Bronfman Fellow

My name is Nadine Levyfield and I am incredibly excited to be the 2011-2012 Bronfman Fellow at Hillel’s Schusterman International Center. After growing up in Los Angeles, I headed to UC Berkeley and graduated in May 2011 with a degree in Media Studies.

As an undergraduate, I became increasingly active in the Jewish community in the San Francisco Bay Area, both on campus and in my surrounding neighborhood. I served as the Communications Intern at Berkeley Hillel as well as the Vice President of Communication for UC Berkeley’s Jewish Student Union. I also interned for Heeb Magazine and the Jewish Community Center of the East Bay.

Interacting with several Jewish organizations during college marked a major transformation for me as I broadened the scope of my exposure to Judaism. Prior to this involvement, I had a rather unconventional Jewish upbringing which gave me a more narrow view of Judaism. I was raised as a secular humanistic Jew to embrace cultural aspects of Judaism while downplaying more formal and religious components. Although I had a strong relationship with Judaism from childhood to my bat mitzvah through participating in a nontraditional secular Sunday school, I hardly engaged in Jewish activities as a teen (in fact, I was the only Jew in my senior class of 400). My lack of connection to other Jewish teens during my adolescence caused me to reflect on how I wished to shape my post-high school Jewish identity, and I decided to actively expand and explore my Judaism once I left for college – namely by making Hillel a significant aspect of my experience at UC Berkeley.

Hillel truly was an integral and invaluable part of my college career. Its programming helped me find my place at a giant state university, enabled me to make wonderful friends I shared cultural values with, and meet incredible staff members who became my family away from home. Hillel also facilitated my transformative Jewish journey during college in numerous ways – traveling to Israel on Birthright, building houses in New Orleans on Alternative Break, and leading reform Shabbat services are just some of the many meaningful Jewish experiences I took pleasure in. This is why I am so thrilled that my role as Bronfman Fellow can contribute to ensuring that Hillel continues to provide a vibrant and inclusive outlet for Jewish campus life.

I very much look forward to working in Hillel’s Office of the President this coming year!

Best,
Nadine