Oregon Hillel Annual Report FY 14

UO Junior Jenna Barasch refl ected,“I have seen just how much of help we were this week, creating so much progress on the new school building as well as bringing the

lights to the students and staff.”

OREGON HILLEL STUDENTS BUILD SUSTAINABLE SCHOOL IN GUATEMALA

THIS past spring break Oregon Hillel took 10 UO students to Guatemala over the recent

spring break to volunteer and help build a school entirely from recycled materials.

It was an absolutely life-changing week and we did the entire Duck family proud in meeting our mission by allowing students to explore and develop their Jewish identity, build leadership skills, practice the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and empowering Jewish students at the UO to become active leaders in their greater campus community.

The entire group came together to raise $2,500 towards the cost of this experience and each participant paid a portion of their fees. Additional funding was received through grants from Repair the World & Hillel International, Oregon Hillel traveled to Guatemala to volunteer with Long Way Home, a non-profi t group that encourages the use of sustainable materials to build self-suffi cient schools in order to educate and empower the local communities to provide a better future for themselves. The volunteers worked in Comalapa, Guatemala – a rural village two

hours north of Guatemala City – to help build a school with what Gitelson described as “100 percent zero waste.” Along with volunteering with Long Way Home, Oregon Hillel teamed up UC Santa Cruz Hillel and another non-profi t, One Million Lights, to raise the funds necessary to purchase 150 solar lanterns to give out to the children, teachers, and staff at the school in Comalapa.

The school will serve 300 K-12 students when completed and will also house a vocational school, designed to educate adults about green building techniques and recycling.

2014 Annual ReportOregon.Hillel.org

Andy GitelsonExecutive DirectorAmanda K. WeissDirector of Jewish Leadership & LearningRebecca MarxDirector of StudentEngagement

Governing Board of Directors

Executive BoardSharon A. RudnickPresidentKelly Baxter MenachemsonSecretaryShoshana CohenTreasurerTerra ZicklinStudent President

MembersStephanie HarrisMax LiebreichJoshua LosnerBarry RubensteinKenneth Singer, MDCraig StarrAmy SteckelLaura TichoBecky Winard

With Support From:

Dear Hillel Family,As President of the Governing Board of Oregon Hillel, I am proud to tell you that FY 2014 was one of progress, relationship building, learning, and fun for our organization and our students. Andy, Amanda and our four student engagement interns engaged well over 600 Jewish students during the year through thoughtful programing around Jewish learning and values, Israel, and the celebration of holidays and rituals. Particularly given the recent frightening and distressing events in Israel and the Middle East, we have engaged our students in far-ranging and sometimes-diffi cult conversations about Israel to help them learn and sort out their own views, and we have supported our Jewish students and organizations in responding appropriately to anti-Israel and anti-Semitic actions that have occurred on campus.

At our Leadership Council dinner meetings, the leaders of all of our Jewish organizations on campus came together twice a quarter to share a meal with Jewish leaders from around the state and to hear their perspective and their advice to the next generation of leaders. We sent 53 students, a record number, to Israel on Taglit Birthright trips in both December and June, and saw their relationships with Judaism and Israel transform.

Our students engaged in a number of Tzedakah initiatives including volunteering at Food for Lane County, baking and selling challahs to support the homeless, and an alternative Spring Break trip to Guatemala to build a school. There was also plenty of time for fun at Ski Retreat, the Purim party and hanging out with friends at the Hillel House.

Our regular Friday night Shabbat services and dinner consistently drew over 100 students each week, and our student-led Seders saw similar numbers coming together to share matzo and tell the Passover story. And the Min Zidell Matzo Ball Soup Hotline kept us busy delivering soup, comfort and support to our sick (or not so sick but just needing some TLC) students throughout the year-over 400 bowls delivered!

Our student leaders continue to amaze me with their commitment to and love for Judaism and Israel, their willingness to take on hard questions and to stand up for what they believe, and their interest in discovering their own Jewishness. At the same time, they know that Hillel is their home away from home, and we are always here to listen, advise, or provide a meal or a ride to the airport.

As we transition into FY 2015, we have great plans for Hillel. We have hired a new Director of Engagement, Becca Marx, who is returning to her alma mater from a job at San Diego State Hillel. Becca will supervise fi ve student interns focusing on increasing our engagement with Jewish students on campus, and Amanda will focus on leadership program development, and Jewish learning. We are blessed to have someone with Becca’s experience, initiative and creativity join our already outstanding staff. This additional staff will also allow us to begin to serve and support the Jewish students at Oregon State University, who deserve to have Jewish life fl ourish on their campus as well by facilitating monthly Shabbat dinners & recruiting for birthright trips.

