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Fashion Resale At Its Best
The debates I scoffed at and didn't get
involved in at Michigan Hillel — with
AMI (American Movement for Israel)
and AIPAC and JStreet — are so impor-
tant to know when you begin to func-
tion in a brand new environment"
On affirming priorities and
establishing oneself:
"Why me? Why get Ariel to do this
thing?" On the surface, the answer is
clear. Anyone who has met him knows
that Ariel has a rare natural aptitude for
making his audience, his friends, his
family laugh with any mundane word
or gesture.
"They just came up to me and asked
me to do the [segment] ... Ellen got
excited" he said.
Ariel's deeper reasoning for his spot-
light, however, goes further than that.
"The reality is that I'd talk with
people in the office, and in those con-
versations I would display a complete
sense of comfort with my personality
and opinions and self, which really
developed in me at Michigan Hillel. I
am known as the most Jewish person
in the office! If anyone at Ellen were to
be asked to describe Ari in three words,
I'm sure they would say 'Jewish, Jewish
and Jewish.'
"I'm different here," Ariel affirmed.
"I'm proud of it.
"The phenomenon of leaving college
is getting thrown into testing grounds
of where you stand in relation to your
values and priorities"
For Ariel, these are largely Judaism
and Israel. "But graduating students
should know that when you approach
life comfortable with who you are, with
those aspects of yourself, it makes all
the difference.
"Ellen is a tough job. Setting Jewish
rules allows me to have a life outside
of work. I'll give you an example. The
show is a full-time production, a 6 a.m.-
10 p.m. job. As a result, asking time
off for Rosh Hashanah is a BIG DEAL.
Yeah, we live in America and there are
laws to protect my religious rights, but
as a lowly production assistant, it's a lot
to ask for. And you know what? They
gave me the time off!
"It was important to me that
they knew what was important to me,
and my confident approach in asking for
this time off truly elevated my status at
Ellen. I established my exact character
and background at work before I had
a concrete personality there. I made
them know exactly who I am and that
is undoubtedly what made them per-
manently hire me. I was myself and not
who they expected or wanted me to be.
"Coming into a new city, it is so
important to find a comfort zone within
Judaism and a collection of knowledge
on Israel — have a place you feel com-
fortable when stepping into a society
of gentiles. Trust me, it makes you that
much more of an interesting individual.
I have no doubt that they wanted to put
me on TV because I am so transparent
with my identity"
Miscellaneous questions:
P: How did hosting the Hillel Gala pre-
pare you for Ellen?
A: "I wouldn't say the gala prepared
me because I didn't know what was
necessary to be on the show. I also
didn't know they would hire me, let
alone make a segment with me, but I
am beyond grateful. Grateful, satisfied
and thrilled that Hillel gave me the
opportunity to flex my ability to speak
publicly. I was so nervous — and those
were my friends, people I knew! This
made me realize I loved making people
laugh. It was my first onstage moment
that simply made my college time"
P: What is your favorite memory
from Michigan Hillel?
A: "Well, I was the Arts and Culture
chair for Relay for Life. I ran a zumba
and dinner fundraiser event called
"zinner." That was pretty fun! And I
have no shame in saying I was definite-
ly not the best leader. I just, you know,
wanted to chill.
"But my favorite moments of all time
were Friday night dinners at Hillel and
seeing everyone there, just enjoying a
meal together. That is so important.
I remember joking around during
Kiddush. You sang and you joked and
caught up with your friends, and then
you went back to your night of going
out. At some point, I stopped going
home because I was too excited for
Friday night"
P: Do you text with Ellen?
A: "No, but I did put the Ellen recep-
tion number in my phone as "Ellen
DeGeneres" so when the show rings for
work it looks like Ellen is calling me:'
P: How close are you with Ellen?
A: "Well, we talk sometimes and
know each other's names, but we're not
exactly getting froyo after work yet"
P: Be honest — living in LA, do you
miss the winter you grew up with here in
Michigan?
A: "HA! I don't miss winter AT ALL.
There is a 60-degree winter here. The
thing I miss most is — I don't know —
Zingermans?"
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OlympoEntertainment corn
Polina Fradkin of Farmington Hills is a
sophomore at University of Michigan in
Ann Arbor. A "Sorry, it's Ari!" poster is dis-
played at the entrance to the U-M Hine!.
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Charge by Phone 800.745.3000
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December 4 • 2014
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