Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1992-05-07

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•/VOLUME 70
NUMBER 19
MAY 7,1992
4IYAR 5752
VDEVOTED TO AMERICAN AND JEWISH IDEALS
Awards to highlight
JFS Annual Meeting
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page 2
'92 Campaign produces
record achievement
page 2
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Jerusalem Week to
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leatiire varied events
page 3
~* ^ * vi. .y ...    W *
Wfe $he living
and tlio dead
page 4
the imperative of
llwish activism
^1
page 4
i<V~-
Jewish Scout Retreat
ietfor May 1547
»_._______.
page 6
gtTlwJCC
^ Civleudjar .„
Rabbi introduces
^Service of Welcome*
page 7
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COMMUNITY FEATURE
Hillel — Yesterdayv todaycmd tomoirovv
__.
By Jamie A. Rosenberg
For 43 years, Ohio State's
B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation
building — the Edwin J.
Schanfarber Memorial — has
served as a gathering place for
Jewish students. It has been,
and is, their home away from
home, a link to the Judaism
they learned in their homes
and synagogues.
"Now," says Joel Speyer, a
senior from Columbus majoring in business, "it is time for
a change. Hillel is preparing
for the twenty-first century."
With the gift of $ 1.5 million
from the Wexner Foundation,
it will be the new Wexner Jewish Student Center that will be
the home for future generations of Jewish students at
Ohio State. Combined with responses from other donors,
the dream will become a reality as soon as the "quiet campaign" currently under way
reaches its goal of $4,476 million.
In the new building there
will be adequate space for lectures and discussions, recreational facilities, improved
kitchen and dining facilities,
comfortable lounges and a library in which to read and
study. As they plan for the new
Hillel, students and community advisors look back on a rich
history.
Since 1925, when Ohio
State became fhe third campus
in the United'States to have a
Hillel, there has been extraordinary support from the community. It was the first to occupy a building developed
specifically for use as a Hillel
Foundation, and among the
earliest to become part of a
local Jewish Federation. It has
been a beneficiary agency of
the Columbus Jewish Federation since 1977 and is a part
of B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation's   international   move
ment.
Hillel's first years were difficult, but under the leadership
of Rabbi and Mrs. Lee J. Le-
vinger, and with the" encouragement of a local advisory
board: inspired""'by Edwin
Schanfarber, Hillel grew. Students held religious services,
open forums, education classes and dances. They founded
the Hillel Choral Club, a newsletter, the "Hillel Scroll" and
the Hillel Student Council.
The Hillel Players performed a combination of classic drama and plays with Jewish themes and were recognized as an outstanding campus organization and the first
at OSU to embark on a comprehensive dramatic program.
The group fostered the talents
of such playwrights as Jerome
Lawrence {Inherit the Wind)
and Willie Gilbert, (How to
Succeed in Business Without
Really Trying).
In 1935, Rabbi Harry Kaplan was appointed to head Hillel, and he was to serve until
.his death in 1969. During his
34 year tenure, there was a
rich cultural and activity program, regular Sabbath and
holiday religious services and
classes in Jewish studies. Concerts, social and interfaith programs, Zionist projects, noon
forums, Sunday brunches and
other groups made Hillel a vital part of campus life.
In 1949 a new Hillel building was erected for the sole
purpose of serving the Jewish
student population at OSU.
During World War II, Hillel
Foundation served 400 trainees on campus under the
Array Specialized Training
Program and about 700 civilians. It was becoming apparent that there would be an influx of Jewish students at the
war's end.
The current building campaign leadership hopes that
just as the community rallied
for a new building in 1949,
they will support the Wexner
Jewish Student Center to meet
the needs of a different generation of Jewish students.
By 1970, the Jewish student
population at Ohio State had
surpassed 3,000, and Hillel expanded its program and put-
reach: Former Hillel Director
Aaron Leventhal characterized Hillel's function as a
place to "provide a warm and
open environment where all
Jewish students feel welcome," where a "student
comes to see a friend and
winds up listening to a lecturej
attending a worship service or
viewing a special exhibit."
Under Leventhal's leadership, new programming was
developed, including the Hillel Free University, the "Out-
Reach" program, community
services projects and the initiation of a Hillel Board of
Trustees. The board consists
of students, faculty and Jewish
community members who
share an equal voice in the
policy making for Hillel,
working on finance, program,
review, personnel and building committees.
Over the past 60 years, Hillel has grown into the viable
institution that it is today. The
current director, Rabbi Steven
Abrams, has been part of OSU
Hillel since 1986. Under his
direction, outreach programs
to Denison, Ohio Wesleyan
and Kenyon have expanded.
Iri addition to programming,
OSU's Hillel offers students
career and personal counseling, study skills workshops
and Friday night services for
Reform, Conservative and Or-
Responsibility for student
programming has been delegated to the Jewish Student
Activities Board (JSAB) which
serves as an umbrella organization and central funding
agency for Jewish student
groups and committees on
campus.
Architectural plans for the
new building incorporate all
of Hillel's basic needs in an
attractive, inviting setting.
The new Hillel building will
become the dynamic symbol
of Jewish life on campus for
years to come.
Jamie Alyse Rosenberg is a
senior majoring in English at
The Ohio State University.
DID YOU KNOW?
, ,• »It was Edward Chauncey Baldwin, a professor of
a biblical'literature at the University of Illinois, who first
' noticeda pressing need for an organization devoted to the
■ needs of Jewish students. • """",'    " " *', "7
' • Benjamin Frankel, a rabbinical student from the Hebrew Union College, helped to form the first Hillel Foundation on the Illinois campus,
'• When OSU's Hillel started its programs in a houseat
y 8th Avenue, Ohio State University (1925) had 10,000
''students and about 700 were Jewislt. ..
, ,• »,tj»e chapel in the current Hillel building is dedicated
-to w memory of the 50 or more Jewish students from,
- Ohio State University who lost their lives in World War]
r:iV' v-   ,   -   ' ..•//. i.
„ J;' ^Rabbi.Harry Kaplan helped to launch'the first relfc.
'«ous television series over WQSU-TV. - - '; .