiences and educational programs are great ways of expanding the number of Jewish students visiting Israel each year.

While politics are a major part of Israel’s history, it is important to keep in mind there is much more to Israel than politics, so it is important to encourage students to express themselves and keep an open dialogue.

Much of what we do is Israel engagement, helping students understand Israel through aspects they can personally relate to, like music, art, and technology. Part of my role is also facilitating students’ understanding of the dynamic political issues that affect Israel domestically and internationally.

Being the Israel engagement director at Goucher is an amazing job. I love Israel, and I love when students have a passion for Israel.

It is my job to bring my perspective on Israel directly to hundreds of Jewish students each year. My colleagues at 70 universities in the United States and Canada and I do this through peer relationships, organized trips, cultural events, education, and advocacy. We provide opportunities for students to discuss and experience every aspect of Israeli life.

We aim to bridge the gap between fact and

fiction regarding Israel, creating room for informed opinion.

Being on campus for the past year has been a remarkable experience, filled with fun memories while also enriching my skills.

Many students don’t necessarily have a connection to Israel. I’m here to engage uninvolved Jewish students through informal interactions, personal storytelling, and formal programs that help them explore their relationship with Israel in a safe and welcoming environment.

I cannot adequately express my excitement about going into my second year here, and I am even more excited to build more connections, to help support and encourage students to follow and act on their passions.

The students here work incredibly hard and are so dedicated to what they believe in.

Moving forward, I am optimistic that Israel programming and engagement will stretch even further and grow for current and future students.

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HADAG NAHASH AT GOUCHER Goucher College welcomed the popular Israeli hip-hop group Hadag Nahash to perform on campus on Monday, April 27. It was amazing to watch as the event came together because Karin Hasin, the Israel engagement coordinator, and I had spent months working toward this date. The concert was subsidized by Hillel International’s Hinenu: Israel Education and Engagement, The Associated, and a number of national Israel education and advocacy organizations. It was accompanied by an educational campaign about the meaning of the music sponsored by the Avi Schaefer Fund.

We were able to provide students with a night of fun, a break from studying for finals, and a chance to connect to the wider Jewish community. Many of the attendees were

by Talia Makowsky ’18

Israelis from the area, as well as students from colleges other than Goucher. This audience was enthusiastic, singing along to the band’s songs and making the auditorium feel alive with noise and energy.

The mood outside the theater that night was tense because it coincided with riots in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray. Yet Hadag Nahash was not let down because of this. Being from Israel themselves, they know how difficult times can be, and how each of us needs to appreciate the good times even more. As the lead singer, Shaa’nan Streett, said during the concert, “We know how it is to be small but strong.”

Much of the music, which called for Israeli society to demand its institutions to act justly

and equitably, took on a new meaning in the context of Baltimore in April. Once the concert was finished, the band members joined the audience in the lobby, took pictures, and signed posters and CDs. They were extremely patient and did not leave until everyone got some attention.

This concert couldn’t have happened without the help of our donors. All of the students in attendance were incredibly grateful for the gift of the concert, to have a safe and special night to celebrate Israeli culture and connect to the country in such a powerful way. The community members were thankful as well, to be able to see students celebrating Israel with music and dance. It just goes to show how strong Jews can be when we come together to support Israel.

1-3. Hadag Nahash rocks the house in Kraushaar Auditorium.

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Jewish Identity Abroad

by Rachel Brustein ’16

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have been involved in Hillel since I began at Goucher College, and I wanted to continue my connection to Jewish community while I studied abroad this past semester in the Balkans.

Jewish practice in a pluralistic way. Because this synagogue is the only local option, Jews ranging from secular to modern orthodox practices all come together and respect one another.

A couple of weeks into my semester in Belgrade, Serbia, I sought out the only synagogue in the country, called Sukkat Shalom. I found a welcoming community in a pluralistic modern orthodox synagogue.

Due to the great deal of Jewish history in Eastern Europe, I was also able to explore Judaism in a historical context. In the former Yugoslavia, there are not many living Jews because many of them, along with other Yugoslavs, were murdered during the Holocaust. Fortunately, anti-Semitism is not rampant in Serbia today. I visited the Jewish museum in Belgrade, which had a fascinating collection of artifacts from Jewish communities across the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires.

I walked into the sanctuary for the first time on a Friday evening. There was no mechitza (physical gender barrier). I quietly asked the woman in front of me if she spoke English; she did, and she got a siddur (prayer book) for me. The chanting and melodies were not the melodic tunes of a Reform service I am used to, but somehow that made the words of the prayers resonate with me more than they would back home.

I went back a few times and met wonderful people, both Serbs and Americans, who call Synagogue Sukkat Shalom their home. It greatly impressed me that the community was able to contain such a wide range of

In Bosnia, religion and ethnic identity are intertwined. Being a Serb means you are Eastern Orthodox Christian, being a Bosniak means you are Muslim, and being a Croat means you are Catholic. It is not possible to identify as a “Bosnian” on paper, so Jews, Roma, and Yugoslavs must identify as “other,” which hinders their ability to run for public office. In spite of this, there is a Jewish

Rachel Brustein ’16

community in Sarajevo, Bosnia’s capital, and I was able to visit the Jewish museum there, located in the historic synagogue.

Sarajevo has been called “the Jerusalem of Europe,” and it truly feels like it.

Though I will miss the Balkans, there is much I will bring back to the Jewish community at Goucher. I will return with different perspectives on pluralism and Israel, and a greater appreciation for the universality of Jewish food, ritual, and the Hebrew language.

I feel that my study abroad has been a key experience of my Jewish journey.