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Sept. 2, 2010 / 23 ELUL 5770
Jewish
Journey
Life-Altering
Young Judaea
Year Course offers
real connection
to Israel.
Hillel made the
connection come
alive for EMU
student.
By Jessica Curhan
With Rosh Hashanah right
around the corner, I cannot
help but remember what
By Nelson Grossman
When I think about my life
as a Jewish young adult, my
thoughts return to my child-
I was doing exactly a year
ago. Everyone in my 16-girl
hood in South Euclid, Ohio. I
grew up in community with
apartment woke up at two in
the morning and went "shul-
hopping" in Jerusalem to say
special prayers in prepara-
few Jewish families. My own
family was only peripherally
involved in anything Jewish.
tion for Rosh Hashanah, also
known as Slichot.
If we did participate in Jewish
life, it was the rare time we
went to a "catch-all" single
I then remember walking
toward the Kotel to watch the
sunrise as I ate fresh rugelach.
Like dipping apples into honey
for the new year, I knew this
service for the High Holidays.
During my college search,
the only things I considered
were the academic programs
experience in Israel would be
filled with sweetness.
offered. Jewish life was the
furthest thing from my mind.
Instead of attending uni-
Fast forward to the present.
I am now 21 and the founding
president of the brand new
versity right after I graduated
from Frankel Jewish Academy
Alma College
in West Bloomfield, I decided
to go on Young Judaea Year
Student Advisory Board (SAB)
of Hillel at Eastern Michigan
University in Ypsilanti. My
primary role as president is to
lead my fellow board mem-
bers so that we can connect
Jewish students at Eastern
with the Jewish campus com-
2.. Cent-cal ailic4iga4
Course, a nine-month gap-year
program. Through this pro-
gram (under the umbrella of
•.Universily •
L .Michigan StAte
Hadassah), I traveled and lived
in three very different cities —
• UniversityEast -
Jerusalem, Bat Yam and Arad
— where I volunteered and
4 Albiott College
munity. We are responsible
for showing them the great
opportunities created by peers
who are actively involved with
Jewish campus life.
As if that wasn't enough
involvement, with Hillel at
EMU's support, we have
studied. Within these cities, I
lived in apartments where my
„
•lamazoo
6. Grand'V4lley Stag
University
-
neighbors were typical Israeli
families. Through this program,
I created lifelong friendships,
OM*
matured into a confident adult
and fell in love with the land
of milk and honey.
H-Cam supports Hillels at these Michigan colleges.
revitalized the Epsilon Mu
colony of the Alpha Epsilon Pi
fraternity at EMU and I am its
first vice president. This gives
me the opportunity to connect
EMU's Jewish young men who
might not have had a strong
Jewish upbringing, like I did,
or are simply interested in
exploring a Jewish social life
with a Jewish community.
How did I go from barely
Jewish to super-active Jewish
EMU student? Hillel at EMU
provided other Jewish stu-
dents like me with a warm
and supportive community. It
JOURNEY on page
102
103
September 2 • 2010
When I first landed in Israel,
I was in utter shock. Not
so much culture shock, but
Sharing The Wealth
rather the shock of living with
strangers and having my fam-
ily across the ocean. It also
New Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan helps grow
programming at smaller colleges.
took me some time to finally
realize that I was not a tourist
in Israel. Instead of going to
the shuk (market) to simply
By Ilene Crane
s the president of Hillel at Central
Michigan University, a school with a
relatively small Jewish student popula-
tion, I sometimes find it difficult to locate
resources to develop programs to make our Hillel the
best it can be. That's where H-CAM comes in.
H-CAM, or Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan,
A
is an alliance of several Hillels throughout Michigan
that includes Albion College, Alma College, Grand
Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Western
Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Kalamazoo
College and my school, CMU in Mt. Pleasant.
H-CAM, with its combined resources, is under
SHARING THE WEALTH on page
103
look around and try not to
get lost, I became one of the
pushy people carrying bags
of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Instead of rushing into stores
that had "great deals" on Ben
Yehuda Street, I was eating
YEAR COURSE on page
104