A N N U A L R E P O R T2013

+Providing meaningful Jewish experiences

that encourage Jewish students to make an enduring commitment to

Jewish life, learning, and Israel.

Queens College Hillel Board of Directors

Ellen Koppelman*President

Muriel Goldberg* PVice President

Erika Witover*Secretary

David Gibbs*Treasurer

Zohar BachiryAlyssa BlumenthalSandy Cahn*P

Carole ChazinJerry Cohen*William Frumkin Doree GreenbergJulie KestenmanBobi Klotz*P

Joan LorenProf. Mark RosenblumAriel ShapiroAllison SchiffmanDaniel SpitalnicJeremy WatmanºProf. Jerry WaxmanArtur Yusupov

P Past President * Executive Committee Member UJA–Federation of NY Observer

New members as of July 1, 2013 º Term ended June 30, 2013

Queens College Hillel Student Officers 2012–2013

Ariel Shapiro Nachi Farkas Zohar Bachiry Eric SprungPresident Vice President Secretary Treasurer

2013–2014

Zohar Bachiry Gideon Glass Nicki Kornbluth Daniel KaplanPresident Vice President Secretary Treasurer

Queens College Hillel StaffUri CohenExecutive Director

Lynn GrossmanDirector of Operations

Jenna CitronDirector of Jewish Student Life

Rabbi Robby and Shoshana CharnoffOU–JLIC Educators

Yvette Deane, Lauren Hertan, Jared Hoch, Emily RivelesPeer Network Interns, 2012–2013

David Aminov, Alyssa Blumenthal, David Zev Rosenberg, Avichai Vazana, Shae Wodinsky, Carly Gerbi

Peer Network Interns, 2013–2014

Michael GoldmanJLIC Intern, 2012–2013

Ilana Barta, Yossi Szpiegel, Zissy TurnerJLIC Interns, 2013–2014

_____________________________

Cover photo Upper row, left to right: Uri Cohen (Executive Director, QC Hillel), Tom Blumberg (Past Chairman of international Hillel), Ellen Koppelman (President, QC Hillel Board of Directors), and James Muyskens (President, Queens College).Lower row, left to right: QC Hillel student leaders—Daniel Kaplan (Treasurer), Gideon Glass (Vice President), Nicki Kornbluth (Secretary), and Zohar Bachiry (President).

Principal photography by Brett Deutsch

Dear QC Alumni, Parents, and Friends, QC Hillel’s first Annual Report shares many of our accomplish–ments this year. In sending it we extend our sincere thanks for your partnership in our work. We could not succeed without you!By now you’ve heard about our major renovation this past summer. The photos in this Report give a glimpse of the bright and modern facility our students now call home. Students have said: “Wow! I had no idea the space was this big.” “This is LEGIT!” and “Now we definitely have a REAL Hillel.” As we know, Hillel has been “real” at Queens College for a long time. What this student means, I believe, is that a renewed spirit—bolstered by a rebuilt staff, program, and facility—is alive and well. It results in a high level of service to one of America’s fastest-growing Jewish campus communities.The recent Pew Report focused the thinking of many in the Jewish community on what lies ahead. Queens College serves—at a fraction of the price of private colleges—a huge Jewish population (4,000, 9th nationwide): large numbers of Orthodox students (1,000, 2nd nationwide); Conservative, Reform, and “just” Jews (2,500); and Bukharians (1,000 from Uzbekistan) and Persians (350 from Iran). Given this constellation, it is clear that QC will continue to represent the convergence of the key trends that Pew identifies—demographic, religious, economic, and more.We continue to: expand the meaningful Jewish experiences we offer; invest deeply in diverse student leaders; contribute to QC as an indispensable campus partner; and help students develop their Jewish identity alongside the college years’ fundamental academic, social, emotional, and other developments. From the diversity of spoken languages, sounds of Jewish learning in our 75-person Beit Midrash, and the music of Tizmoret (our award-winning Jewish a cappella group), it is clear that Jewish life at QC is truly flourishing.

