Dear Hillel: Growing a Community for Myself and My Team
“Dear Hillel” showcases letters from graduating seniors reflecting on their experiences of joy and belonging with their campus Hillels. Haley Wilenzick, a fourth-year student at Binghamton University, shares how building a home through sports and Hillel changed the way she approaches community. Read Haley’s letter to Hillel:
Dear Hillel,
I didn’t always know what finding my own Jewish community would look like. I was raised in New York, and while Judaism was always present in my life, it was never as part of a community that I helped create. I spent time in Jewish day school, Camp Ramah, and in Israel for a gap year. Each step deepened my personal Jewish identity, but heading into college, I still felt unsure about what it would feel like to intentionally build a Jewish community of my own.
Before I even moved into my dorm at Binghamton University, I had a sense that I would find something meaningful here. Jewish students who were not only focused on participating in a Jewish student community, but on creating a community where each student could forge their own personal connections to the Jewish people.
Once on campus, Hillel became part of my everyday life. My mom jokes that whenever I’m on the phone with her, walking through campus, I’m constantly stopping to say hi to my friends from Hillel, asking if they’re coming to Shabbat, checking in on the upcoming program they’re leading, or seeing if they want to meet up for a pick-up game later in the week. At a big university, that kind of community takes intentionality to build. Hillel made it feel small in the best possible way. It made it feel like home.
And as Hillel felt more like home, I felt a responsibility to build that sense of belonging for my friends in the best way I knew how — through sports. Athletics have always been part of my life. I grew up playing soccer and basketball, but I never expected that part of me to intertwine so deeply with my Jewish identity. Hillel gave me the opportunity to do both. From organizing hot yoga events downtown to coordinating logistics for the Hillel sports tournaments, I know the power of bringing people together for shared experiences.
I joined Binghamton’s National Hillel Basketball Tournament team as soon as I arrived on campus. Over the years, it became about community, about showing up for one another, and about playing as part of something bigger than ourselves.
I’ll never forget something one of the seniors said that first year: “When will we ever get to do this again? Play together, surrounded by Jewish community, with a full Shabbaton around it?” That moment stayed with me. It captured exactly what has made this experience so special every year.
Being part of a team taught me so much about what it means to be part of a Jewish community. As a first-year student, you learn from the older students. You find where you belong. Then, before you know it, you’re the one welcoming others in, showing them the ropes, and making sure they feel like they belong. That cycle of learning, leading, and lifting others up is at the heart of both athletics and Jewish life.
As I prepare to graduate, I’m reflecting on the full circle feeling of my involvement with NHBT: the Binghamton women’s team that I captained placed first at this year’s NHBT. It was an incredible feeling. After four years of building, recruiting, and practicing, my dream became a reality.
But the truth is, the win wasn’t even the best part. What mattered most was everything that came with it: the relationships, the teamwork, and the sense of belonging. I wouldn’t have found any of that without Hillel at Binghamton.
Over the past four years, I’ve watched Hillel grow into a vibrant, welcoming hub for students. Now, the building is full of energy, laughter, and conversation. It’s a place where anyone can walk in and immediately feel like they belong. That kind of space doesn’t just happen. It’s built by people who care. The staff, the Springboard Fellows, and the student leaders create an environment that makes you want to give back. And I’ve felt that pull firsthand. The more Hillel gave to me, the more I wanted to invest in it.
As I prepare to graduate, I’ve been thinking a lot about what comes next. I’ll be taking a gap year to explore neuroscience research opportunities before applying to medical school. There’s a lot of uncertainty ahead, but there’s also something Hillel helped me feel completely sure about: I know I will seek out and build a Jewish community wherever I go.
Hillel showed me what that can look like. More than that, it’s shown me how to create it, how to lead, and how to help others feel like they belong too.