On Campus
MSU Hillel Is Growing
East Lansing — Michigan State University
Hillel is expanding its two-story, 10,000-
square-foot Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel
Jewish Student Center on Charles Street to
accommodate an ever-increasing Jewish
student population on campus.
Building began in September to add
2,500 square feet of space. It will enlarge
the first floor dining room and meat kitch-
en. The second floor expansion includes
building on to the sanctuary, adding two
MSU Hillel
offices and a multipurpose room.
MSU Hillel Board President Patrice
Morris Phillips and her brother, Robert Morris, and the Prentis Family Support
Foundation made the expansion a reality.
Stuart J. Fine & Associates, a West Bloomfield-based architectural firm, was awarded
the contract for the project, which will be completed in January.
Patrice Phillips says the larger facility and added amenities will reflect the program-
ming, studying and spiritual needs of Jewish MSU students.
Cindy Hughey, director of MSU Hillel, said that "since October of 2002 when the new
building was dedicated, we have outgrown our space. In fact, on a recent Shabbat we
served 325 dinners and had to tent the street to make room for our students!'
At the beginning of fall semester, 350 Jewish freshmen arrived at MSU. There are an
estimated 3,500 Jewish students on campus.
Jewish Studies At Wayne State
Detroit — Wayne State University has launched a Jewish studies minor.
WSU has, in the past, offered an array of classes of interest to Jewish students. The minor
is an initiative of the WSU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and is devoted to peace
in the Middle East. A cluster of faculty will be devoting their teaching and research to a
Middle East dialogue, in addition to classes in literature, religion and the arts.
See a related story on page A19.
Hillel Metro Detroit
October Events
Break 'n Bowl – 9:20 p.m. Thursday, Oct.
9. Cost: $5 with RSVP for 2 games, shoes,
food; $8 at door. Thunderbird Lanes, 400
W. Maple, Troy. RSVP by Oct. 7 to hillelpd@
wayne.edu .
Julie Schechter enjoyed Break 'n
Bowl last year.
Creative arts – 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29. Cost: $10. Creative Arts Studio,114
W. Fourth Street, Royal Oak. RSVP by Oct.17 to abbarooboo@yahoo.com .
On Campus
Our new On Campus section will appear monthly on the first Thursday of the
month. To submit articles and photos, e-mail ahitsky@thejewishnews.com
before noon of the last Wednesday of the previous month.
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October 2 • 2008
JIM
MSU Students Study In Jerusalem
East Lansing — Twenty undergraduate students, including 18 on scholarships, partici-
pated in the Michigan State Uniuversity Jewish Studies Summer Program at Hebrew
University of Jerusalem this summer.
Dr. Marc Bernstein, professor of Hebrew and Israeli culture at MSU, taught a course on
the historical geography of Jerusalem. Field trips traced the history of Jerusalem, from
its ancient Canaanite origins to the present.
Students also took a course taught by Dr. David Mendelsson of Hebrew University's
Rothberg School on the emergence of the modern State of Israel.
Kallie Eisenberger summed up her experience: "Almost every day we had some type
of tour in the city and this, in my opinion, was something of extreme value that I hope
the program in the coming years continues to do.
"I learned so much more about the history and complexity of Jerusalem by being
physically present instead of being taught about them in a classroom. I cannot even
begin to explain what it felt like to touch the Western Wall, stand on the Temple Mount
and go inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher."
To view student trip and lecture reports, go to msuisrael.blogspot.com .
Dr. Bernstein will lead the summer program again in 2009.
Students Study Green Israel
East Lansing — The inaugural Michigan State University Green Israel Program in coop-
eration with Keren Kayemet Lelsrael-Jewish National Fund last June was led by Dr. Mike
Kaplowitz of MSU and focused on natural resource and environmental management in
Israelit attracted five students. The program was based at Tel Aviv University and Tel
Hai College and briefly heard lectures at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
Students cleared waterways in the Tel Dan Nature Park, evaluated conifer forest
regeneration in Biriya Forest, and trimmed trees and cleared habitat in the Hula Valley
Reserve. The group visited Arab Israeli villages and a regional project for reclaiming
wastewater for use irrigating Arab olive groves.
They also visited archeological sites with guides at Caesarea, Sepphoris and the Old
City in Jerusalem. Faculty and students rafted down the upper Jordan River, visited
Nimrod's Fortress, the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea.
The 2009 summer program will be led by Dr. Rob Richardson.
Israeli LGBT Leader At U-M
Pizza in the but – noon Sunday, Oct.19.
Cost: $2. Oak Park JCC. Pizza and trivia in
the sukkah. RSVP by Oct.16 to eleanorko-
tov@yahoo.com
Helping hands – 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 26.
Yad Ezra, 2850 W.11 Mile Rd., Berkley.
Brunch, poverty discussion and volunteer
in the kosher food bank. RSVP by by Oct.
23 to az4293@wayne.edu
Summer in Jerusalem
Ann Arbor — Danny Savitch, one of Israel's leading activists for lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender rights, will speak at the University of Michigan 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct.
23, at the Michigan Union.
Savitch is a co-founder of the Jerusalem Open House (JOH), one of the largest
LGBT organization in the Middle East. A lawyer by profession, he volunteered as the
legal adviser to the JOH for many years and has successfully argued before the Israeli
Supreme Court about pride events in Jerusalem and obtaining equal funding.
He has participated in various human rights forums and campaigns including the
forum for free choice in marriage in Israel. He is also the executive director of Kol
HaNeshama, Israel's largest Reform Jewish synagogue, one of the few congregations in
Israel with a visible and active LGBT presence.
"I really think that bringing in someone who can engage people from these two back-
grounds, the LGBT community and the Jewish community, is something unique and
exciting:' said U-M Ahava co-chair Mitchell Crispell. "It's the bringing together of two
groups of people who don't always relate in this way."
The lecture is free and open to the public.
Aside from his lecture, "Gay in The Holy Land;' Savitch will meet with student activ-
ists and speak in classes Oct. 22-23.