We could not accomplish any of this without your sustained support. Adding another full time staff member is a stretch for us, but one we must make to continue to engage and support Oregon’s Jewish students, to give them the opportunity to learn and to explore their Jewishness, to make Jewish friends, and to develop into the Jewish leaders of their generation. From the Governing Board, the Student Board, Andy, Amanda, Becca, and especially our students, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

B’Shalom,

Sharon A. RudnickPresident, Oregon Hillel

Students leading their community in celebrating Shabbat.

2013-2014 has been an extremely successful year for Oregon

Hillel with regards to both growth in student leadership and a diversifi cation of Judaic programming. Enthusiastically, we hired four student interns who, with their initiative and innovation, combined with the dedicated work of the Oregon Hillel Student Leadership Board, engaged over 600 students throughout the year. New initiatives created on campus have also spurred great interest amongst our students; this year we welcomed Rosh Chodesh celebrations, BROgramming, Israel Appreciation week, and Campus Conversations into our programming calendar, challenging our students with strong Judaic content at each event. Our student-led weekly Shabbat services continue to draw in an average of 100 students per week, and we are thrilled to have had 50 students and community members join us for a Kabbalat Shabbat and dinner during the month of July.

Outside the building, Oregon Hillel continues to make its mark. Our Tzedek Committee inspired the collection of over 360 pounds of food for our Student Food Pantry at the Episcopal Campus Ministry, the creation of over 4,000 meals at Food for Lane County, and an increase in Oregon Hillel’s participation in Sunday Breakfasts for the Eugene homeless community, fundraising for Save a Child’s Heart, and awareness about world genocide via a partnership with Jewish World Watch. We brought 47 U of O students and 3 Oregon State students to Israel through our Birthright programs (held in both the winter and the summer) who have taken leadership roles in many of our new initiatives. In Sun River, we hosted 57 students at our annual ski retreat who took part in alternative service options, a tzedek program, and student-led baking, snow-globe making, and creative arts (all after a day of skiing and snowboarding!). At the University of Oregon, we continue to host students at our once-a-term Shabbat on Campus and Passover Seders (held at Global Scholars Hall), attracting between 110-160 students at each event. Even our university’s newspaper The Daily Emerald, has noticed what we’re doing and featured Oregon Hillel’s activities in more than fi ve articles during the school year.

But we’re not done yet! 2014-2015 promises to be even more exciting with the hiring of new interns (we now have fi ve) and a newly elected seven-member Hillel Student Leadership Board. Our student leaders have created strong goals of engaging even more students, sending over 70 students to Israel (registration for our Winter trip opens September

10th at israeloutdoors.com!), hosting over 70 students at our annual ski retreat, increasing our Shabbat attendance, and creating avenues for new initiatives created by and for students. I am thrilled to have been chosen as one of 12 Hillel professionals from around North America to participate in the two year Engage to Educate initiative in its pilot year. Thanks to this prestigious new program I will continue to develop my skills as a Jewish educator on campus so that I can meet our mission of continuing to add challenging Jewish content to our Hillel programming, to encouraging our students to ask questions about their Judaism and to discover new answers while learning together. Oregon Hillel is committed to creating stronger programming by creating even stronger student-led committees who will help to produce programming for students who want to see how many ways that there are to love Jewish lives both on and off campus. I am also thrilled to have been chosen to participate as one of the inaugural class of Taglit: Birthright Fellows. This program is designed to enhance my ability to lead the birthright Israel experience as well as providing additional opportunities to keep returning birthright participants engaged with their campus community following this once in a lifetime experience.

We are so excited for what the new year had to offer and can’t wait to start it off with all of our new and returning students during welcome week, Rosh Hashanah 2014, and welcome back Shabbat!

Go Ducks!Amanda K. WeissDirector of Jewish Learning and [email protected]

Jewish student leaders from around campus meet withJordan Schnitzer through our Jewish Leadership Council series.

Thank you to our 2013/2014 & 2014/2015 Student Leadership Boards for your commitment!.

