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American-Israeli baseball player Zach Weiss played in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Weiss, now a relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, says his experiences as a Jewish athlete go far beyond representing Team Israel in 2020. Here are the highlights from our conversation with Weiss.
At Hillel, I learned to walk into a room as my whole self, never leaving part of my identity behind. I was finally Jewish enough. For so many years, I created walls because I came from an interfaith family. Hillel taught me that my intersectionality was an asset in Jewish spaces, as it taught me to be open-minded, understanding, and compassionate.
More than 2,500 Jewish teens gathered in Baltimore from Feb. 17-20 for BBYO’s International Convention (IC), the organization's first global in-person event in two years. IC serves as the keynote event of the year when teen leaders from 40 countries join together along with educators, thought leaders, philanthropists, and others to celebrate, dream, and take action.
My dad was diagnosed with cancer in April 2019, and I leaned on Syracuse Hillel as I grappled with fears of losing him. Rabbi Goldstein offered compassion and support during weekly chats over coffee. Hillel friends constantly texted me with loving messages. My Jewish community was there for me — every step of the way.
The ROTC becomes doubly challenging for Jewish students, who often experience isolation during service. That’s why Fishler and Bergen readily agreed to spearhead a new ROTC cohort that brings together Jewish student members from all over the country.
But the beauty of Hillel is that everyone is welcome, no matter how “Jewish” they feel. Through my experiences, I realized that Judaism was a lot more relatable than what I learned in Hebrew school. In general, I started to feel more proud and more excited to be Jewish.
“As 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’s 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’m […]
“To me, being Jewish means everything. To be Jewish is to have received a higher calling guiding me to dedicate my life to serving the globe’s neglected communities. To be Jewish means I face struggles and adversity with a smile on my face because I know my ancestors have given me the strength to overcome […]
I was a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh on October 27, 2018, the day of the Pittsburgh synagogues shooting that took the lives of 11 Jewish people. Now, as a senior, not a day passes where I do not wear my necklace, over my shirt, where everyone can see it. I am proud to be Jewish and I am proud to #OwnMyStar.
The place that I've gotten to do a lot of my own personal passion projects in college has been Hillel. It's made me more of an active Jew, to see Judaism more as doing things for other people, with other people, than just an individual practice.
