 |
|
 |
Hillel, Jewish Life Network to Promote Shabbat Celebrations
August 22, 2006Comments (0) | Add | E-mail this to a friend
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life will join with New York-based Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation to create a new approach to Shabbat (Sabbath) celebrations that is uniquely modern, American and Jewish. Conceived and initiated by Michael Steinhardt and his foundation, Jewish Life Network (JLN), this effort will be piloted and disseminated through Hillel.
Jacob Schreiber, formerly the executive director of Hillels of Georgia, will develop the program as director of national celebration initiatives. Schreiber will assemble creative, implementation and technical teams, comprising Hillel field professionals, headquarters staff, JLN professionals, as well as musicians, artists, spiritual leaders, storytellers and video producers, to create a national model for launching this program on college campuses. Jewish communities will also be added as pilots in the future. Hillel hopes to launch the first programs in the spring.
Hillel is undertaking this initiative as an important step in achieving the goals of the Strategic Planning Report. The goal of this program is to inspire the large, silent majority of underinvolved Jews on college campuses and in American Jewish communities, who do not participate in any form of meaningful community Sabbath experience, to regularly gather in significant numbers to experience the Sabbath/spirituality/community with joy. It is not a replacement for existing Shabbat programming but a supplement to it: by expanding the ways Shabbat is celebrated, more and more Jewish students will enjoy it as a Meaningful Jewish Experience and will connect with their community.
As director of Hillels of Georgia, Schreiber spearheaded the creation of Campus SuperStar™, a statewide vocal competition that was open to students of all races and faiths. Now in its third year in Georgia, the program has been replicated in other communities. A veteran Jewish professional, Jacob has held positions with the Anti-Defamation League, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Joint Distribution Committee, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Rochester and the Mandel Institute. An award-winning journalist, Jacob served as the editor of the Atlanta Jewish Times and as staff writer for The Jerusalem Post.
For more information, contact Jacob Schreiber via e-mail at jschreiber@hillel.org or by phone at 404-256-1023, beginning August 28.
|
 |
|
 |