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Yael Kornfeld, Hunter Hillel Social Worker, recently sat down with Yehuda Kurtzer, President of the Shalom Hartman Institute North America, on the Hartman Institute鈥檚 podcast, Identity/Crisis, to discuss her work. Here are five ways that her work and the work of social workers across the Hillel movement are improving the lives of Jewish students on campus.
The idea that two students from very different communities decided to run together and share the highest position in the student body raised many eyebrows on campus. Students were very skeptical it would work out, and I got comments daily questioning my decision
Hillels across the country spearheaded new initiatives to make their spaces more inclusive this Jewish Disability, Awareness, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM). Every February, Hillel observes JDAIM to amplify the voices of Jewish people with disabilities and spread awareness in the Jewish community.
鈥淎s a high school freshman, I stepped into leadership for the first time through BBYO. My passion for grassroots organizing and teen initiative inspired me to run for BBYO鈥檚 International Board, and I started in February 2020 as the international treasurer. With this position, I was given the platform to take action on causes I鈥檓 […]
Being a Jew of Color always puts me in an interesting place. In my experience, when people think about Jews, they think about white Europeans, but there are a bunch of Ashkenazi Jews like me who aren鈥檛 always counted or represented. There may not be many of me in the world, but that doesn鈥檛 mean I don鈥檛 exist.
鈥淢y first Hillel dinner at school was when I was a prospective student. My host鈥檚 name was Dana, and she, along with the people I met that weekend, are the reason I鈥檓 here. From the moment I stepped into the admissions building to check-in, I felt welcomed and loved, and it continued throughout the rest […]
I didn鈥檛 come to college with the mindset of, 鈥淥h, time to convert to Judaism.鈥 That wasn鈥檛 on my agenda. But, I do credit a lot of the Rutgers Hillel staff and the student board for the work they did to make Hillel such a pluralistic and accessible space for people like me.
I think the music I write is a reflection of my story. A lot of it is about my conscious analysis of what it is to be Black and Jewish. It's my commentary on that experience. Hillel has provided that support system for me, and it has also influenced the actual art itself.
I don't see that my Persian identity ever has to stop for my Jewish identity to start. Iranian Jews have been in Iran since 586 BCE, so the Iranian and Iraqi diaspora are the most historic diaspora of the Jews. My family has been in Iran longer than we've been in Israel and longer than we've been in the U.S.
鈥淏eing Jewish and Latino are central parts of who I am.鈥
