100 Years of Hillel Stories

Author

黑料传送门

Date

May 22, 2023

Hillel is turning 100! In honor of this milestone and to mark the launch of the Hillel Alumni Network, we asked alumni from throughout Hillel鈥檚 rich history to share their memories with us. We鈥檝e compiled their memories into a Hillel Scrapbook and are excited to share these excerpts with you:

Susan Fendrick, Brown University 鈥�84: During my first week of classes at Brown University in September 1979, I went to a meeting to organize Reform High Holiday services. I met Sharon, a sophomore, and by Yom Kippur morning services鈥攚hen I arrived late, ran quickly up to the bimah, sat next to her, and we both started giggling鈥攐ur friendship was sealed. 

Sharon and I spent the year shuttling between Hillel (Shabbat services and dinners) and progressive organizations (a radical student newspaper and anti-nuclear activism), between her Grad Center suite and my Morris-Champlain dorm room. She went to Israel the following year, and I went the year after that; we lived in a group house when I returned, and she stayed in Providence after graduation, and our close friendship was a constant thread in our lives.

Over the past nearly 44 years, we have been through and shared relationships lost and found, the tragic deaths of several dear friends, living together, moving up and down the Northeast Corridor, getting married, the death of parents, the arrival of children. We have logged many hundreds (thousands?) of hours of intense phone conversations and countless emails, communicating about everything under the sun: Israel, moral quandaries, progressive politics, the endless parsing of interpersonal dynamics…and laughing, always laughing.

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld and I have lived in the same city for the past two decades. She is the President of Hebrew College; I am also a rabbi, a Judaic studies editor, and a spiritual director. We are not as close as we once were, but we are forever connected, our friendship a testament to the fact that a lifelong relationship can have many parshiyot (chapters).

And it all started 黑料传送门.

Andrea Hoffman, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 鈥�96: In 1986, I was sitting in the Hillel lounge with a few friends watching the space shuttle Challenger launch, and then tragically collapse. Our Hillel鈥檚 Executive Director, Rabbi Mark Mulgay was there with us and I honestly don’t remember much about that day other than total shock and his calming presence. Flash forward to 2012 when I was the Executive Director at the University of Chicago Hillel and a student walked in with his father, Rabbi Mark Mulgay. I reminded him of that day in 1986 and we shared an amazing moment. I told Mark that while I hoped we never faced that type of tragedy while his son was at UChicago, I promised I would try to be the same kind of presence for his son that he, Mark, was for me.

Judy and Michael Turk, Brooklyn College 鈥�70: There used to be a saying at Brooklyn College Hillel, 鈥淚 met my spouse in Hillel House鈥�. We met there more than 50 years ago and we鈥檙e still friends with some of the wonderful people we met 黑料传送门.

Robin Frost, Arizona State University 鈥�75: My husband and I met on Shabbat, March 7, 1971. It was love at first sight for me.  I even have a picture of him standing next to the candles as they were lit.  We were married for nearly 30 years before he passed away.  I loved my time spent with friends 黑料传送门; so many adventures and so much fun!

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Israel

Building Communities from Jerusalem to Brooklyn: Naomi Frumin鈥檚 Story

Author

Naomi Frumin

Date

February 10, 2023

Growing up in Jerusalem is a straight path towards learning that life is complicated. When I take the light rail through downtown Jerusalem, I sit next to people from all kinds of backgrounds and all walks of life. When your small bubble is filled with different languages, cultures, and religions, you learn how to connect with people on a deeper level. Those early experiences, combined with my family鈥檚 history, gave me a fundamental sense of love and commitment to Israel and its diverse communities.

My parents came to Jerusalem from Russia and Ukraine. They wanted their children to be able to live freely and have access to opportunities that were closed to them. What they didn鈥檛 know at the time is that, due to a genetic condition, both my sister and I would experience hearing loss to different degrees. I continue to be grateful that in Israel, living with a hearing impairment hasn鈥檛 changed my ability to be a leader and serve my country in the ways that are most important to me. 

 Being able to serve my country has been a high priority for me since I was young. I鈥檝e often asked myself, 鈥淲hat part of my identity is more important to me, being Israeli or being Jewish?鈥� The balance that I have come to is that I identify as a Jew who lives in Israel because without my parents鈥� Jewish identity, they would have never moved to Israel and I would not be able to live the life I鈥檓 loving today. As a way to express gratitude for all that Israel has provided for me and with the intention of strengthening my leadership skills, I decided to do a service-based gap year before my army service. 

I ended up working in Brooklyn as part of ShinShinim (a year-long service abroad program offered to Israeli high school graduates through the Jewish Agency). In New York, I encountered Judaism in a way that felt so meaningful to me. My host family, and especially my host mom, who is an amazing woman, mother, and reform Rabbi, introduced me to an important part of Reform Judaism鈥攖hinking about Jewish practice in terms of the values that were already important to me. For example, the holiday of Sukkot can be about making sure that every person has shelter and a safe place to sleep. I was so inspired by the community and the people I met in Brooklyn that I was determined to spend more time with Jewish communities outside of Israel after my army service.

When I was still in high school, I started the process of negotiating with the Israeli army to let me serve as a volunteer, despite my hearing loss. It was a complex three year process, but in the end, I enlisted in the army as a commander in Garin Tzabar – a program that provides housing and support for lone soldiers in Israel (soldiers from the Jewish Diaspora who choose to make aliyah and serve in the Israeli army). With my fluency in Russian and English, I was able to provide a safe space and family environment for young people who had left their home countries, driven by a sense of duty, and who were searching for a home in Israel.聽

After I completed my army service, I spent two years working with a non-profit organization called Kadimah where I worked with Israeli young adults who chose to do a gap year before their army service. The organization provided a safe place, emotional, social, and educational support for children who need additional support.

My work with the incredible soldiers in Garin Tzabar and with Kadimah further inspired me to return to Brooklyn College as a Jewish Agency Israel Fellow. When I applied to the Jewish Agency Israel Fellow program, it was very important to me that my application be considered on its own merit without factoring in the fact that I have hearing loss. At the time, I was studying Human Resources and Management at Bar Ilan University, but when I was offered the opportunity to complete my degree in New York, I immediately said yes.聽

Moving back to New York let me reconnect with my host family and work closely with students as they grow into and explore their Jewish identities. Supporting our students as they encounter antisemitism and a difficult climate on campus, I can say that my dream to serve my community and my country is fulfilled.聽

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