Thank you all for your help in making this possible! QC Jewish students represent the future of the Jewish community

now more than ever, and I look forward to continuing our work together encouraging them to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life.

Sincerely,

Uri Cohen Executive Director

Queens College Hillel Donor Roll as of June 30, 2013

President’s Circle $25,000 and above

Ellen Koppelman*Murray KoppelmanThe Taub FamilyUJA–Federation of New York*

Queens Club $5,000 and above

Helaine and Jerry Cohen*Muriel GoldbergHillel: The Foundation for Jewish

Campus LifeAllan Kronstadt, the Bethesda

Foundation*The Jesse and Joan Kupferberg

Foundation*The Kupferberg Family

Foundation*Erika and Kenneth Witover*

Maccabi Club $1,000 and above

Mr. and Mrs. Phillip AltheimElaine and Thomas BlumbergSandy and Stewart CahnPeter EdelsteinWilliam FrumkinDoree GreenbergRuth and Elliot JosephIrwin KallmanMr. and Mrs. Mitchell KuflikThe Honorable Nita LoweyRichard MaidmanMichael MinikesNational Securities Corporation*David SeltzerReuben SeltzerStephanie StiefelWomen's League for

Conservative JudaismIra Zimilover Budget Office

Furniture*

Friends of QC Hillel $1 and above

Arthur AbelowMr. Jay AbrahamsMimi and Barry AlperinMrs. Esther AndronMrs. Ruth AnolikMr. and Mrs. William AronoffJudah and Jeanne Ausubel

Joanne and Mark BaneGary BergmanRosalie BermanJoshua BienstockBeth BlumenstockMr. and Mrs. Melvin BrodyMr. and Mrs. Kenneth CanterGary CharlestonRabbi Robby and Shoshana

CharnoffSharon and Aaron ChesirJenna CitronMr. and Mrs. Tobias CohenIrwin CohenStacey and Uri Cohen*Sherri DanielsLaurie Dien and Alan YaillenLaurie DisickJoanne and Jack DribenBeth ElitzerMark EngelJan FensterMr. and Mrs. Elliot FleischerDavid and Sally FrenkelDorothy FriedMr. and Mrs. Stanley FriedmanBenjamin FrielingElaine GersteinDavid GibbsNina and Sol GlasnerRobert and Shira GoldbergLinda and Saul GreenbergMurray H. GreenspanLynn GrossmanMr. Leonard HausmanSharon HertanMr. and Mrs. William HofferRabbi David Wise, Hollis Hills

Jewish Center Rabbi's FundFrancine HoltzmanSid ItzkowitzHarriet KaplanGary and Shelley KatzDr. Martin KesslerIsabel and Stuart KesslerRabbi Manes Kogan, Hillcrest

Jewish Center Tzedakah FundManfred KormanMr. and Mrs. Paul KronishSippy LasterMillicent LazarusWalter LeavittElaine Lerner

Danielle and Ari LernerLinda and Mark LevineNancy LevyJoan LorenNaftali and Nina LubinSeth MarloweMen of Reform JudaismLeon MillerSteve MosesRichard NewmarkMartin and Suzanne OppenheimerAndrew PasternakJoan PearlmutterMr. and Mrs. Keith PeckmanEllen and Richard PermanMr. and Mrs. Herbert PosnerDr. Ronald ProssBarbara ResnickMr. and Mrs. Norman RosenDr. Mark RosenblumRichard RothbardJeffrey L. SatensteinMr. and Mrs. Seymour ScherzerRita SchneiderDorit SchwartzLita SchwartzbergTheodore SchwartzmanEzra and Rachel ShankenFrederick ShapiroArt ShermanRachel and Joel SiegelBeth SirullStella SkuraPhyllis SolomonHoward StevensDr. Rita TeslerKenneth TewelRiva and David TuskSara UrbanMr. and Mrs. Steven WachtelMr. and Mrs. Herb WaldMark WeinKaren Weingarten SchwartzDr. and Mrs. Jeffrey WeissGerty WolfIrina YagudayevaRisa Zimilover

* Giving includes gift to renovation project.

