Dear Wolverine Community, 

After this busy week on campus, I know we are all looking forward to Shabbat to slow down and catch our breath. Before we do, here are some updates about Michigan Hillel.

Earlier this week, over 75 students traveled to the March for Israel in Washington, D.C. to stand with over 290,000 others to show unwavering support for Israel and call for the immediate return of the hostages being held in Gaza. Our Hillel was proud of our students for making the trip – many of them on an overnight bus from Ann Arbor – and we are grateful to the generous donors and to the Jewish Federation of Detroit who helped make this possible.

Building on that pride, here in Ann Arbor, our Hillel team has been working hard to provide fun and inspiring programming and offer a safe and quiet space for students to study and be with friends. Tonight, we are looking forward to hosting students for Shabbat services and dinner.  

Elsewhere on campus, anti-Israel activity continues. This afternoon, there was an event sponsored by SAFE (the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter at U-M) and JVP UMich (Jewish Voice for Peace at U-M) calling for the University to divest funding from Israel. We are in constant contact with the Administration to make sure these do not get out of hand -- and that Jewish students are not targeted. We reminded our students about best practices for observing the event or counter-protesting and we are pleased to say that it was uneventful. As always, if any student is particularly upset about these demonstrations, Michigan Hillel is here to provide guidance and support.

Additionally, immediately following Thanksgiving break, from November 28 to 30, there will be a full campus vote on two petitions that were sent to the Central Student Government (CSG) for consideration. One, AR-13-26, was written by Hillel student leaders and calls on the University to understand the personal impact these events are having on students across campus and requests that U-M seek out opportunities to bridge students together in this time of increased division and tension. The other petition, AR 13-025, is an anti-Israel effort that smears the Jewish state with charges of apartheid and genocide. To defeat this motion and pass the other one, Hillel is working closely with student groups on campus to stand for our community and with Israel. Please make sure your student votes in this important election! We will share more information as the vote gets closer. 

With Thanksgiving this week, we want to express our thanks to you for your continued support of our Michigan Hillel community. We are grateful for your partnership. 

Shabbat Shalom,

Abbey Frank, Chair Board of Trustees

Rabbi Davey Rosen, Interim Chief Executive Officer

Sari Rosenberg, Chair of the Undergraduate Graduate Governing Board