jewish@edu

for college students by college students

United In Peace

WMU Hillel hosts event on Mideast conflict.

Lexis Sittsamer } jewish@edu writer

T

he College Democrats and Hillel at
Western Michigan University (WMU)

inspiring to see how engaged, curious and
respectful everyone was during a conversa-

joined together on March 4 for a
dialogue about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

tion that can sometimes cause debate. It was
important to everyone that this remained a

led by May Ye, Israel Campus Intern and me,

conversation and not a dispute.

Ask Big Questions Campus Fellow.
The College Democrats at WMU is a regis-

The conversation that began the evening
was the exchange of thoughts surrounding

tered student group and progressive political
organization. The students involved strive to

the word "no" and "disagree[ments]." It
quickly evolved to be about disagreement

make a difference in the community, devoted
to political activities nationally as well as in

within media [specifically when it comes to
Israel] and how it is perceived within our

the area.
May and I presented several videos to

WMU campus community. We then brain-
stormed best practices to continue this con-

the group and asked questions that caused

versation in a productive manner on campus.

Expanding The Circle

everyone to further reflect on the videos.
We then took the opportunity to ask the big

As Jewish students on campus, we value
the opportunity to partner with organizations

U-M Hillel leadership event offers ways to reach others.

question "How do we disagree?" The con-
versation surrounding this question devel-

like the College Democrats. We were able to
provide students with the tools necessary to

Marti Silver }

oped a deep level of thinking and dialogue
between students in a way that was both

have a positive impact when talking about
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. @

Sophomore Daniel Gordon of Atlanta and juniors
Jacob Abudaram of New York and Marti Silver of West
Bloomfield attend the Hillel bagel brunch.

jewish@edu writer

structured and meaningful.

he University of Michigan Hillel
Governing Board is elected by our
peers. As a board, it is our duty to
create leadership training and development

T

between people they know and to consider
connections they can make between differ-
ent communities on campus.
By considering how we tell our Jewish

opportunities for our community of leaders.
In February, we decided to call our first train-
ing "Leadership Experience" to draw in lead-
ers from across Hillel who have never been
to one of our trainings before.
The program began with some dinner and
shmoozing. Henry Sholk, board vice chair, led
the first half of the program, which focused
on the skills of being a manager as opposed
to a leader. We discussed the pros and cons
of both positions, and then we took a lead-
ership inventory quiz to see where on the
spectrum we would fall.
There was discussion at each table about
where you fell and why you think you fell
there and discussion as a whole about
where you would like to see yourself be the
next time you do this exercise.
As the board engagement coordinator,
I led the next half of the evening program.
First, we started by defining engage-
ment and why it is so important. This led
us into telling each other our stories in
response to the question "Why are you
here?"
Each person told their Jewish story to a
partner and, after the story was over, the
partner gave feedback, saying what they
were really interested in, what they wanted
to hear more about, etc. They swapped roles
and the same process was repeated.
After the storytelling, we went into an
activity to see how many different com-
munities of people we reach on campus. We
drew our network maps, containing com-
munities like hometowns, freshmen year
residence halls and other clubs on campus.
This allowed leaders to make connections

stories and thinking about new people we
can reach out to, Michigan Hillel leaders are
able to strengthen the Jewish community on
campus in Ann Arbor. @

120 May 21 • 2015

Marti Silver of West Bloomfield is a junior

The opportunity to have an open conver-
sation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and controversies was one that we couldn't
possibly pass up. It was both refreshing and

Lexie Sittsamer of Farmington Hills is a

junior at Western Michigan University in

Kalamazoo.

State Holocaust
Commemoration

at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The 2015 Official State of Michigan Holocaust Commemoration
Student Planning Committee from MSU Hillel recites the Mourner's
Kaddish at the state capitol: sophomore Sarah Klein, West Bloomfield;
junior Brad Isakson, Hartland; freshman Ariel Bergman, Farmington
Hills; junior Ilana Woronoff of West Bloomfield, planning committee
chair: and junior Nate Strauss, Farmington Hills.

MSU's a cappella
organization,
State of Fifths,
performs at the 2015
Official State of
Michigan Holocaust
Commemoration.

Sophomore Rachel Gorosh
and junior Josh Morof, both
of West Bloomfield