Last week, we hosted 200 students from all walks of campus for our annual Casino Night. One of our flagship Signature Social programs, Casino Night transformed the Hillel parking lot (programming lot) into the Hillel Sportsbook - a sports-themed "casino" complete with four different casino games, a DJ, a food truck, a bar, and even a "Partner Plaza" featuring 7 different student organizations. Among them, Gift of Life was there giving students the opportunity to join the national bone marrow registry.
One of our biggest learnings from the pandemic was to “lean in” to significant community-building opportunities. So, while Casino Night may appear to be just a big social event, it is so much more. These Signature Social events represent an opportunity for students to make new connections to each other and to the wider ASU campus community. The Partner Plaza - a feature of both Casino Night and November's Hillelchella - has become an avenue through which Hillel fosters deeper ties with the greater ASU community, creating relationships with diverse organizations such as TAMID at ASU, Engineers without Borders, Blaze Radio, Gift of Life, and even the Album Listening Club at ASU. With these partners, plus a food truck, yard games, a quiet inside lounge, and of course, casino games, Casino Night was designed to ensure everyone felt comfortable, welcome, and at home at the Hillel sportsbook.  When I started at ASU, I didn’t understand Judaism much, but getting connected with Hillel piqued my interest to learn. When I realized the community that JLF created through a learning experience, I knew I wanted to give it a shot.
At first, I wasn’t expecting the topics to relate to my day-to-day life so clearly as a student, but I quickly discovered that the lessons learned were applicable to my everyday life. Not only was I learning new things to take with me every day, but I was able to create new connections and build friendships I wouldn’t have otherwise. JLF has not only allowed me to find a new community but also connected me to my Jewish identity in a new way that I know will have a lasting impact throughout my life. Most students at ASU don’t have any opportunities like the Jewish Learning Fellowship, where we have a safe space to build a deeper connection and understanding of students who share our religion and beliefs. Because of JLF, I not only know more about my Judaism, but I know how I fit in the Jewish community. The Jewish Learning Fellowship (JLF) is a semester-long course that brings students together through a shared cohort experience. Using Jewish text, conversation, and each student’s personal experiences we dive into life’s big questions through the framework of Jewish tradition. Our goal is to bring ASU students together who otherwise wouldn’t meet one another and provide a space for them to make friends, build a deep community, and learn something new about themselves and their relationship to Judaism.
JLF is for every student, no matter what their Jewish journey was before arriving at ASU. We don’t tell them the ‘right’ way to be Jewish. We help them explore their religion and culture in a safe space that allows them to feel part of something bigger than themselves. This semester Hillel at ASU offered two courses, Life's Big Questions and the Sex, Love, and Romance curriculum. which allowed students to open up and explore the many facets and dynamics of romantic relationships during the unique experience of college! Curious about what topics this might include? Some favorites of our students are: Is it Jewish to talk about sex? How do you express affection for someone when you can’t express it physically? How are non-heterosexual relationships understood in the Jewish tradition? JLF not only provides Jewish inspiration but also a social opportunity with peers interested in engaging in deeper conversations. Participants are given the chance to converse with their entire cohort and with chevrutas (partner or small group), creating shared Jewish experiences over relevant content and essential questions to their lives. Graduates of the JLF have a stronger Jewish social network and feel part of a greater community, allowing them to build enduring commitments to their Judaism.
Our students have the privilege of attending an incredible institution in an amazing city. Too often, however, we find that our students feel stuck on campus - whether Tempe, Downtown, Poly, or West. The rigor of coursework and the demands of extracurriculars keep them confined to the same paths, streets, and buildings each day. At Hillel, we strive to help our students discover. Taste of Tempe, a new social cohort, empowers our students to do just that, forcing them outside of the ASU bubble to interact with the diverse, rich, and complex world around them. From dinners at various restaurants around the valley to watching a circus troupe made up of individuals with various disabilities, Taste of Tempe allows our students to develop a deeper connection with the community they call home for so much of the year. All the while, they form relationships with other students that might not encounter otherwise, deepening the connections within our own community at Hillel.
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FOLLOW US!Supported by the Center for Jewish Philanthropy of Greater Phoenix
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