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This evening, Rowan University Hillel participated in a virtual WebEx event commemorating and remembering the anniversary of Kristallnacht, also known as the “Night of Broken Glass”. Run by the Rowan Center for the Study of Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights and joined by over 80 participants from Hillel, Chabad, Phi Alpha Theta, and Student History Association. Participants discussed the significance of Kristallnacht on Jewish lives, and what we can do today to educate, inform, and spread awareness.

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This week Hillel hosted Game Night and it was a blast! We first played a Kahoot about Movies, and then one about Brain Teasers which really messed with out minds! Then we played a virtual version of the Game of Things which was a lot of fun and got us all laughing! Can’t wait for another game night just like this one!

Last Friday, Rowan University Hillel hosted a virtual Jeopardy event via Cisco Webex with Treasurer Greggory Nekrasovas and Evan Grollman acting as hosts. The participants were separated into teams of two to deliberate and answer all of the questions. Both teams were very even until one mistake turned the tied, forcing the decision of the contest to come the very end for a stunning come-from-behind victory at Final Jeopardy! 

Our 4th Annual Mental Health Awareness Night was a huge success! We started the event by having everyone share one positive thing about their day. Then, we turned it over to Michele Pich, who runs the Shreiber Family Pet Therapy program on campus, to talk to us about the role of therapy dogs and the type of support they provide to us humans. We had several alumni talk about their personal experiences with mental health as well. To conclude the event, each participant shared a helpful coping mechanism and/or something that boosts their mood/makes them happy. We are looking forward to another great event on October 23rd — Jeopardy night!

Rowan Hillel was very excited to hold our first in-person event of the semester — a break fast for Yom Kippur! All food was catered from Shoprite and individually wrapped and given out to each member who came. Masks and social distancing were required. After a brief service, we had a great time socializing in person with our Hillel family. It was great to see both familiar and new faces!

Who doesn’t love a good Starbucks and Scav Night? Each member who signed up received a $5 Gift Card to Barnes & Noble to purchase their favorite Starbucks drink before our event! After enjoying our delicious drinks, we hopped on Webex where all members competed in a Scavenger Hunt and participated in a virtual version of one of our favorite icebreaker games, “Switch sides if…”. We had a great time and hope to see everyone for our next big event of the month, Mental Health Awareness Night!

Our grilled cheese and game night was a huge success! We started our event by dropping off delicious grilled cheese sandwiches from Steve’s Grilled Cheese in Glassboro to all of our on campus members. Some of our members not living on campus even made their own grilled cheeses! After we ate, we all hopped on WebEx and played various rounds of scattergories, each with different categories!! We all had some great laughs! We hope to see everyone on the 25th for another amazing event!

Last night Rowan Hillel celebrated Shabbat with a virtual Getting to Know You. The event, hosted by Treasurer Greggory Nekrasovas, welcomed back current members, as well as Hillel alumni. We were also delighted to welcome several new new members to the Hillel family. Members participated in a hand crafted Kahoot that introduced them to the Hillel E-Board and fellow members. President Rachel Levy also let the members know things to expect in the fun fall semester ahead!

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Rowan Hillel is currently working with the University to learn the parameters for the events that we can have this semester. Please check with us here and on our social media regularly for updates!

Hope to see you all soon with masks on!!!

Hillel’s Kitchen, our annual cooking competition was recently featured in the Whit, the official school newspaper of Rowan University.

“As a college student, spending money wisely is an important lesson that never stops being taught. Making sure you eat meals throughout the day can become costly, and you may have to preserve leftovers instead of just throwing them away. What a better opportunity to learn how to cook new meals with these leftovers than what Hillel offered at the Interfaith Center in Evergreen Hall.”

To read the entire article by Christine Harkinson click here.

Thanks for a great article Christine!