Arcadia’s Hillel was offered a trip to visit the American University Hillel and visit the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. for an entire weekend in November. The all-expense paid weekend was a result of the generous donation of the Trustee and Arcadia Alumni Lyanne Wassermann and her husband Barry.

The six students, led by Hillel Board members Jillian Arenson ’16 and Rebecca Stiner ’15, spent the weekend visiting sites like the Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Smithsonian after celebrating the Jewish holy day of the Sabbath. “It was humbling,” said Brandon Birnbaum ’15 of the experience.

“This trip was a very emotional and enriching weekend that I was able to spend with my Jewish family of my fellow students,” said Rebecca Stiner. “We had times where we were faced with very emotional and heavy topics, but it just seemed to strengthen our bonds. Getting to experience a new city, share with a larger community of Hillel, as well as making memories with my friends is one of the best parts of going here.”

And the sentiments are the same through all the comments from the group when asked about it. Yael Tsoran ’15 summed the weekend up in a few short words, “I am thankful that someone cares about our religion so much that wants to share it with others, that Lyanne donated the money for us, but more than the money, just that she cares so much about us and our Judaism.”

Tsoran added that the experience caused her to reflect on Jewish life at Arcadia: “It gives me hope that we have community… because it is nice to bring the traditions from back home, with my mom and my dad and my family, to the Arcadia setting and Hillel.”

The Arcadia Hillel Meets on alternating Tuesdays throughout the spring semester. If you want to inquire further of the Arcadia University, contact the Rabbinic Intern Julie Benioff at benioffj@arcadia.edu or Student Board President Rebecca Stiner at rstiner@arcadia.edu.