New Hillel President

April 2, 2009

It is with great excitement that we announce Sarah Hepner as the new WMU Hillel President. Sarah, in just her first year here at WMU, has proven herself to be a true leader. Taking on numerous responsibilities within Hillel and planning many of our events this past school year.

Please join us in congratulating Sarah on her most recent accomplishment.

In the coming weeks there will be applications to fill our other executive board positions. No matter what your experience with Hillel, you are encouraged to apply for these exciting opportunities.


Last Shabbat Dinner of Semester

March 29, 2009

April 17 – 6:00 PM
Goldsworth Valley Pond Gazebo

It’s the best way to start the weekend and prepare you for finals week too. We’re hosting this one outside at the Goldsworth Valley Pond Gazebo. We take care of all the logistics and can’t wait to see you there before we all head our separate ways for the summer. Feel free to bring a friend too!


Learn About Passover

March 29, 2009

April 5 – 2:00 PM
Faculty Dinning Room in the Public Cafeteria, Bernhard Center

Join Rabbi Mordechai, from the Grand Rapids Chabbad, as he leads a discussion on Passover. Learn what the holiday is it all about and Brush up on the four questions in time for the first Seder.


Havdalah Service at Relay For Life

March 22, 2009

March 28 – 8:30 PM
Kanley Track

Come by Relay For Life and support the American Cancer Society. While we are there walking for a cure we will bring Shabbos to a close together and have a quick Havdalah service by our tent (look for the Hillel Banner). We’ll also have some good snacks to keep us going all night long.


Class with Jeff (Update)

March 8, 2009

March 15 – 5:00 PM, Bernhard Center rm 204

The Class with Jeff with begin at 5:00 PM on Sunday. The topic for discussion will be about those (not-so) Platonic Relationships. Kosher pizza will be served.

WMU alumnus Jeff Surowitz is back in Kalamazoo and is hosting class. The topic is TBD and Jeff is a great resource for those burning questions you may have about being Jewish? After graduating from WMU Jeff lived in Israel and moved back to Michigan to work for the greater Jewish community.


Shabbat Dinner – March 13

March 8, 2009

March 13 – 6:00 PM
Kanley Chapel Social Room

Its all about starting the weekend off right! Join new and old friends for a relaxing Shabbat Dinner. This week we are mixing things up and will have Kosher Hot dogs (a few veggies too), chips, and all the right condiments.

Maybe if we eat like we’re at a Baseball game the weather will warm up quicker. As always Shabbat dinners are a great place to meet people and hang out. So bring a friend and see you there.

We are also welcoming a special guest, Nate Knappen who is a Presidential candidate for the Western Student Association. Elections are the week following.


President Elections – March 30

February 25, 2009

Hillel is excited to announce that the President position for WMU Hillel elections will be held on March 30. Details on how the elections will be run are explained below. If you have any questions or concerns please contact our Graduate Advisor, Devorah Glanz, at devorah.a.glanz@wmich.edu.

Any member of Hillel is able to participate and run in the upcoming Hillel President Elections. The duties of the President are outlined as part of an ongoing basis and currently are being discussed by the Advisor, Grad Advisor, and current President- for a general sense of those duties and responsibilities please contact either one of us.

Elections will be held on March 30th at 7pm in Room 105 of the Bernhard Center. In order to run and receive consideration for this position you must declare your candidacy at the meeting(s) prior to the election- either March 16th or March 23rd. If you have not declared your candidacy at either of the two ‘declaration’ meetings you will be ineligible to run in the election on March 30th.

We will begin promptly at 7pm with a brief speech and platform discussion by each candidate. Each candidate will have maximum of 10 minutes to present their previous leadership experience, goals for the organization, and overall reasoning why they are running for this position. After this, we will have a quick question and answer to further clarify any questions or comments from the organization. All candidates will step into the hall and voting will be conducted by paper ballot. The current graduate advisor and president will count the ballots and declare the winner immediately following.

All Hillel members are eligible to vote in this upcoming election, however, in order to have voting power and considered a ‘member in good standing’, you must have been present at AT LEAST one general assembly Hillel meeting (Monday night) in the past school year (Fall 2008-Spring 2009). At the time of the election, we will have had a total of 24 meetings over the course of the past school year giving ample opportunity for many individuals to participate in the election process.

In the event of a tie, the Advisor, Graduate Advisor, and Outgoing President will discuss in private and cast a tie-breaking vote.

A transition period of one week will be in place starting March 30th immediately following elections. The following meeting on April 6th will be run as usual by the outgoing president in conjunction with the incoming president. After the April 6th meeting is completed, the transition period will be completed and the incoming President will assume all roles and responsibilities. All further leadership decisions, appointment of members, and general communication will come from the Incoming President and Graduate Advisor.

The positions of Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Programming, Secretary, Treasurer, WSA/CAB Representative, Website Coordinator and Street Team Leader will be filled by paper applications available from April 6th until April 20th, these paper applications will be emailed to all members and final decisions will be made the week of April 20th. The dates of the paper application process is subject to change.

Please direct any questions on this process to Devorah Glanz, Graduate Advisor, at devorah.a.glanz@wmich.edu.


“Western Michigan” Hebrew Hoodies

January 31, 2009

hoodie

Hillel wants to make sure you are keeping warm during this harsh winter by SELLING SWEATSHIRTS!! We now have available black hooded sweatshirts with ‘Western Michigan’ in Hebrew for sale! Yes… we know that ‘w’ doesn’t exist in Hebrew so they are more like ‘Vestern Michigan’ but still really warm, cozy, and awesome looking.

They are black with gold writing and are selling for 20 dollars each. All proceeds from these sweatshirts will be donated to charity. You can purchase one (or many) of these sweatshirts by emailing (kazoohillel@yahoo.com) us with your name, phone number and size and a Hillel lead team member will call you ASAP or by ATTENDING OUR EVENTS.

We will have these sweatshirts (or a sign up) at all events until we sell out. Limited Edition!! Get yours now!!

If you would like us to ship an order to you, include that in your email (kazoohillel@yahoo.com) and we will figure out the shipping and handling fees.


Coffee Talk FREE (Biggby Coffee in Bernhard Center)

January 18, 2009

January 21 – 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Come check out the members of WMU’s Hillel at Bigbys this week! Feel free to stop by during these times and we will buy you drink just for coming on out. Find out what Hillel has planned for this semester, Taglit-Birthright Israel, awesome social events, and excellent Shabbat dinners. Info will be provided. Hope to see you there!


Welcome Back

January 12, 2009

Welcome back for another great semester. Hillel is excited to offer new events to support our efforts to serve you in your Jewish life on campus and beyond.

To kick off the semester we want to get to know you better and will be hosting coffee nights around town, on and off campus. We’ll cover your drink and have information about Hillel, Taglit-Birthright Israel, and a it will be a low key way to meet other Jews at WMU.

You read that right, information on Taglit-Birthright Israel. It’s a free 10 day trip to Israel and Jay Pliskow (jay.m.pliskow@wmich.edu) is recruiting a group of WMU student to go this summer. More information to come soon, in the mean time join the Facebook group to see who else wants to go with you.

The Spring 2009 calendar will be out soon so check back and see what we have in store.