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!Thank You! Thank You הבר הד ו ת Thank You! Thank You!Thank You! !Thank You! Thank You הבר הד ו ת Thank You! Thank You!$35,000+

The Jewish Federation of Greater PortlandHarold & Arlene Schnitzer CARE Foundation

$25,000 - $10,000Sharon UngerleiderSteven Ungerleider

$9,999 - $2,500Mark & Christi GoodmanThe Jewish Federation of Lane CountyRepair the World, INC.Sigma Alpha Mu Fund - OJCFDr. Kenneth & Kenda SingerMrs. Minnie Zidell

$2,499-$1,000Max Birnbach Charity Fund – OJCFAndy GitelsonPaul & Nancy GitelsonMargot & Kenny HelphandHillel InternationalIsrael on Campus CoalitionHoward & Wendy LiebreichMax LiebreichMen of Reform JudaismOregon Israel Fund - OJCFNathan & Robin PhilipsBarry & Carolyn RubensteinLeonard & Lois Schnitzer Charitable Supporting Foundation – OJCFJay & Sherri SeidmonAnthony & Courtney VengarickJay & Diane Zidell

$999-$500Tom & Patti Zembrosky BarkinDavid S. & Carol CohenDr. Stuart & Jennifer GarberStephanie A. HarrisJoel Jaffe (‘80)Justin Lovinger & Maram EpsteinRobert & Mara ShlachterBaruch TichoShoshana Ungerleider (‘03)Mark Vulfson

$499-$180Alpha Epsilon PiAllan BerensteinSherry BerensteinPaul & Yedida Bessemer

Stanley & Judith BlauerJoy M. Bruce (‘63)Shoshana F. CohenConsulate General of Israel – San FranciscoLeigh & Leslie DolinJosh & Amy Frankel (‘06)Hungry DucksAlfred & Cecelia KatzKelly & Steve Baxter MenachemsonRuben & Liz MenasheHarold & Jane PollinDr. Richard E. RommRonda & Fred RoseSteve Rosenberg & Dr. Ellen LippmanCraig Starr & Sandra ScheetzMartin & Anice SeeligAmy Steckel & Randy BernsteinJohn Van MeterSylvia Weider Amber Family FoundationBarry & Laura Weiss

$179-$50Richard Adler & Stephanie WilsonLisa Arkin & Harold CodmanHerbert & Sereen BaraschElissa BarronLynne BartensteinBrice & Gretta BassettMarla & Mike Beeson (‘72)Mark BerensteinPeter H. BlauEdward & Geraldine BlackBrandon Bourbonais (‘06)Jack & Gilda BrehmMilton & Cissi CarlJennifer Cohen & Michael Spiro (‘95)Seymour z”l & Carol DanishDr. Richard DobrowAaron DouglasJill DresserFarshid EtaatHoward & Evelyn FreedmanMorris J. GalenJudith & Ruben GechterHilde GeisenDr. Douglas & Rhoda GoldenMark GoldbergMarty & Susie GoldbergRosalie GoodmanSamuel B. GordonDaniel & Pamela GreenblattFrank Gruber

Louie J. HassonGary HochmanRabbi Daniel & Carol IsaakRichard & Janet KatzStephen Laveson & Lesley IsensteinMartin & Lilly LevinsonLinda Loft & William Jennings (‘69)Sandra & Eugene LuksJack & Ellen MaddexDr. Jerome S. MalinerDr. Victor & Toinette MenasheJames & Lora MeyerLee & Marsha Miller (‘80)Lila NeimanSteven & Yelena Neuman (‘07)Jeff & Anne NudelmanRachel Osofsky (‘04)Raymond & Dorothy PackouzVanessa Paster (‘08)Michael & Sharon PosnerRosemarie RosenfeldFaye SamuelsJohn & Anne SchulzEllen ScottPaul & Roz SlovicRalph & Elba ShawJudith & Murray SinclairSandra SolomonEdith SolonskyMarian & Jeffrey SosnickNathan TeichEshter & Gary Jacobson-TepferHelen TowleBill & Theresa TrevaskisMarion I. WalterRichie Weinman & Linda GarberLee WeinsteinAmanda K. WeissRebecca Winard (‘12)Bruce & Susan WinthropGreg Wolfe & Julie HochmanRhoda WolfeHerbert & Barbara WolpowYogurt ExtremeMitch & Lucy Zammarelli

Up to $50Christina BagiShoreh BahavarBrenden Baitch (‘07)Jerome Barde (‘51)Sagiv BarmorJulie Beck & Adam HorvathDiane BernbaumJanice Bernstein

