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Israelis Welcome Haifa to Hillel Family
June 8, 2006Comments (0) | Add | E-mail this to a friend
 Hillel lay leaders and professionals celebrate the opening of Haifa Hillel with a joyous ribbon-cutting ceremony.
More than 120 Israeli students, dignitaries and guests braved a heat wave earlier this week to join in the celebration for the opening of Hillel’s fifth Israeli center, Haifa Hillel, located in the Chais Center on the Carmel. Led by former Hillel student leader Inbar Bluzer, the Haifa Hillel will bring quality Jewish programming and extracurricular activities to the 40,000 students studying at Haifa University, the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and area community colleges.
Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav and Professor Hanan Alexander, who three years ago convened 100 community leaders to discuss the possibility of bringing Hillel to Haifa, reflected the enthusiasm of the crowd in their warm remarks. Haifa University President Aaron Ben-Ze’ev, Hillel Israel Steering Committee Chairman Yossi Ciechanover and Hillel Board of Directors Vice-Chair Adam Bronfman also shared their thoughts before joining Bluzer and Yossie Goldman, the associate vice president and director of Hillel in Israel, for a symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony. Representatives from a variety of organizations helping to fund Haifa Hillel also participated in the festivities, including those from the Sacta-Rashi Foundation, the Chais Foundation, the Boston-Haifa Partnership and the Haifa Municipality.
“Everyone said how they were thrilled and appreciative that Hillel is now planting roots in Haifa, and participants commented on the importance of Hillel to the community’s 40,000 college-age students, the largest concentration of students in Israel today,” Goldman said.
Modeled after the successful Hillel centers in Latin America, Haifa Hillel will be the first community-based center for Jewish student life in Israel. Hillel programs will be held at its new base in Haifa’s historic Beit Hecht building, as well as on the Haifa University and Technion campuses.
“The goal is to meet students ‘where they are at,’ and most students live in the city and not on campus. Hillel will offer students the chance to explore their Judaism in an open, pluralistic, engaging, safe and supportive environment,” Bluzer said.
Bluzer, who received her bachelor’s degree from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, first learned about Hillel on the Beersheba campus and has made Jewish student life the focus of her career since then. In the 2004 academic year, Bluzer came to the United States to serve as the Hillel-Jewish Agency for Israel Fellow at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and five surrounding colleges. Israel Fellows are recent Israeli college graduates who work on U.S. campuses to foster Israel educational programs. In the coming academic year the program will include 21 fellows.
“Hillel changed my life. I didn’t know what Hillel was about, but I felt that I wanted to understand my Jewish roots. In Israel we tend to see things in black and white. We don’t see the diversity in between. People in their 20s are searching for who they are. Hillel gives the average Israeli student the opportunity to think about his/her identity,” she said.
Goldman credits the support of Ciechanover, Bronfman and many other lay leaders who worked tirelessly to establish Haifa Hillel.
“The process of establishing Hillel in Haifa has been a difficult one, and Yossi Ciechanover has been an invaluable partner in leading this effort,” Goldman said. “And we were delighted to have Adam Bronfman, his wife, Cindy and his children with us for the event. Adam was a magnet for the students, who continually gravitated toward him before and after the ceremony.”
Though Haifa Hillel is now open for business, its Beit Hecht offices are still undergoing renovations to repair major water damage from previous years and rebuild the basement space to modern standards. Once complete, the space will be completely gutted to construct a large activity room, office space, a kitchenette and a bathroom. Funding for the massive project has been donated by Stanley Chais, a member of Hillel’s International Board of Governors.
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