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UMBC Hillel

UMBC Hillel enriches UMBC’s diverse community with Jewish and universal commitments to learning, meaning, and justice by connecting Jewish students and their friends to people, experiences, and ideas that both challenge and support their growth.

Great folks. Travel opportunities. Free Shabbat celebrations every week. Volunteering in the community. Jewish learning. Leadership.

Build Relationships. Connect to Jewish Life. Create meaningful opportunities.

UMBC Hillel has a paid Engagment Internship for next school year.  Apply today!

The engagement internship, now in its fourth year, is designed to enhance Jewish life on campus by building relationships with uninvolved Jewish students and creating meaningful Jewish opportunities.  Qualified applicants are strong connectors, are excited about creating Jewish communities for their friends, and are looking to gain skills to use in future internships and jobs.

Here's some more info!  Priority application deadline is Friday, April 19.

New York trip to Assist Hurricane Sandy Recovery

(We are planning to have transportation from UMBC's campus to the bus for students who are interested in this opportunity.  Just let Rabbi Jason Klein know that you're coming.)

Who: Volunteers in good physical condition who are ages 13 and up (any volunteer under 18 must be accompanied by a parent). There is no cost to volunteer but pre-registration is required. Click here to register.

Date: Sunday, February 10
Time: 6:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Where: Meet in the parking lot at Chizuk Amuno, 8100 Stevenson Road, to travel to New York Read more »

Seattle this Spring Break

Image relating to [title]Spend spring break in Seattle learning about human trafficking and have a great experience living and learning with fellow students.

More info: http://www.umbchillel.org/seattle

Apply: http://www.umbchillel.org/seattleapp

Applications are due on November 14.

Seattle this Spring Break

Learn more at http://www.umbchillel.org/seattle

Applications are due on November 14.

My First Day of School

Image relating to [title]Welcome, first-year, transfer, and returning studnets to campus!  We wish you a great first day of school on Wednesday.  Be sure to stop by the Commons Breezeway all day for the sixth annual My First Day of School pictures, cookies, and milk.  Hope to see you there!

Get your free t-shirt today!

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Fill out a student info card on-line or in person, and get a free t-shirt while supplies last!

Travel Opportunities in 2012-13

 

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Want to go to Israel, Washginton, or Seattle this school year?  Learn about these travel opportunities with UMBC Hillel.

Ten Days of Awesomeness: High Holiday Celebrations on Campus

Are you trying to figure out your holiday plans?  Students, faculty, staff, family, friends, and neighbors are welcome for UMBC Hillel's services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  Services are free, but you must sign up in advance for meals.  Here's some more information.

Mazal tov!

Thank you to all who participated in our first ever Shabbat raffle!  We exceeded our goal and are thrilled to be able to extend our Shabbat program through next school year.

Mazal tov to our winners: Adam, Gregory, Diane, Kim, Ruth, Judah, Gayle, Bruce, Drora, Sheryl, Rebecca, Jeannie, Lynn, Justin, Rachel, Sonia, Justin, and Pam.  We look forward to contacting you in the next day or two in order to get you your prize packages.

Spring Raffle to Support Shabbat on Campus

raffle ticketsFor five years, the Jewish community at UMBC has been gathering together with friends to celebrate Shabbat, the sabbath.  Shabbat is a consistent and important part of campus weekend life for the UMBC Jewish community and beyond.  We strive to make Shabbat meals free of charge for our students so there is little obstacle to them connecting with one another and with Jewish tradition.

 

Help support Shabbat at UMBC for next school year and enter for a chance to win fabulous prizes!

 

You can buy a raffle ticket for $20 each or a set of six for $100 between now and Friday, June 8.

The drawing will take place on-campus on Thursday, June 14 at 2 PM at the Interfaith Center.  Everyone is welcome, but you need not be present to win.

 

Prizes include:

NYC day trip for two including theatre tickets.

A topaz and diamond pendant necklace by David Yurman from the Petite Albion collection from Radcliffe Jewelers.
Read more »

UMBC Hillel CEI Internship 2012-2013

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Be a Campus Entrepreneur Intern!
Join hundreds of students across the country as they transform Jewish life for their peers.
Build relationships.

Connect to Jewish life.

Create meaningful Jewish opportunities.

• The Campus Entrepreneurs Initiative (CEI) is designed to dramatically enhance Jewish life on campus. Each campus employs a cohort of students with broad social networks to build relationships with uninvolved Jewish students over the course of a year.
• Each Campus Entrepreneur is charged with building relationships with uninvolved Jewish students on campus. Serving as a resource to meaningful opportunities, the Campus Entrepreneurs and Peer-Network Interns strive to advance Jewish values in the context of their relationships. Read more »

Passover Seder

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Are you going to be on campus for the beginning of Passover?
UMBC Hillel will be hosting a seder on the first night of Passover, Friday April 6th, in the Interfaith Center which will be free for UMBC students. 