Dr. George Bodner (‘40)Arielle Brown (‘13)Barbara BurgerLeona & Stanley CleanerMilton C. CohenBonnie Cohn & Mark JacksonHelene CoulterLouise & Tony DandurandDianna Lee DavidsonLynne FingermanSusan C. FinkelmanStephen & Kristi FisherJudy GoldsteinMax GoodmanAndrea GrahamDon & Carolyn HaselkornZachary D. Hoffman (‘13)Mark & Oriana HurwitDaniel Kalman (‘08)Judith KandellDiane KasleRichard F. Katz (‘60)Will Keller (‘08)Deborah Rose LibeskindMarilyn LimondMarvin & Maggie MargolisRebecca & Jonathan Marx (‘12)Rachel Meade (‘10)Solomon MenasheEileen MichaelsEden & Jeffery MullerBarry NobelDr. Avrel V. NudelmanDenise ReidFrancine ReingoldLynne RendelsteinEve O. Rosenfeld (‘51)Daniel L. Rosove (‘07)Theodore & Davia Rubenstein (‘54)Diane Schechter (‘80)Jan SchraukDr. Maurice Schwarz (‘62)Jason Shender (‘13)Shirley ShiffmanAmy Sohn (‘09)Bobbie & Michel SternJoyce StrassbergGeorge A. TannerMichael & Kathy WeinerRichard WeissmanHarry & Gwen WilliamsColin Winkler (‘05)Marvin M. Wolf (‘53)Jack WolinskyBrian & Laurie Yablon

To our alumni and friends for investing in Jewish life on campus through your support of Oregon Hillel. All of the wonderful accomplishments we achieved were due to your support – we cannot thank you enough!*a number next to the name denotes the class year for alumni we have on fi le*

THANKYOU

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Thank You! Thank You! הבר הד ו ת Oregon Hillel bringing students to volunteer at an animal rescue farm as part of the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland’s Mitzvah Day.

Platinum Level: $2,500+Julie & Paul CandauDr. Peter & Rebecca KovachSharon Rudnick & Arden OlsonDanielle Ullendorff & Mark Cohen

Gold Level: $1,000-$2,499Mark & Bev BrutzkusJonathan Funk & John ArnoldVern & Deb Dotters-KatzCharles LevyAmy & Arie SalomonRabbi Danny & Cindy WeinerJane Willoughby & Ingram Losner

Silver Level: $500-$999James & Robin FeltonRondi & David FriederRenee & Mark HorwitzBrian & Heather LeibsohnSusan & Mel PlutskyJonathan & Pamela RuziJulie & Daniel Witenstein

Bronze Level: $180-$499Robert & Gail AlexanderDana Asher & David LevinePamela & Adam BaraschDavid Bennett & Beth Huppin

Stephanie & Steven BrandelSam & Shahla BrehmAviva BrownAllan & Lynda ChasnoffSallie & Jon CohenHannah CordesLouAnn & Matt DavidsonMurdock Gilchriese & Marilyn Schneider Ross & Mireya GonzalezLaura GreeneGlenn & Pam GrossmanBonnie & Harold GutmannAdele & Jeff KellmanJeanne & Stuart KornMelissa Kort & Tom MeadeSusan & Doug LaskenMatt & Jackie LeibsohnDavid & Michelle Liptz Francine LisMarc & Tina LowenthalDr. David & Deborah MenasheFaith MiccoAmy MilshteinPam & Joe MoraHoward & Jill NevinsMichelle PerlmutterMonica & Craig PincusScott & Donna Rheingold

David & Kim RosenbergBeverly SchuchmacherMartin & Lisy SchwartzAmy ShamashRabbi Sue & Dr. Phillip SilberbergItzik & Teresa ShlesingerCynthia SternDiane VigodaHarris WatersSteven Weintraub & Christina Huckabee

Contributor: up to $179Steve & Perla AlabasterBonnie & Irv AlpertElissa BarronLori & David BeharNancy Brin & Jerry ShapiroAlan Buchalter & Debra GelzerWendy CarrollAndrea & Isaac CohenSheldon CohnTed & Stacy CullenJessica ElinSusan & Jeffrey EnglerKirstin EsterbergCynthia Flash & Dan Hemphill Jeff & Robin FoxRandi & Jeff Gillman

Samuel & Peggy GluckDaniel & Pamela GreenblattSarah & Martin GoldbergSusan & Les GouldCynthia & Dan HemphillDavid & Debra HirschLisa & Glenn KantorHugo & Halina LarmanScott & Sherri LorchCheryl & Bob MansellJanet MarguliesRichard & Kristine NicholsonGregory & Julie Hoskins-PittlerRosanne RiddickRisa Robitaille & Stuart ZuckerBecki & Stephen SaltzmanSusan SholinSuzanne & David SilverglateRonald SosnickDavid SperlingDanielle SteinbaumMark & Victoria TandowskyJosh & Amy TichoYuri & Ilana VulfsonLori Waldinger & Bruce SaltzerEdward WeiszRhonda & Dennis WilkinDebbie Zajac

Thank you to the following parents for joining this year’s Parent’s Club and making an investment in Jewish campus life. Thanks to your investment, Jewish life on campus is fl ourishing – we couldn’t have done it without you!

