26 May 2 • 2019
jn

Ethnic 
Intimidation

MSU Hillel intern received anti-Semitic death threats.

A 

Jewish student intern at the 
Lester and Jewell Morris 
Hillel Jewish Student Center 
at Michigan State University in East 
Lansing was urged by Hillel staff to 
report anti-Semitic death threats 
he’
d been receiving via Facebook 
messages last October, according 
to Robyn Hughey, Hillel associate 
director. 
Hughey said staff learned about 
the trouble when some of them 
began getting Facebook messages, 
too. 
“While we were not scared for 
our lives, we were worried for our 
intern’
s safety,” Hughey said. “We 
put additional security into place 
to ensure the safety of our students. 
When we initially received the mes-
sages, we did not know much of the 
backstory and our students’
 safety 
is our first priority. We quickly 
learned that our staff, students and 
building were not the target — the 
accused was focusing his attention 
on our intern.” 
Using court records that included 
a personal protection order, the 
Lansing State Journal reported April 
25 that Jack Hurlbut, 19, of Eaton 
Rapids was jealous his ex-girlfriend 
had moved on to a date with a new 
man — the intern, who is from 
Metro Detroit. The threatening 
messages escalated. Hurlbut also 
called the Hillel twice. 
“The accused called the building 
twice and spoke with Executive 
Director Cindy Hughey both 
times,” Robyn Hughey said. “The 

second time was when she told 
him she would call the police if he 
called again. All contact with him 
and our staff then stopped. This 
was in November.”
Robyn Hughey also said Hillel’
s 
executive director “has been fully 
cooperating with the police and 
prosecutors, which is why she has 
not given any public comment.” 
According to the State Journal 
story, one of the messages refer-
enced Hitler. The story said the first 
message appeared the day before 
the Tree of Life Synagogue shooting 
Oct. 27, 2018, in Pittsburgh, where 
11 people were killed and seven 
were injured.
The intern filed a complaint Nov. 
15 with the East Lansing Police 
Department, which led to Hurlbut 
being charged with ethnic intimi-
dation, a felony punishable by up to 
two years in prison, and malicious 
use of telecommunications services, 
the State Journal reported, adding 
that ethnic intimidation is not a 
charge commonly used in the state.
Since 2014, 160 people have been 
charged with ethnic intimidation 
in Michigan, according to the State 
Court Administrative Office.
Criminal charges were filed in 
a hearing in late January, the State 
Journal reported. Hurlbut was due 
to appear back in court at 2 p.m. 
April 30 for a pretrial hearing. He is 
currently free on bond; his attorney 
declined to comment last week, the 
story said. ■

jews d
in 
the

KERI GUTEN COHEN STORY DEVELOPMENT EDITOR

Medved to Keynote 
Breakfast for Israel

Jewish National Fund (JNF-USA) 
is hosting the Breakfast for Israel 
in Detroit at Congregation Shaarey 
Zedek on Tuesday, May 21. This 
complimentary event will feature a 
talk on Israeli innovation by guest 
speaker Jonathan Medved, a social 
entrepreneur, philanthropist, inves-
tor, and the founder and CEO of 
OurCrowd. Registration will open 
at 7:30 a.m. and the program will 
begin promptly at 8. 
Medved has been called “one of 
Israel’
s leading high-tech venture 
capitalists” by the Washington Post, 
and was named by the New York 
Times as one of the top 10 most 
influential Americans who have 
impacted Israel. OurCrowd has 
raised more than $440 million for 
more than 120 portfolio companies 
since its launch in February 2013.
“Jewish National Fund’
s con-
tinuing investment into Israel of 
hundreds of millions of dollars 
goes way beyond their forests,” says 
event co-chair Rabbi Elimelech 
Goldberg. “Medved will present his 
astonishing work with OurCrowd 
and focus on the next level of 
Israeli innovation. It is a great 
opportunity for people to hear 
more about the innovations in the 
extraordinary Israel science/econo-
my space.”
Proceeds from the breakfast will 
benefit JNF’
s vital work in Israel.
Registration for the Breakfast for 
Israel is required by May 10 via jnf.
org/detroit.
For details, contact Kim Levy at 
klevy@jnf.org or (248) 324-3080.

Sheila Landis and the Brazilian Love 
Affair will be featured at the annual 
Cantor Sam and Mona Greenbaum 
Concert at Congregation Beth Sha-
lom in Oak Park at 4 p.m. Sunday, 
May 19. A light meal will be served 
after the musical program.
Award-winning Detroit vocalist 
Sheila Landis’
 musical career began 
in 1973 with a Top 40 group called 
the Vineyards. In 1981, she formed 
her own record company, Shelan, and 
has been issuing an album on that 
label virtually every year since.

She met her musical and roman-
tic soul mate, guitarist Rick Matle, 
in 1990. They work together as 
a duo, trio and with their six- to 
eight-member band Brazilian Love 
Affair, which enables Landis to 
express her long-standing romance 
with Brazilian music, bossa nova and 
samba.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $6 
for children ages 4-12. Children 3 
and under are free. For reservations, 
call (248) 547-7970 or email cbs@
congbethshalom.org.

Sheila Landis To Headline Greenbaum Concert

Help End Hunger
Forgotten Harvest is partnering with 
the Harold and Kay Fund, which will 
match donations up to $50,000 made 
through Mother’
s Day, May 12. This 
partnership between Forgotten Har-
vest and the fund enables donors and 
the community to double their impact 
and make a difference in the lives of 
families in need. 
“We appreciate all our donors, vol-
unteers and partners like the Harold 
and Kay Matching Gift Fund that 
continue to support Forgotten Harvest 
and our mission to reduce food 
insecurity for families across metro 
Detroit,
” said Kirk Mayes, Forgotten 
Harvest CEO. “Mothers, grand-
mothers and women help change so 
many lives, and at this time of year we 
can work together so they can contin-
ue to do just that.
” 
Donate at forgottenharvest.org/
donate.
Yom HaShoah 
Commemoration
The Holocaust Memorial Center 
Zekelman Family Campus will host 
a Yom HaShoah commemoration 
Sunday, May 5, at 2:30 p.m. The event 
is free with complimentary parking 
and is presented in cooperation with 
C.H.A.I.M. Children of Holocaust 
Survivors Association in Michigan, 
Hidden Children and Child Survivors 
Association of Michigan, the Shaarit 
Haplaytah Organization, and Program 
for Holocaust Survivors and Families 
of JSL.
Also, you can volunteer to par-
ticipate in the worldwide Holocaust 
memorial project, Unto Every Person 
There Is A Name, by reciting the 
names of Holocaust victims at the 
HMC May 2 and May 5.

