Vanderbilt Hillel had an incredible October . One specific week of October illustrates all Vanderbilt Hillel has to offer Jewish students at Vanderbilt University.
During the third week of October, Vanderbilt Hillel students connected with our local Jewish community. Fourteen students visited five families for the “Sunday Night Family Dinner” program. Thank you to Avi and Rachel Spielman, Erin Coleman, Jason and Abby Sparks, Daniel and Dalia Cohen, and Sean and Keri Ross for hosting the students in their homes. In addition, the Nashville Council of Jewish Women-Nashville Chapter (NCJW) joined students for “Shabbat for a Cause” where they spoke to students about their plans for voting and enjoyed Shabbat services and dinner.
In addition to connecting with our local supporters, Vanderbilt Hillel students engaged in two Tikkun Olam projects. First, students baked challot and sold the loaves on campus as part of Challah 4 Hunger, a national program addressing food insecurity. This program is supported by the National Council of Jewish Women-Nashville Chapter. The proceeds will be donated to the Nashville Food Project to address food insecurity. This year, students have sold over 400 loaves and raised over $2,000. In addition to challah baking, Vanderbilt Hillel’s Tikkun Olam Makers (TOM) had their Make-a-thon Weekend. TOM is a national organization that encourages students from a variety of disciplines to unite to create and engineer solutions for individuals with disabilities. The event was held the weekend of October 25th at the Wondr’y in their Maker’s Space. Charlotte Castle summarizes in a Hustler article, “The event involved 12 teams of “Makers,” members of the club, creating accessible and open-source solutions for “Need Knowers,” people with disabilities or other unmet needs. The event culminated in a showcase on Sunday where each team finished its prototype and presented its work.” For additional information about this event, the Hustler article can be found at this link: https://vanderbilthustler.com/2024/10/29/tikkun-olam-makers-hosts-seventh-annual-makeathon/
Alongside their community service efforts and connecting with local supporters, students can take part in education programs focused on the Holocaust. Vanderbilt Hillel co-sponsors with Vanderbilt University The Holocaust Lecture Series (HLS). Ari Dubin, Vanderbilt Hillel Executive Director, co-chairs this series. HLS hosted an event in remembrance of the Holocaust featuring a performance of Symphony of the Holocaust by Shony Alex Braun, a film screening, and Q+A. Composed entirely of students from the Blair School of Music, the symphony was led by Maestra Noreen Green, Conductor of the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony, and Adam Millstein, violin soloist and Program Director of the Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices. Following the performance, Dinah Griffin, the daughter of Shony featured in the film, joined Maestra Green and Mr. Millstein in a panel discussion.
For those students who enjoy Vanderbilt Hillel’s social programs, we hosted our annual Sukkot Fall Fest. The booths included Israeli candy and a color by number Israeli flag activity, Challah 4 Hunger bake sale, fun card games with prizes, a Simchat Torah service/program, pumpkin decorating, and filling out Sukkot cards to send to the students' families. Acapella and dance groups from Vanderbilt University performed, and the food included Matzah ball soup and a pasta bar.
When students aren’t attending programs, they are planning for them. Each week, several student committees meet to plan for future programming weeks at Hillel. These committees include: Member and Programming who plan social programs, the Jewish Life Committee that organizes Shabbat and Holiday programming, ‘Dores for Israel-our Israel Advocacy group that provides educational opportunities for students, Gift of Life for students who want to plan mega drives to swab people to find bone marrow and stem cell matches for people with cancer, and First Year Engagement who focus on engaging our first year students.
For questions about Vanderbilt Hillel, reach out to Shannon Small, Development Director, at Shannon.small@vanderbilt.edu.
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