H llelqueens college

Open here to see what we've done!

 Religious LifeHIGHLIGHTS

Minyanim (prayer services), shi’urim (classes), discussion groups—Hillel has them all! The Jewish Learning on Campus Initiative (JLIC) at Queens College—in partnership with the Orthodox Union—leads our service to the large Orthodox student population (QC has more Orthodox students than any campus other than Yeshiva University). Rabbi Robby and Shoshana Charnoff teach classes; mentor students; run men’s, women’s, and coed programs; host students in their home; help organize minyanim; and much more. Besides JLIC, the weekly student-organized mishmar program, the bi-weekly Evolving Judaism series with Mechon Hadar, and other events organized by the Religious life committee are just a few examples of high-level learning opportunities available to interested students.

THE NUMBERS

4 daily minyanim (prayer services) available Monday–Thursday

3 minyanim (prayer services) available on Shabbat

250 students engaged in 50 Jewish learning programs

14 weekly JLIC shi’urim (classes) 25 stand-alone JLIC events

 Jewish NetworksHIGHLIGHTS

The Peer Network Engagement Internship program, on campuses all over the world, builds relationships with uninvolved Jewish students, connects them to Jewish life, and creates personally meaningful Jewish experiences. In this, our first year in the program, we used social networks to exponentially increase the number of students engaged in Jewish life at Queens College. Sorority Shabbat dinners, sports tournaments, a discussion on Jews and tattoos, and a Jewish social justice campaign are just a few of the many programs that evolved from the relationships our interns forged by expanding their Jewish social networks among Jewish QC students.

THE NUMBERS

4 Peer-Network interns197 Peer relationships created917 Jewish interactions

  Community: Residents & CommutersHIGHLIGHTS

Hillel is at the forefront of the QC evolution that has added a strong residential component to historic service to commuting students. In addition to offering programs and activities virtually all day Monday through Thursday to maximize commuter participation, residential students (who live in the Summit dormitory or in neighborhood apartments) demand and build weekly Shabbat programs, evening events, holiday celebrations, and more. Together, commuters and residents belong to the QC Jewish community, expanding each others horizons and working together to make Hillel a home for everyone. We also continue to work toward our goal of including all Jewish students in celebrating the ethnic, religious, and geographic diversity that is the hallmark of the QC Jewish Community.

THE NUMBERS

500 commuter students engaged with Hillel (est.)

400 residential students engaged with Hillel (est.)32 programs at Hillel each week (avg.)

 Shabbat LifeHIGHLIGHTS

Hillel is now a full-service Jewish community center during the week and also on Shabbat. Orthodox services take place every Shabbat of the semester. Students who describe themselves as “just Jews” attend discussion groups held one Friday night a month. Shabbat hosting is the norm—campus residents regularly host commuters in their homes. Student-organized potluck and hosted meals enable celebration of Shabbat on campus every week of the academic year. With two Free Friday Night Dinners and three Shabbaton weekends each semester, the community eats together regularly. QC JLIC hosts se’udah shelishit (third Shabbat meal) with festive singing and an inspiring havdalah (conclusion of Shabbat) ceremony. Shabbat now serves as a heartbeat of the Queens College Jewish community (as in every Jewish community) for residents and commuters alike, crowning each week and starting off the next in the right direction.

THE NUMBERS

30 –150 Shabbat service participants (weekly)

225 – 350 Free Friday Night Dinner attendees per event

30 –110 se’udah shelishit participants (weekly)

Jewish Network discussion of modern Jewish topics Music and refreshments at our Community Luau

Rabbi Charnoff leads a chaburah in Mishnah Berurah

Completing the writing of our brand new Sefer Torah