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for colles: f udents by college students

Home Away
From Home

Hillel at EMU
expanded my
Jewish horizons.

By Heather Hoberman

February 10, 2011 / 6 ADAR I 5771

edu

VOLUME 2, NO. 1

Heather Hoberman

Ypsilanti
Hillel at Eastern Michigan
University has been my home
away from home for my five
years at college. Having Hillel
on campus allowed me to cel-
ebrate my religious traditions
in my own way, see myself as
a global Jewish citizen and
shape myself into a community
leader.
Since freshman year, Hillel
at EMU provided me with
amazing opportunities that I
would not have known about
or not pursued on my own.
My first experience with
Hillel was participating in a
Taglit Birthright Israel trip
in May 2006. The trip really
opened my eyes to Israel and
all it has to offer.
Since then, I have returned
to Israel twice, both times
through Hillel.
I participated in a Hillel
Alternative Winter Break trip
in December 2006 called
"Leading up North" during the
same year as the conflict in
Lebanon.
We traveled to Kiryat
Shemona, Israel's northern-
most city, where we helped to
paint and decorate a school
bomb shelter. I felt truly
gratified that I helped provide
those children with a safe
space where they could at

Home Away on page 26

Current Jewish Student Union President Sam Appel of Huntington Woods
with former JSU president Geoff Levin of Wheeling, Ill.

Leader Of The Pack

Energetic JSU president Sam Appel keeps
MSU Hillel's programming humming.

By Sam Plotkin

East Lansing

A

midst hundreds of residential houses in

East Lansing, Michigan State University
Hillel is a rather large, conspicuous, square
red brick building on the corner of Charles
and Linden. Nevertheless, it is but a building. What
makes the Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish Student
Center an important institution for the MSU Jewish
community is its fantastic staff and the leadership of

students like Sam Appel and others that make up the
Jewish Student Union (JSU).
Appel serves as JSU president; he was elected last
April. The Huntington Woods native is a third-year stu-
dent, working towards a double major in the Residential
College in the Arts and Humanities (RCAH) and Social
Relations and Policy, with a specialization in Jewish
Studies at James Madison College.
Leader on page 24
He explains that the JSU is the

Uplifting
Conference

HMD interns share
prayers in unusually
high places.

By Ari Jacobovitz

St. Louis
I traveled to St. Louis for a
national Hillel conference and
orientation for my new job
as a MASA Israel intern for
Hillel of Metro Detroit (HMD),
which is based at Wayne State
University in Detroit. Little did
I know I would make friends
and memories that will last a
lifetime.
Washington University
was packed with Jewish col-
lege students from across the
county late last summer. I
immediately noticed that they
were fun, polite and, most
importantly, easy to talk to.
After attending many lead-
ership training sessions, group
trainings and social interac-
tion programs, I and the other
interns became close friends
and learned a great deal about
each other.
I took away many things
from this Hillel conference, but
one special memory stands
out and it truly jump-started
my year.
Neil Cantor, director of
Jewish Student Life at HMD,
wanted to do something spe-
cial for HMD's three interns
— Nicole Itkin, Sean Alpiner
and me — and two other
interns we had bonded with
from other universities. During
the conference, our schedules
were full and free time was
limited. But, even though we
were sleep deprived, we woke
up at 5 a.m. the last morning
of the conference for a very
special field trip.
One thing that puts St. Louis
on the map is the Gateway
Arch, which was our destina-
tion. We were the very first
people in line at the Arch,
which was majestic from
below as it rose into the sky.
Once inside, we squeezed into

Uplifting on page 24

February R) 2011

21