„gea/i6

All JCC kids say thanks for everything you do

concerned about risk:' she says.
Much of this study abroad is made
possible by Julie and Ed Levy Jr. scholar-
ships for student leaders studying in
Israel. Levy, a longtime Detroiter and
philanthropist, created an endowment
that is approaching $1 million to help
students realize their dreams of studying
in Israel. MSU supports more students
with scholarships to study in Israel than
any other university in the country.
In addition to studying in Israel, MSU
students also can study Israel at home
through a myriad of programs and
courses.
"MSU is ahead of the game in Israel
studies:' Aronoff says. "It was only the
sixth school in the country to create a
chair of Israel studies position. There is
also so much programming — speak-
ers, the Michael and Elaine Serling
Lecture on Modern Israel, the MSU
Israeli Film Festival, the Irwin T. and
Shirley Holtzman Collection of Israeli
Literature and, almost every week, there
is an Israeli program open to the com-
munity.
"The intellectual environment is fan-
tastic, and the Jewish Studies Program
contributes greatly to campus life

A Reinvigorated Hillel
When Cindy Hughey, director of the
Lester and Jewell Morris Hillel Jewish
Student Center, was hired in 2000, she
enjoyed commit-
ment and support
in building a new
Hillel House from
Detroit Federation,
the Prentis Morris
Family Support
Foundation and com-
munity leaders, espe-
Cindy Hughey
cially the late David
Bittker, a longtime leader at Hillel.
Bittker, although a U-M alum, was
so proud to help, she says. "He believed
in the 'neon-light effect: as he called it:'
she says. "If we build it, they will come
Bittker became the driving force
behind the new facility, chairing the
committee that raised $3 million to
make it a reality.
"David made things happen:' says his
wife, Arline, of West Bloomfield. "When
he got an idea, he acted on it. He
wanted to re-create Indiana University's
remarkable Hillel House at Michigan
State. By surrounding himself with a
lot of good people, he managed to get
things accomplished. He had an enor-
mous amount of energy."
Another person instrumental in
bringing the new house to fruition was
Patti Phillips, now a MSU Hillel board
member and co-chair of its annual auc-
tion. She gave the lead gift to the house
that is named for her parents.
"Before my father passed away unex-

pectedly, he had told me he wanted to
make a donation to Hillel House says
Phillips, who lives in West Bloomfield
with her husband, Rick. "A few months
later, I was at a Federation event with
the MSU president, and it was sug-
gested it be named for my parents, so I
gave the lead gift:"
She, her husband and their two
daughters are all MSU alumni. "I'm
really proud of the way Hillel has
grown," she says. "It truly is the center
for Jewish life on campus. Every Jew
can find a place there. It's a beautiful
building."
Hughey agrees that the house really
became the driving force behind the
revitalization of Jewish life at MSU.
At the beautiful new facility, students
can enjoy services, Shabbat dinners,
programming or simply find a place to
study or visit with friends.
"Students see it as their place says
Jonathon Koenigsberg, Hillel associate
director and director of development.
"We've now in our 13th year. Students
flock to it; it has put MSU on the map
for Jewish students."
Koenigsberg was a student at MSU
in the late 1990s, during the waning
days of the old building. "I hate to say
it, but it was a dump. Not a place people
wanted to hang out"
Hughey, who graduated MSU in
1976, says she never attended the
Hillel. "I didn't even know it was there.
There wasn't an active, vibrant Jewish
community on campus at that time,"
she says.
Now she leads a robust Hillel, sur-
rounded by an incredible staff with a
budget that has increased six or seven
fold over the past 13 years. She and her
staff also run HCAM — Hillel Campus
Alliance of Michigan — for students at
nine campuses that don't have a Hillel
House. For those students, MSU Hillel
is their mother ship.
"We offer two Birthright trips a year,
giving 120 students the chance to go to
Israel. We have more than 200 student-
driven programs over the course of the
year:' she says. "It's like the campus
JCC, not just a synagogue. We have
sports, social programs, Israel advo-
cacy — so many ways to connect with
being Jewish:'
Indeed, you can expect to see 300
Jewish students at Hillel on Friday
night Shabbat dinner and 500-800
Jewish students at events like the
annual Sparty's Bar Mitzvah. Other
programs include the Israel Campus
Advocacy Training Initiative and
Destination Detroit, a service learn-
ing program for students to work with
Detroit youth and learn about the city.
"If you are Jewish at MSU, we will
find you," she says, "and make you feel
at home:' ❑

(and so do the JCC board, members and staff)!

Pk _ A 1 ■ 13

THE CENTER

Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit

Florine Mark

Mark A. Lit

President

Executive Director

D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building • Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus
6600 W. Maple Road, West Bloomfield, MI 48322

Jimmy Prentis Morris Building • A. Alfred Taubman Jewish Community Campus
15110 W. Ten Mile Road, Oak Park, MI 48237

www.jccdet.org

1, 0

Dr. Eva Feldman
and scientists of the
A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute
congratulate
Leadership Advisory Board Member

Gene Applebaum

for receiving the 2013

Fred M. Butzel
Memorial Award for
Distinguished Community Service

University of Michigan
Medical School

A. ALFRED TAUBMAN
MEDICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE

where scientists create cures

1862140

September 5 • 2013

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