From the very start of my time at W&L, Hillel has been a huge part of my experiences. I started going to the events to get involved in campus Jewish life and to meet new people (the welcome food basket was a pretty good incentive, too), and now Friday nights [...]
Hillel hosted its first Very Interesting Professor Dinner of the 2012-2013 school year, on October 18th at the Sheridan Livery. The featured guest was Professor Arthur Goldsmith of the Washington and Lee University Economics Department. After a little candid schmoozing, Professor Goldsmith discussed with the students a piece of research [...]
With Passover comes the annual Washington and Lee Hillel Passover seder. Led by two first year students, Benjamin Brams and Sam Raphael, our Seder was full of energy, fun and laughter. The Seder was well attended, with over 100 people, including students, community members and religious leaders. Many of the [...]
Latke-Hamantaschen Debate
Sponsored by John Zamoiski
On March 8th, dozens of students and community members packed themselves into Hillel’s multipurpose room to hear four of Washington and Lee’s esteemed faculty debate the merits of the Latke and the Hamantash in a very academic yet humorous battle of wits. The debate was moderated by [...]
Celebrating Purim in Roanoke
The night before our annual Latke-Hamantaschen Debate, a few students and Brett traveled together down to Beth Israel Synagogue in Roanoke. It was the night of Purim, and the entire congregation dressed up, including the Rabbi, who was Captain America. The W&L students organized a group costume as [...]
Washington and Lee University’s Hillel had the pleasure of hosting Congressman Bob Goodlatte and hearing his perspective on relations between Israel and the Middle East. In a very open discussion on what is occurring in these regions, as well as his personal opinions of what he expects their futures to [...]
On Tuesday, February 28, Dr. Barry Kolman, clarinetist and conductor of the University Wind Ensemble and University-Shenandoah Symphonic Orchestra, gave a lecture on the music of the Holocaust. He began the lecture with a performance of a piece written by Olivier Messiaen during the Holocaust for clarinet, cello, viola, [...]
Lunch and Learn
Starting in January, Hillel has been hosting “Lunch and Learn” gatherings every other week in the Hillel House. Students who attend get lunch from the E. Cafe and sit together to discuss a topic affecting modern Jews, especially those relevant to young adults. Each meeting is lead by [...]
Tuesday was the only day we traveled out of Jerusalem to the Tel Aviv- Jaffa area. Our first stop was at Rabin Square. Here, in the center of Tel Aviv, Prime Minster Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated after giving a pro-two state speech in 1995. A turning point for sure. We [...]
Wow! What an amazing couple of days Thursday and Friday were. Let me explain…
Thursday was our departure day from the north, but we were mising one thing. The IDF partners with Birthright to allow soldiers to join the trip. We picked up 8 soldiers and they are a blast! They [...]