OU NextGenActivity Summary

February-March 2016

2

The OU Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (OU-JLIC) enables, encourages, and advances Jewish education and commitment of Jewish students at secular universities. It provides avenues to spiritual development and exploration for Jewish students from all backgrounds. OU-JLIC is an OU program that works in partnership with the university Hillel.

Founding Director: Rabbi Menachem SchraderDirector: Rabbi Ilan HaberDeputy Director: Rabbi Joshua Ross

Website: http://jliconline.org/Facebook: www.facebook.com/ NationalJLIC

Campus Educators: 22 Educator couples and7 Educational Fellows serving27 colleges and universities across North America

Program & Operations Associate:Eliana SteinreichStudent Leadership & Development Associate:Hani LowensteinAdministrative Assistant:Michael Goldman

Director of Special Projects: Rabbi Shalom Axelrod On Facebook...

Likes: 7,000Engaged: 8,235

Reach: 37,114Director of Staff Recruitment & Development: Rabbi Gideon Black

Director of Development: Alan Goldman

Events Across OU-JLIC

� Rabbi Robby and Shoshana Charnoff, OU-JLIC educators at Queens changed things up on campus this semester and divided up their current program into three separate sections, and are now running all women's, all men’s, and co-ed programming. Each section is being spearheaded by a student leader which is critical to the success of each of the programs. The OU-JLIC QC women's program includes their QC Midrasha Program (with over 30 students participating this semester!). They also ran a Women's Mishmar event, which saw close to 40 students come back to campus on a Thursday night at 8:00PM for chulent, kugel, hanging out, and Torah from OU-JLIC fellow Channah Cohen and will now be a monthly event. An OU-JLIC Women's Zumba event had close to 30 students participate and they had an amazing time. Additionally, the Women's Program joined together with the Men's Program to "co-sponsor" a new weekly Shiur Klali on the parsha that has an average of 50 students each week at the shiur! The OU-JLIC QC men's program will be running a 2-part Purim Halacha series for men, a new monthly Men's Wednesday Night Mishmar, and a Men's Ping Pong tournament! The OU-JLIC QC Co-Ed

Program also ran an incredible OU-JLIC Friday Night Oneg following Hillel's free Friday night dinner on the opening Shabbat of the semester which drew in close to 100 students over the course of the evening. Students came for dessert and stayed to hang out, play board games, and spend time with OU-JLIC QC staff. They also ran a Rosh Chodesh Adar sushi-making event in honor of it being the month of the fish. Close to 30 students piled into the Charnoffs' home for a fun, social evening with OU-JLIC. The Charnoffs also ran an OU-JLIC Sophomore Shabbaton and hosted 25 students for a full Shabbat in their home for all of the meals. On top of this, the Charnoffs are running over 10 weekly chaburot, having chevrutot, teaching multiple chatans and kallahs, and spending precious time in one-on-one conversations with students.

� Rabbi Adam and Sara Frieberg, OU-JLIC educators at Rutgers, held a tisch this month in their home which attracted a great showing of 40 students on a cold Friday night! The Friebergs also ran an event for juniors and seniors which focused on the Jewish perspective on love which attracted 50 students. It was held on on a motzei Shabbat and pulled in a group of students who they don't generally see at their programs. They had fancy

3

Events Across OU-JLIC

drinks and hors d'oeuvres for an hour, and then gave aPowerPoint presentation about the issues with Western culture's conception of love and its effect on marriages. They presented Torah sources and secular studies about how love involves work and sacrifice and how it grows from that work. After the presentation there were delicious desserts and more schmoozing. Sara also ran a Rosh Chodesh Adar I Paint Nite event for over 20 women. A student of theirs taught everyone how to do a painting of a rose, which was a lot of fun, and Sara shared a thought on Shoshanat Yaakov, and explained to the students about the imagery of the shoshana (rose) in Shir HaShirim and how it relates to the Jewish people.

� As of the end of February, Rabbi David and Jenny Eckstein, OU-JLIC educators at Johns Hopkins, have reached their 91st minyan of the year. It is a tremendous accomplishment that both staff and students are very proud of. They average about 10-12 men and 4-6 women daily, finishing off the morning with breakfast, schmoozing, and often card games. They also continued with their now-traditional Rosh Chodesh pancake breakfast, sponsored by the Jewish Students Association and OU-JLIC. A new Shabbat afternoon discussion started this semester (switching off between being led by Rabbi David or Jenny) with a weekly attendance of 8-12 students! This is the largest group for any shiur they have seen in Hopkins and they are very proud of it. The Ecksteins have also started hosting dinners in their home every Wednesday night. They invite 4-8 students every week and have heard wonderful feedback from it. Students are thrilled to spend

the time with them and their daughter Leora, chill with their friends, and a few students have even said they don’t remember the last time they ate dinner at a table and enjoyed it so much! Their goal is to be able to host around 100 students throughout the semester.