PARENT’SCLUB

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הבר הד ו ת

Lending a helping hand packaging meals at Food for Lane County.

I AM THRILLED to be joining the Oregon Hillel

team as the Director of Engagement. This position combines two of my greatest passions: building Jewish community and the University of Oregon. I am a proud Jew and a proud Duck, and can’t wait to connect with and involve as many Jewish Ducks as possible in the special community that is Oregon Hillel. I graduated from UO in

2012 with a degree in Religious Studies, and believe that every Jewish student has something to gain culturally, spiritually, or socially by being involved in Jewish life on campus in some capacity.

My mission is to infuse creativity and diversity into our program so that every student can fi nd their unique place in this community of roughly 1,600 Jewish Ducks. This will be achieved in collaboration with our fi ve engagement interns. This August at the Hillel International convening in St. Louis the interns and I will develop an engagement model and strategy to be implemented for the 2014-2015 academic year to work towards fulfi lling this mission.

I have already started to gauge student interest by hosting a Shabbat at my home in which nearly 20 students and young adults attended. Some ideas are already in the works! Mitzvah Milers will be a philanthropic running club that meets weekly and chooses a charity race to run as a team every term. Mitzvah Milers will incorporate a couch-to-5k training model so novice and experienced runners alike are welcome to participate! Want to learn how to play Mahjong? Enough students have expressed interest in learning so there will be weekly Mahjong meet ups! I will also be working to create a new initiative aimed at engaging the Jewish graduate, post-doc and 20-30 something’s of Eugene. There are also talks of revamping the Hillel Tailgating experience, building a community garden, and monthly Shabbat brunches.

If I’m not biking around town, running on Pre’s trail, or tending to my backyard chickens, chances are I’m at Hillel! If you would like to get involved with any of the initiatives mentioned above, have a great idea you would like to see come to fruition, or just want to meet in person over a cup of coffee, please don’t hesitate to stop by my offi ce or email me.

Becca MarxDirector of Student [email protected]

OREGON HILLEL WELCOMES OUR NEWEST MEMBER OF THE FAMILY, BECCA MARX

Leading the campus in Israel advocacy and education.

Israel Advocacy: Our delegation at the AIPAC National Policy Conference, where the U of O earned Campus Advocates of the Yearfor the 3rd straight year.

AT OREGON HILLEL

one of our goals is to empower students with the understanding that each and every day they have a responsibility to repair the world (Tikkun Olam) and to practice the various mitzvot that help

to build community and positively impact their friends, their campus, and their communities. We embrace the philosophy that by connecting students to each other and inspiring student leadership, we are not only creating the Jewish student community today, but we are also planting the seeds for stronger Jewish communities tomorrow. We are steadfast in our commitment to helping students explore their Jewish identity in their own way and showing them that Judaism is not just a religion, but a way of life.

For the last two years we have focused on serving as a “Jewish Home Away from Home” for the 1,600 Jewish students at the University of Oregon and it has been truly amazing to witness the transformation of Oregon Hillel. Just a few years ago we averaged 30-40 students for Shabbat dinner and services, we sent 18-20 students to Israel each year, and the vast majority of students saw Hillel as a place to go for the occasional social program or religious service. Today, Oregon Hillel is at the forefront of creating new initiatives that engage previously unconnected students. This past academic year we had meaningful, personal connections with over 600 students! From the 100+ students that attend our free weekly Shabbat dinners; to the 400 bowls of matzo ball soup delivered for free thanks to the Min Zidell Matzo Ball

Soup Hotline; to the 27 students who joined me at the AIPAC Policy Conference in Washington, DC (where we won campus advocates of the year for the 3rd straight year); to the 53 students who traveled to Israel for free on Hillel’s Birthright Israel trips, and the 10 students who joined me in Guatemala over spring break to help build a school, it is safe to say that Jewish life and values are fl ourishing on campus and in Eugene.

What has impressed me the most is the dedication of our student community (including our student leadership board and interns) and our small but mighty staff, the leadership of our Governing Board of Directors, the support of the University, and the investment of our parents, alumni, families and friends. Thanks to all of you, and because of our work at Oregon Hillel,the University of Oregon is becoming a destination point for Jewish students from all around the country who seek a great education and a vibrant Jewish community. We could not accomplish these amazing results without your continued support.

We look forward to seeing see you on campus or in the community and please know that all of our great achievements are because of you!

GO DUCKS!

Andy GitelsonExecutive [email protected]

Creating friendships that will last a lifetime.

Working together with Alpha Epsilon Pi at their annual

Loco For Latkes fundraiser to benefi t Save a Child’s Heart.

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