JMU Hillel Goes to DC!

For the past few years, JMU Hillel has been in contact with Judy Novenstein (middle in photo above) of ICCGW - Israel on Campus Coalition of Greater Washington. We were invited to join Judy at the beautiful JCC in DC for an ICCGW meeting with student leaders, Hillel professionals, and Coalition partners. Adam Rosenberg, external chair, Jackie Hedeman, president, Beth Mannella, treasurer, and Lisa Gewirtz, social chair, were very excited to attend and finally meet Judy in person! It was a really great experience for JMU Hillel to meet Hillel professionals and student leaders from other schools in the DC area. We learned a great deal of knowledge on programming, tips for member retention, and Jackie and Beth were introduced to a new Israel opportunity through WUJS that both are considering post-graduation! We thank Judy for inviting us to attend and look forward to working with her in the future.

MAZEL TOV JMADDY!

This past Friday we had our first Shabbat dinner of the year! We wanted to make it a themed dinner, so what better way than to throw a Bar Mitzvah party for the one and only James Madison! The rooms were decorated with purple and gold streamers along with an assortment of colorful balloons. Many people also came out with great school spirit, dressing in JMU colored attire.  We had scrumptious finger foods typically found at a Bar Mitzvah, along with a variety of Subway sandwiches.  The feast concluded with a delicious cake decorated with the words, “Mazel Tov J-MADDY!”  With so many people coming out to help celebrate, we had the opportunity to turn the music up and catch some individuals dancing to classic party songs such as, the Cupid Shuffle, the Cha Cha slide, and many more.  It was another successful event to start off a great semester! 

First Year Only Sweet Bee Trip!

A main goal that our Hillel board has is to get freshman more involved! One way we have attempted this is by having first year only events.  On September 6, we tried to have one of these events. The original plan was to take all of the first years to Kline’s, which is a delicious outdoor ice cream place, so that they could meet the Executive Board.  This plan was challenged when the skies decided to open up.  Because of the pouring rain, we decided to move the event to an indoor location.  What better place to move our event to than the new frozen yogurt shop, Sweet Bee, located right off campus?! We picked up the one first year brave enough to take on the storm, and we all went to Sweet Bee. Although this event was not the most successful first year only event, Hillel is definitely going to try this event again! I highly doubt the board would mind going to Sweet Bee again. Who doesn’t like frozen yogurt?!

Student Org Night

Thank you to everyone who stopped by the Hillel table at Student Org Night on Wednesday, September 7! We had a great time talking to first-year students interested in Hillel and hope to see everyone at future events. Remember--if you attend 4 events, you will receive the Hillel shirt featured above (worn by President Jackie Hedeman and Treasurer Beth Mannella).

First Hillel Events of the School Year!

Welcome back to JMU Hillel's Blog for the 2011-2012 school year!! This was not only the first week of classes, but also the first week of Hillel events.  We started off our first week of the semester with a wing night and a late night pizza party.  Both events were a success with many new and old faces coming out to enjoy yummy food and good company!  It was exciting to see so many first year students attending both events.  The weather was perfect for our wing night, which was held outside one of the Tree Houses overlooking Newmann Lake.  Our late night pizza party was held on Hillside Field, which is a central location for everyone!  Even though we all left these events ridiculously full, it was a great way to relax and forget about some of the stresses that the first week of classes can bring.  We are going to have many events this semester, and the wing night and pizza party were great ways to set the bar high! We can’t wait for this semester! Hope to see everyone at our next event.

Holocaust Remembrance Week

Last week was Holocaust Remembrance Week at JMU.  On Monday, Mark Strauss, a survivor, retold his experiences of being trapped inside Nazi-occupied Poland during the War. Strauss gave a very vivid account of not only his experiences, but what it may have been like for many other survivors of the Holocaust. Tuesday night we watched the award-winning film "The Counterfeiters." This film told the story of how Jewish prisoners helped sabotage the Nazi's counterfeit-currency operation during the War. Lastly, on Wednesday, Taylor Krauss gave a presentation on his organization Voices of Rwanda. His organization exists to record and preserve the testimonies of the survivors of the Rwandan genocide. In his presentation, Krauss explained to the audience how his Jewish back-round and his knowledge of the  Holocaust inspired him to create Voices of Rwanda. Hillel hopes that Holocaust Remembrance Week was both an educational and thought provoking week for those who attended these events.

Purim Shabbat

We handed out our new T-shirts to
members who have attended 4 events! 

On March 18, 2011, Hillel had its Purim themed Shabbat dinner.  Although no one dressed up (with a few exceptions),  it was still a lot of fun!  The Executive Board made Hamantaschen for the members, and we enjoyed delicious chicken from A &T Chicken.  It was a great night with lots of friends and conversation, but the evening did not end after the eating. We were so fortunate to be joined by Rabbi Etan and his wife Tammy for the Shabbat, and Rabbi Etan led an engaging discussion following the meal.  About 15 to 20 of us stayed around to talk about being Jewish on the JMU campus.  It was a wonderful talk, and I know I learned a great deal about the background of many of our members that I hadn’t known before. 

It was great to learn about why Judaism is important to some, and what traditions and aspects of our Jewish religion members want to carry with them for the rest of their lives.  This conversation fit in quite perfectly with the Purim story.  Queen Ester had to hide her religion from the king and from the rest of the people in the community she lived in. Although we aren’t hiding our religion by any means, it was interesting to see the connections between the Purim story and the situations we encounter at James Madison University.   

Also, make sure you come out to our Shabbat Service this Friday at Temple Beth El at 7:30!:)