for college students by college students
Reaching Out
WMU and K-College Hillels
collaborate effectively on events.
Emily Levy } jewish@edu writer
B
eing part of a campus Hillel means
being a part of a community.
Lifelong friends are made, memories
created and conversations are had.
In Kalamazoo, a relatively small Jewish com-
munity, leading Jewish students, community
members and residents reach out and connect
with one another.
Last summer, Kalamazoo College’s Jewish
Student Organization officially changed its
name to Hillel at Kalamazoo College, and it
could not have been a better switch. Jewish
students come to college looking for Jewish
students through a Hillel because it is so widely
known. The name switch has upped turnout to
our programs, which is allowing us to dream
bigger for future programs.
I love being part of Hillel. Being around other
Jewish students creates the kehillah (family) I
didn’t know was searching for.
Additionally, because Kalamazoo College is
part of the Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan
(HCAM), we have other schools with similar
Jewish populations to connect, engage and
program with. Further, we have an amazing set
of staff members who come to all our programs
and are willing to assist in every way possible.
I am so excited to see how Hillel at Kalamazoo
College soars in the future!
We have been connecting with Western
Michigan University’s Hillel for different pro-
grams to build community for Jewish students.
We have had Shabbat dinners where we shared
a meal together and had interesting, engaging
conversations. For one collaborative program,
we went out for a Chinese food Shabbat and
had the problem of not having enough chairs
for everyone. Despite the chair issue, which was
rectified, everyone had a great time.
More recently, we collaborated on an Avi
Shabbat program in which 40 people from the
Arabic Clubs, Muslim Associations and Hillels
from both Kalamazoo College and WMU par-
ticipated. The Avi Schaefer Fund supports inter-
Jewish students from Kalamazoo College and
Western Michigan University make new friends with
members of the colleges’ Arabic Clubs and Muslim
Associations at an Avi Shabbat program.
faith programs, in memory of Avi’s interests in
promoting “understanding and peace between
Israelis and Palestinians.”
At this program, we had a pizza dinner, an
interfaith conversation and made tie-blankets
for the homeless in Kalamazoo. Giving back
is a major theme of most religions, making
it a successful activity for all the Avi Shabbat
attendees.
We mixed up the tables for dinner so people
could mingle with new friends of a multitude
of faiths. After dinner, we split into two larger
groups and conversed about where we call
home and our own experiences in our respec-
tive faiths, which opened up discussions. After
these two larger conversations, we split into
smaller groups to make the blankets.
This program gave us the opportunity to
interact and converse in a friendly and com-
fortable way, which allowed the interfaith gap
to be bridged. After wonderful conversations,
cell phone numbers were exchanged, social
media accounts were connected and, most
importantly, friends were made. We are excited
to hold more interfaith programs and keep the
conversations going as our organizations work
toward creating stronger intercultural relation-
ships on campus. @
Emily Levy of Albuquerque, N.M., is a senior at
Kalamazoo College.
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February 16 • 2017
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