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May marks a season of both beginnings and endings. As we celebrate the graduating class of 2025, we also prepare to welcome the class of 2029, who, on May 1st, committed to schools on National College Decision Day.
Over the last year and a half since October 7, 2023, campus Hillels have seen an unprecedented level of student involvement and community support. At Hillel at the University of Delaware, the community has grown so much that a campaign is underway to construct a building that will serve as an updated hub for Jewish life at the university.
That’s why Springboard Executive Director Leah Palestrant and Hillel International Associate Vice President for Jewish Learning Danielle Kranjec decided to organize a recent Rabbinic Pipeline Shabbaton, an immersive weekend experience in New York City for Springboard Fellows interested in exploring the rabbinate in the future.
In 2005, my family flew from Israel to Minnesota to visit my aunt for the High Holidays, and decided to stay permanently. We quickly became very involved in our local Jewish community: We kept kosher, went to synagogue every weekend, and made Shabbat a big part of our lives.
Four years ago, as a first-year student at the University of Miami, who had just recently arrived from Uruguay, I attended my first Shabbat dinner at Hillel, unsure of what my Jewish journey would look like.
Before the October 7 attacks on Israel, my involvement with Hillel was minimal. I knew it existed on campus, but I hadn’t made the effort to connect. I was busy with classes, my sorority, and the usual college activities that fill our calendars. But after that day, everything shifted — both in the world and in my own life.
Today, Hillel International is announcing its eighth cohort of the Debra S. and Joseph S. Weinberg Accelerate Executive Advancement Program, its premier executive advancement experience. Through a combination of expert-led training, executive coaching, and hands-on leadership development, Accelerate cultivates the next generation of Hillel professionals.
Professional development has long followed a predictable formula: Junior staff members learn from senior team leaders, managers enroll in structured programs, and organizations invest in top-down training efforts. These methods have their merits, but they often overlook one of the most powerful and underused tools for leadership growth — peer learning.
Cleaning up beaches near Rio de Janeiro and learning about Jewish environmental values. Connecting with Jewish study abroad students in London. Discovering the richness and plurality of Jewish traditions at Israeli cultural centers from Haifa to Sderot. Exploring the intersection of art and Jewish identity in Berlin. And helping Jewish students rebuild, physically and emotionally, after bombings in war-torn Ukraine.