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Brandon Movitz, Zack Friedman and Ryan Wolok, all from West Bloomfield,
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second in intramural competition.
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December 11 • 2008
A
s the Lester and Jewell
Morris Hillel Jewish Student
Center at Michigan State
University undergoes its expansion,
Hillel's visibility among the MSU
Jewish student community is also
growing rapidly, thanks in part to
Hillel's growing athletic program.
According to Sam Plotkin, Hillel's
athletic chair and an MSU sophomore,
some students are coming to Hillel
because of the athletics program.
Plotkin said a segment of the Jewish
student body whose interests lie out-
side the organization's cultural and
religious programming want to attend
games and participate in a variety of
sports through Hillel.
"The Jewish Student Union board
is now reaching out to a diverse group
of students:' Plotkin said. "A kid who
comes to a cultural event might not
come out for sports and vice verse
This fall, the MSU Hillel football
team defeated the University of
Michigan Hillel team 26-7 in an annu-
al game played during the weekend of
the MSU-UM varsity game. MSU lost
last year's game, but Jason Rudy, 20, of
West Bloomfield, a junior at MSU, said
this year's team was more competitive,
more focused.
"We had a lot more talent than U-M
had, and there was a lot of emotion
and rivalry between the two schools.
The game was definitely heated, but
even with the intense rivalry everyone
had a good time."
More MSU Jewish students are get-
ting involved in intramural sports
and are attending Hillel's monthly
broomball games and show interest
in the upcoming three-on-three Slade
Matzahballers basketball tournament.
Still, Plotkin said he wants to incor-
porate an even wider range of athletic
events, including paintball and trips to
professional sports games.
MSU Hillel athletics received a boost
in November from MSU alumnus Ed
Slade and his wife, Dorothy, that could
help finance Plotkin's goals. The Slades'
donation to MSU Hillel established the
Slade Family Sports Fund, which will
be used for athletic purposes.
Plotkin said sports programming
began earlier this year, which led to
increased participation. He said word
of mouth and a comprehensive e-mail
list got the message to more students.
And Jewish students that I haven't
seen all year came out for the MSU
—U-M Hillel football game he said.
Jason Rudy noticed many new faces
at a recent Shabbat dinner honoring
the football team. ❑
Zack Colman is an MSU junior from
Bloomfield Hills.