On September 26, 2003, the religion section of the Harrisburg Patriot-News featured Dickinson students involved with Hillel. The article is reprinted here courtesy of The Patriot-News.

Jewish students find needs met

BY BARBARA TRAININ BLANK
For The Patriot-News
Photos by Gary Dwight Miller

When Danielle Weisbrod applied for college, she looked for a quality school with an active Jewish community in case she couldn't make it back to her Long Island, N.Y., home for the High Holidays.

Dickinson College fit the bill.

Jewish students, who comprise about a 10th of the 2,200 students at the liberal arts college in Carlisle, can find Friday night and holiday services and other religious celebrations; lectures and cultural programs; social action projects; and plenty of socializing.

The whirlwind of activity is primarily because of the presence of Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, an international organization with more than 550 centers at colleges and universities.

Dickinson's Hillel is enjoying a renaissance after a period of dormancy, according to Ted Merwin, assistant professor of religion/Judaic studies and the group's coordinator.

About 100 individuals are on the e-mail list, including some professors and staff. Last year, the second Seder on Passover drew about 45 attendees.

"We have no trouble getting a minyan [prayer quorum]," Merwin said. "Of course, as a non-Orthodox service, we count women."

He believes Dickinson Hillel's relative small size "allows for a family-life atmosphere to develop among the Jewish students."

Hillel now has a physical presence, too. Last fall, funding from Yale Asbell, an alumnus and trustee of the college, enabled the construction of The Asbell Center, named for his father, Milton B. Asbell.

The center, dedicated April 27, is at 262 W. High St., directly across from the academic quad.

"It has its own chapel, a meeting room and two kitchens—one for dairy and one for meat. Only kosher food is allowed into and prepared in the center, although there is no formal rabbinic supervision," Merwin said. "It's at the center [where] students in the Hillel cooking club prepare homemade Friday night Sabbath meals --including challah (braided bread) from scratch."

The center also contains his office and an apartment for visiting Judaic scholars.

The building of the Asbell Center also gave a boost to the Judaic Studies program, which is chaired by Merwin's wife, Andrea Lieber, and to Beth Tikvah, a Reform congregation that has been meeting on and near Dickinson for some time.

"I'm staying on campus for the High Holidays, and I'm thrilled with the variety of opportunities we have," said Weisbrod, a sophomore. "Last year, I attended three different types of services and this year will return to my favorite, which is Beth Tikvah."

The Reform congregation meets at the Asbell Center Friday evenings after Hillel services are over but will convene at a different location on campus for the High Holidays.

Because Beth Tikvah services are led by lay people rather than rabbis and cantors, Hillel places students who prefer more formal services in area synagogues and with host families for holiday meals if they prefer, Merwin said.

Andrew Rosenthal of Lansdale, the group's co-president, says Hillel offers an easy way for the host families to let students know they are welcome.

For Sukkot, the harvest festival that follows Yom Kippur, Jewish students will be staying on campus but not necessarily in their rooms. Some will not only eat inside the sukkah, a temporary hut erected for the holiday, but actually sleep there.

"Participating in Hillel has helped me to learn more about what I like in terms of Jewish ritual, song and prayer," said sophomore Maya Winoker, a native Israeli.

Through Hillel, Merwin said, the college has come to understand the needs of Jewish students better.

Margo Sussman, a sophomore from Dayton, Ohio, and the only Orthodox student at Dickinson, found it hard at first to keep strictly kosher on campus. There is no food plan for those who keep the dietary laws full time.

But now, she said, "the food I order from a co-op in Scranton is worked out so it counts as my meal plan."

A liaison to the administration is David Frohman, an admissions officer whose daughter graduated from Dickinson as a Judaic Studies major.

Students seeking information about Jewish life at Dickinson or any other school of higher education can go to Hillel's Web site (www.hillel.org) or purchase the organization's "Guide to Campus Life."

"When I got here," said Tal Rosen, a senior, "there was a Hillel on paper. We wanted to create a better community. It's been an amazing experience to transform it from an inactive organization to this center."

Rosen's involvement has helped connect him "to the future." The Mechanicsburg resident might attend Hillel's international center in Washington, D.C., or rabbinical school.

For some students, Hillel represents their first foray into Jewish activities.

Such was the case for Jamie Deutch, a junior from Evanston, Ill., its co-president.

"We're open to suggestions, for cultural, religious, social events, speakers. Make Hillel your family, your home away from home," she tells incoming freshmen who come to a Bagel Breakfast the first day of school.

Frohman believes the Asbell Center and an activated Hillel is having an impact beyond the Jewish population at Dickinson.

"I sense a great energy among the Hillel students," he said. "This enhances the entire college community."

With the groundwork laid, there's talk about expanding the center.

"The Asbell Center is truly the center of Jewish life at Dickinson," said Robert Massa, a vice president of the college. "But as Hillel has expanded, the space in the center is taxed at peak times. The college is looking into the possible renovation of the basement as a social gathering space for students and as a potential venue for some of the larger programs..."

A decision is expected within a month or two—maybe in time for Hanukkah.