Vanderbilt Hillel Welcomes New Staff

By Brian Small

Vanderbilt Hillel is proud to announce the hire of LilyFish Gomberg as Hillel’s new Ezra Springboard Fellow.  She starts in the fall of 2021 and is participating in a two-year fellowship organized and financially supported by Hillel International. The Springboard Fellowship is a prestigious, paid, two-year fellowship that brings together the best, brightest, and most diverse Jewish talent through a transformative early career experience in the Hillel movement. Fellows gain professional competencies needed to be outstanding leaders and changemakers in their communities while engaging in compelling work on college campuses across North America.  Ezra Springboard Fellows bring Jewish learning to life on campus and are trained in pluralistic and experiential Jewish education techniques to infuse Jewish learning into Hillel programming and student engagement.

Hailing from Newton, MA, LilyFish Gomberg (she/they) graduated in December 2020 from Brandeis University.  She majored in Near Eastern & Judaic Studies with minors in Sexuality & Queer Studies and History. At Brandeis, LilyFish was president of the Brandeis Reconstructionist Organization, a member group of Hillel at Brandeis, and held several positions for her Jewish sorority, ΣAEΠ. She was also a peer counselor for the Student Sexuality Information Service on campus, and worked as a religious school teacher at her home synagogue. LilyFish has worked for several Jewish organizations, including Keshet, Repair the World, the Jewish Community Day School of Boston, and Camp Havaya.  She hopes to someday become a Reconstructionist Rabbi and in her free time, she enjoys painting, spending time with friends, and traveling.

 “We are so excited about LilyFish,” said Brian Small, Vanderbilt Hillel’s Assistant Director.  “She really stood out in the interview process by displaying an unparalleled passion for Jewish learning and education.  She’s an experienced educator and she will challenge our students in the best ways possible.  We are very lucky to have LilyFish on our engagement team.”

LilyFish will advise Hillel’s Jewish Life Committee (JLC), coordinate weekly Shabbat services, and organize Jewish holiday experiences on campus.  She will also advise Vanderbilt’s Challah for Hunger chapter and will help coordinate other social justice and social programs.  LilyFish is Vanderbilt Hillel’s forth Hillel Springboard Fellow and third Ezra Fellow and replaces Emily Kahn-Perry, who finished her third year with Hillel this spring.