Enriching thE livEs of JEwish studEnts so that thEy may Enrich thE JEwish pEoplE and thE world CONNEct EXpEriEncE lEad 2 very year, we have the opportunity to write a new chapter in the history of University of Michigan Hillel. And every year, we look to Ethe climate on campus to give us direction. Certainly, our Jewish and academic calendars and our groups’ traditions provide a rhythm of programming, but it is when we consider what trends are telling us that new ideas flourish. With the alarming rise of sexual assault on campus, our students responded by starting Aleinu - a Hillel version of It’s On Us (a national initiative to raise awareness around sexual assault). They organized a three-part series that included one of our student’s survivor story and bystander training. With the rising tensions around race relations, our Breaking Barriers group sought opportunities to partner with other ethnic groups on campus, including a meaningful Ask Big Questions event with the Black Student Union. With many students in Greek Life looking to blend their Jewish and Greek values, our jNET engagers reached out to these students with specialized events like Shabbat dinners and Torah yoga. Lastly, with students more wary of institutions and “stepping through the doors” of Jewish spaces, our “Shabbat across U-M” – which we affectionately call ShabUM – closed Hillel after services one Friday night and encouraged students to do Shabbat their way. ShabUM reached over 800 students in 52 locations across campus – our largest Shabbat experience to date. We are grateful to have such a vibrant Hillel, with new, excited leaders joining our campus every year. But we know that to be successful, we need to continue looking outside our walls. This is how we will remain relevant to our campus community and be an organization in which students across campus want to take part. What you will see in the following pages are just snapshots of these experiences. Thank you to all of our students for your leadership, participation and energy. Thank you to our Board of Trustees for your guidance and support. And thank you to our extended family of donors who make all of this possible with your generosity. Tilly Shames Executive Director 3 s parents, as alumni and as supporters, anti-Israel sentiment on campus, our staff we should feel so proud of our Michigan helped Jewish students understand these A Hillel. It is a central meeting place issues, creating the potential for increased where students share ideas and create outreach understanding and respect among students initiatives and educational experiences. It is while providing an opportunity to articulate also a home away from home providing food for their feelings. body and soul, a place to study, get support, and celebrate Shabbat, Passover and High Holiday I want to thank our Board of Trustees for services. It is a building that is alive with a its dedication in enhancing all aspects vibrant staff and engaged students. Michigan of Hillel, the Student Governing Board for Hillel provides a Jewish experience for students overseeing successful programming, and most unparalleled by any other Hillel. importantly, the professional staff at Hillel. We are lucky to have an outstanding Executive Life on campus is busy. Students arrive Director, Tilly Shames, and the talented, at U of M seeking a quality education and invested staff she has gathered. We owe all of an experience which will help shape their them our gratitude! personal, social and political identities. This creates an opportunity for engagement. For Lynda Giles example, while confronting the subject of Chair of the Board of Trustees . th my term as the Chair of the All one has to do during the year to feel the student Governing Board coming “magic” is walk down the main hallway of Hillel Wto a close, I feel it is appropriate and tune into a conversation taking place at a to reflect on the past and forecast, perhaps table, peer through the window to see a group optimistically, for the future. meeting or event taking place in the lounge, or listen to the sound of students solving Orgo Over the course of my term, I have been problems on the white board. I’d like to take blown away by the cohesive community that credit for this strong community at Hillel, but permeates throughout the building and the warm and welcoming atmosphere to which the credit is due to all the student leaders, the students and staff alike have contributed staff, and the students themselves. Every day immensely. I attribute the “magic” of Hillel on the Governing Board I work with incredibly to the fact that so many individuals can dedicated, intelligent and passionate students collaborate in such incredible ways, whether who put all they have into making sure through programming across a plethora of everyone can receive the best Hillel experience interests, friendships forming from all corners possible. These student leaders have opened up of campus, or intellectually challenging yet our community to thousands of students at the respectful conversations. Make no mistake, we University of Michigan to find their home and so appreciate the help and support from our community through Hillel. staff and donors, but throughout the semester, regardless of any other contributing factors, the “magic” of Hillel is alive and well in the hands Alex Adler (’16) of the students. Chair of the Governing Board 4 Hillel’s Impact From Generation... As a student, I spent nearly every Friday night at Hillel and in the Shalva minyan. Shalva had a ruach (spirit) and energy that was infectious. Even as a new student I could not help but be drawn in to the singing, clapping, and foot stomping that filled the room and made me feel so connected to Shabbat and prayer. When we moved to Chicago after graduation, my husband, other U-M grad friends, and I found ourselves searching for a community that in some way gave us that same feeling of warmth, community, and spirituality that we found at Hillel. When we felt like we couldn’t find what we were looking for, we created it ourselves. We have informal Kabbalat Shabbat services once a month, modeled in spirit after Shalva, in various living rooms (followed, of course, with Anna Leemon (’17) leading a Shabbat dinner). We find ourselves services with her guitar singing the familiar tunes of Kabbalat Shabbat, clapping, stomping our feet, and even dancing. My experience at ... to Generation Hillel inspired me to search Growing up, I had a wealth of diverse Jewish for and help to create the kind experiences at my fingertips. This gave me of community that we had and a special kind of knowledge of Judaism: cherished at Michigan. the knowledge that there are many ways to observe Judaism and that everyone practices Becky (Stolow) their Judaism differently. My Reform friends Goldstein (’10) from camp taught me what a guitar can add with husband to the spirituality of a Shabbat service. My Josh and more observant friends from school taught me what exactly the restrictions of being shomer son Jacob at a shabbat (Sabbath observant) are. I seek out Michigan Hillel conversations with fellow Jewish students, alumni event in and our Hillel rabbi Rav Lisa Stella, to learn Chicago. how their practices differ from mine. This has helped me value my own religious identity, but also allows me to discover new Jewish practices. The individuality of Judaism is what I value most about my religion, but the best part is that there’s always more to learn. 5 Outreach Cohort Michigan Mensch Mensch is a mentorship program pairing new students with upper- classmen to serve as Hillel mentors. The student-leaders of the group create pairs based on similar backgrounds and interests and plan programs for the pairs to attend together. Additionally, the mensches receive Starbucks gift cards to take their “menschees” out to coffee to facilitate mentorship and friendship. hen I was elected to be Michigan Hillel’s Outreach Cohort Chair, I knew I was entering a family of leaders Wwhose focus is engaging Jewish students on our campus. My expectations of the position have been met and exceeded as I’ve witnessed leaders in the Outreach Cohort put their hearts and souls into creating a more inclusive, more diverse Hillel community. Whether it’s ensuring that prospective students feel at home and welcome during campus visits or going on coffee dates with students who have never stepped foot in Hillel, leaders in the Outreach Cohort are passionate about building bridges, making connections, and strengthening Jewish life on campus. While clubs in the Outreach Cohort range from one-on- one mentoring and first year student programming to Greek life engagement and pre-professional development, they all share a mission of building a vibrant Jewish community at Michigan. Daniel Gordon (’17) Outreach Cohort Chair 6 FYSH YSH – First Year Students of Hillel – is a group led by sophomore students with the goal of helping freshmen Fmeet other students in their class and begin to develop their community at Hillel. FYSH started the year with the annual FYSH bonfire and celebrated Sukkot together at the event “FYSH in the Hut.” Community is really an important part of all Jewish holidays. FYSH in the Hut was a great way for freshmen to gather together as a community in celebration of Sukkot. Laura Schinagle (’17) on campus and listening to Residential College and a three- jNET their stories, experiences, part learning series called “Bagels uncertainties, and hopes for their and Shmear with your Fellow or many students, college Jewish experience in college.