Hillel Impact Stories

There was a lot of built-up energy and momentum for students returning to campus this year and Hillel at ASU took the opportunity to capitalize by providing not just one welcome week, but a full 6-weeks of programming, called ‘The First Six’, focused on showing that we were ready to welcome all students back in full swing.  One of the highlights was our annual Street Fair where we had nearly 100 students gather in our parking lot to socialize and enjoy free food all while collecting SWAG and getting to meet the many student groups and campus partners that make up our Hillel community. With the lifting of campus restrictions, we’ve also been able to return to tabling and programs around campus where over 300 students have already connected to Hillel, both on the Tempe and Downtown campuses. 

Our staff and student leaders felt moments of shock and adjustment when we all returned to campus, but they also continued to show resiliency and jump back into things despite the sense of ambiguity that we all face as a result of  the pandemic. There was a communal sense of relief to being back in person and feeling the impact of connecting without a screen in between us. 

This is a semester all about experimenting, what does our new normal look like? To Hillel at ASU this looks like learning from the last 18+ months that students are open to new things. We had over 20 first-year students show up to pizza by the dorms. We had many students join us for high holiday meals and services (you can read about one of them, Liora, here), and others join us on campus for ‘Bagels and Shofar’ during Rosh Hashanah and yoga during Yom Kippur. A Yom Kippur meditation followed by break-fast rounded out the holiday.

We are constantly innovating and iterating to meet students’ needs as we all learn what those needs are. We are excited to keep you updated as we all evolve together. 

​Liora Hyman ‘22 helped lead Hillel at ASU’s High Holiday services this semester. She first became involved through one of our virtual classes  last year and has since grown her connection not only to the Hillel community but to her Jewish identity. While reflecting on her experiences this holiday season she shared, “Working with Hillel was such a spiritually strong experience. Both of my parents are clergy, so I have always struggled to find my own place of leadership within the Jewish community.” 

Liora’s role in the High Holidays not only gave her the platform to be a Jewish leader but allowed her to re-explore her personal connection to Judaism. She worked closely with Rabbi Suzy leading up to the fall semester to find her confidence in praying so she could feel empowered to lead a group of students in prayer. 

She is proud of her accomplishments and appreciates the privilege she was given to lead services. But when thinking about the entire experience she said, “looking back I would do it all again, everything but fasting. Leading prayer services and fasting is a new level I had never experienced before that left me emotionally and physically exhausted. However, I would do it all again for Hillel at ASU.”

Imagine spending your first semester of college at home, while other first-year students are on campus doing what they can to safely meet new friends and adjust to this new chapter in their life.  That’s what the first 5 months of my life as a college student were like. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but without Hillel it would’ve been nearly impossible. Having now completed my first year of college, I can say that I am a proud Sun Devil, thanks to ASU Hillel!
 
Before fall semester started, Hillel staff members reached out to me for a virtual ‘get-to-know-you’ and I could not be more thankful for that opportunity. Zoom fatigue made it challenging to connect with people outside of my ASU classes. There were times when it felt like it would be impossible to make friends and feel a part of the greater campus community during my virtual semester. Because of that one Hillel call, I joined two Hillel classes that helped me build deep connections with students and the Jewish  community at ASU. Hillel constantly reminded me that being virtual might have made things harder, but not impossible.

I loved learning more about life’s big questions and about Israel through the two classes I took, the Jewish Learning Fellowship (JLF) and the Engage Israel fellowship. Both classes were structured differently than my academic classes; they gave me the chance to talk with other students one-on-one and in small groups. Having this weekly commitment with students who were there for the same reasons I was made building friendships easy. These classes allowed me to build real relationships with other ASU students and I can confidently say that I feel a part of the community because of Hillel.

I honestly believe that there’s no other space or community that makes such a real effort to reach out to someone new and to make sure that every person feels comfortable. I am so grateful for the amazing and generous donors who make it all possible.

Allison Thompson ’23 is one of many students at ASU who helped read names as part of our 24-hour Holocaust memorial program. 

Reflecting on her participation, Allison shared that “the Yom HaShoah name reading was one of the most powerful moments I’ve ever experienced. I read during the middle of the night, during the day while people passed by to attend class and was the final reader to end the event. Each time felt so powerful because I was able to honor those who passed. It was also devastating since we hardly put a dent in the number of names that we were able to read for 24 hours. This event was a reminder of how important it is to continue to memorialize the victims so the Holocaust can never happen again"

Allison’s participation in not one, but three different reading shifts allowed her to experience this emotional act in different environments.  We are proud of our students, like Allison, who took time out of their day, and night, to be a part of this meaningful reading. 

Allison also serves as the VP of Marketing for the newly established Jewish Greek Council and is a Hillel Birthright alum.

​After graduating from Arizona State in 2006 with a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy, Ashley knew that Judaism was always going to be an important part of her life. As an out-of-state student, she had walked onto campus four years earlier without a familiar face to turn to, feeling lost, as most first-year college students do. Ashley knows how fortunate she was to have found herself, her Jewish self, during college because of ASU Hillel. She found a home-away-from-home surrounded by the staff and community who cared about her; her success and happiness were important to them as if they were family. Ashley remembers the feeling of gratitude when Rabbi Lee called her personally with an invite to her first Hillel program and later on to celebrate Shabbat. Hillel was fundamental in her Jewish discovery as an individual and her time engaged with Hillel still drives her connection to Judaism. Ashley joined the internship program at Hillel and became part of the daily Jewish life at ASU earning herself the Joan Frazer Memorial Award for Judaism and the Arts. She learned the ins and outs of nonprofits while doing work that brought her joy and allowed her to make a difference in the world every day. Ashley now works at a Jewish day school in Indianapolis, where she lives with her husband and three children. She will always have a special place in her heart for ASU Hillel, and Rabbi Lee, who empowered her to embrace her Judaism in every aspect of her life. She hopes every student at ASU can continue to have such amazing experiences with Hillel where they too can discover their true selves.