JHP student leaders from UT Austin, Ohio University, Temple University, Penn State, and the University of Pittsburgh participated in a retreat that highlighted JHP’s four pillars - social engagement, community service, mentoring, and Jewish content.
As soon as students arrived in Philadelphia, they were met with a delicious falafel lunch followed by a discussion about how JHP is working at each of their respective campuses. Student leads shared advice, brainstormed new ideas, and provided feedback to strengthen the program. “Being among JHP leaders from all across the nation was a very impactful experience. Learning all of the strengths and weaknesses from each university introduced a conversation about how we can improve as an organization,” said Zoe Vasquez from UT Austin.
From there, the leads managed to successfully “Escape the Room,” a signature JHP social event, and continued to team build with some community service. JHP Communications Coordinator, Elvera Gurevich, talked about why community service is inherently Jewish, before the students headed over to the Vilna Congregation to jump in and get their hands dirty. This historic 100 year old synagogue is in the process of transforming into a community mikveh. The students organized thousands of books to transport safely, donate, or bury if they were no longer useable.
After performing this mitzvah at the mikveh, JHP Campus Director, Molly Weinberg, engaged the students in a workshop about Jewish values. Students were broken into two groups and asked to prioritize, in their opinions, over 20 Jewish values to ensure the continuation of Judaism. Each student had a chance to explain their thoughts and it was very eye-opening to everyone involved. The first day finished with a barbecue, where the leads continued to bond and build friendships into the night.
The next morning, leads were up bright and early for the best Kosher bagels in Philadelphia. JHP Penn Coordinator, Rebecca Feldman, channeling her inner Alex Trebek, hosted Israel Jeopardy and had even the Israel experts stumped. Shoutout to team 2 for winning bragging rights for winning the game! Continuing with Jewish content, Rabbi Menachem Schmidt led a workshop on JHP’s relationship with Chabad and gave the students a moment of personal reflection.
Perhaps the most eagerly anticipated portion of the retreat was the mentoring lunch hosted by Bart Mellits of Ballard Spahr. Bart added, “After attending another wonderful JHP mentoring event I was reminded of the important work JHP is doing on college campuses. JHP somehow manages to connect Jewish students not only with their Judaism, but with the communities and business environment in which they live as well.” Nine mentors from completely different industries volunteered their time to sit down with our lead interns and provide advice and share some of the hurdles they may face as Jewish professionals.
The mentors who joined us were:
Stanley Middleman, CEO, Freedom Mortgage
Bart Mellits, Partner, Ballard Spahr
Steve Katz, Serial Entrepreneur
Dan Stamm, Journalist, NBC10
Chad Collins, Founder, Open World Inc.
George Shotz, Operations Manager, Instacart
Jennifer Birch, Director of Client Services, MVP Interactive
Mindi Vogel, Employee Benefits Advisor, The Megro Company
Dr. Sara Engleman, Dentist, Einstein Healthcare Network
After lunch, leads returned for a workshop lead by Barbara Mellits and Rabbi Ephraim Levin about CogWell, a peer-to-peer mental health initiative at UPenn. Students discussed the importance of active listening and brainstormed ideas to bring back to their campuses.
All in all, it was a jam-packed two days of JHP. Lauren Goldstein, Ohio University, said, “It was a pleasure having the opportunity to meet so many young, intelligent students and members of our Jewish community!”
Check out our Facebook album for photos from the retreat.