 

RSVP today on Facebook.

Why is this Sugar Different from All Other Sugars?

Passover and Year-Round Coca ColaThe Second Annual Taste Test of Coca Cola on the Eve of Passover

There is a Jewish tradition hundreds of years old for Jews of Eastern European heritage (Ashkenazi Jews) not to eat corn on Passover. There is an American tradition dozens of years old to make Coca Cola with High Fructose Corn Syrup. The cultural clash here means that at this time of the year there is a special product nicknamed "Passover Coke." Come taste both and learn about Passover and explore the "corn syrup vs. cane sugar" controversy in biology, nutrition, and American culture.  Monday, April 2, from 10 until 4 in the Commons Breezeway.

Purim: good and evil and masquerades

spiralWednesday night is the beginning of Purim, the happiest day on the Jewish calendar.  Many students are headed to local Purim celebration celebrations in the evening to hear the Megillah (scroll of Esther) read.  Contact Emily Boling for more info about options in the area.

Throughout the day on Wednesday, your UMBC Hillel professionals, Cara and Rabbi Jason, will be in the Commons Breezeway looking forward to talk to you about GOOD and EVIL, two themes of the day that seem to blur with one another.  Come by and get a pin to wear that challenges you with questions about alcohol, sex, capital punishment, or lashon hara--evil speech.

Can't make it to the Breezeway?  You can download a copy of the texts here.

Join the JSU on Thursday evening at 7 PM for a Purim Masquerade party in UC Ballrooom.  Tickets are available at the Commons Info Desk or at the door.

This Jewish Learning Thing

Image relating to [title]We're meeting every Tuesday at 7:30 PM for an hour for Torah study.  We'll read the text, classic Jewish commentary, and discuss what this means for us.  No experience or Hebrew knowledge necessary!  February 14 at the Commons Mosaic Center (2B23).  February 21 meet outside the Commons Mosaic Center.  February 28 and the weeks following in Commons 327.  See you there!  Want more info?  Email rabbijason@umbc.edu.

Have more experience with Jewish Study?  Rabbi Avishai Magence comes to campus every Tuesday and is happy to set up a time to learn with you.  Email him here.

Come to Israel for Free this June!

UMBC students in JerusalemThis summer, UMBC students will travel to Israel for ten days for free with other Jewish students from local Baltimore campuses.  It's a packed ten days with historic sights, great people, tasty food, contemporary culture--a great first trip to Israel.  We expect to leave the first week in June and will have more precise date information in a few weeks (don't worry, you'll have the option to have your deposit refunded before you're committed to the exact date).  Meanwhile, plan to sign up starting February 15 at noon.  Registration typically only lasts a few days, so it is important to sign up as soon as possible.  If you're interested in learning more, come to an info session in the Mosaic Center (2B23) in the Commons on Monday, February 13 from noon until 1 PM and have all your questions answered.  You can sign up for the trip on the 15th or learn more about the trip provider, Routes Travel-Amazing Israel, we're working with at Read more »

oliveswheatgrapesdatesfigsbarleypomegranates

PomegranateThis year Tu B'shevat, the Jewish New Year for Trees, is on Wednesday, Feb. 8. As winter becomes spring in the land of Israel, we eat tasty fruits and remind ourselves about the importance of trees.  If the weather is decent, we'll be outside in the Commons Breezeway; if not, we'll be inside the Commons in the Mosaic Center, room 2B23.  Email lena2@umbc.edu for more info.

Torah from Campus

The Torah portion that Jews all over the world read this week is called "Bo."  It opens with the last few of the Ten Plagues in Egypt and continues  until the Israelites are on their way out of Egypt.  Perhaps the highlight of the Torah portion is the first Passover celebration in history.  This feast occurs in Egypt as the plague of darkness makes way to the plague of the slaying of the first born.  Our ancestors mark their houses with blood from lambs they have sacrificed, and they feast with matzah, unleavened bread.

But wait a minute?  What are they celebrating?  They are, after all, still in Egypt!  And isn't Passover supposed to celebrate leaving Egypt?  Perhaps they are celebrating not their physical liberation but their spiritual liberation, the faith that they could divorce themselves from lives of slavery and live as free people, as if physical freedom is worthless unless accompanied by a shift in our mentality as well. Read more »

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