� It's been very busy (and surprisingly warm!) at Brandeis with programming and shiurim. Rabbi David and Ariel Pardo, OU-JLIC educators, started up their weekly shiurim with a strong start this semester! Ariel gives a “Not Your Bubby's Nach” shiur (following the OU's Nach Yomi calendar) on Monday nights. Rabbi Pardo gives a “Sfarim V' Sofrim” shiur twice a week to beginner students. It introduces the students to important Jewish texts and their authors. Rabbi Pardo also gives an in-depth "Minchat Chinuch" shiur every Wednesday night. The “Biblical Criticism Chabura” is designed like a lunch-and-learn, where Ariel and a student organize different topics about biblical criticism and the traditional Jewish response. Rabbi Pardo's “Fundamentals” shiur is given to beginner students twice a week, and deals with fundamental Jewish issues from Shabbat to more philosophical topics. Rabbi Pardo and Ariel switch off giving the “Parsha in Twenty” shiur (like it sounds, a 20-minute shiur on the parsha) following kiddush on Shabbat morning. The Pardos also held their annual OU-JLIC Thrift Store event this Purim! The Brandeis theater groups decided to join in for their pre-Purim event and sold tons of costumes to any student in need of one. They raised over $200 more than last year (which is prettyimpressive considering the average price of pre-owned clothes was $7). The Pardos ended up donating over 10

4

Events Across OU-JLIC

garbage bags of clothes to the needy. OU-JLIC at Brandeis also hosted Rabbi Mark Gottlieb from the Tikvah Fund for a shiur, which saw a great turnout. Additionally, Rabbi Pardo was able to bring 12 Brandeis students to AIPAC where they hung out and worked to strengthen the US-Israel relationship. Ariel was asked again to help with the last Challah for Hunger event on campus. About 75 challot were baked and all were sold. They co-sponsored the event with Hillel and Challah for Hunger. Rabbi Tabasky from Bar Ilan's Beit Midrash Gavoha spoke about Torah and therapy to a full beit midrash of interested Brandeis students!

� Rabbi Ari and Shira Neuman, OU-JLIC educators at University of Maryland, had a packed month in February with shiurim by Rabbi Moshe Benovitz, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki from Yesodei HaTorah, Rav Yair Kahn from Gush, Dr. Erica Brown, Dr. Dodi Tobin from Matan, Rabbi Avi Schneider from Torat Shraga, and Dr. Elizabeth Alexander from UVA. They also hosted Dr. Sam Lebens, a philosophy professor at Rutgers and Drisha, as a Scholar-in-Resi-dence on Shabbat. He spoke three times over the course of the Shabbat and reached approximately 80 students. The Neumans have also placed more emphasis on the students learning themselves. After a student reached out to them about starting a kollel, they decided to empower him to make it happen. With the help of Mrs. London, the Neumans helped him think about what it would look like, and now have 14 students committed to learning 4, 6 or 10 hours per week. Shira also hosted a Rosh Chodesh body scrub making event for women, which attracted 41

women, as well as a Fondue B'Shvat program on Tu B'Shvat which attracted 68 students.

� Rabbi Akiva Weiss, OU-JLIC educator at Binghamton, and his students held what was surely one of this semester’s most unforgettable and inspiring events: the Ezra Schwartz z’’l Memorial 3x3 Basketball Tournament. On Sunday morning, March 13, the students at Binghamton united in solidarity to pay tribute to Ezra. The day began with an opening ceremony and words of Torah by Rabbi Akiva Weiss about the importance of zikaron, remembrance.What followed was an amazing day of fun: playing basket-ball, meeting the Binghamton University Basketball team who was refereeing the games, and spending time with the broader Jewish community. During the half-time break there was even a competitive game of knockout! This event concluded with a meaningful speech by one of the event coordinators and friend of Ezra's, Tara Hanau, the singing of Acheinu, and award ceremony for the winners, and a moving video presentation from the Schwartz family. Besides being a memorial and testament to his amazing legacy, the tournament sought to raise money for the One Family Fund. The teams competing raised money in the weeks leading up to the tournament, and at the event itself, further donations were collected and snacks were sold. Overall, the tournament raised over $5,000 in only a few weeks!

� Rabbi Reuven and Shira Boshnack, OU-JLIC educators at Brooklyn College, held their second annual Shushan Auction. The event raised $15,000 and included a wide range of donated prizes, including trips, meals at upscale

5

Events Across OU-JLIC

restaurants, Broadway shows, gift certificates, clothes, sheitels, and more! The event was open to students, alumni, parents and community members who came out to support OU-JLIC at Brooklyn College.

� Rabbi Yaakov and Racheli Taubes, OU-JLIC educators at University of Pennsylvania, had an exciting start in March with the birth of their baby girl! On Purim, they made a Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory-themed event. They decorated a room in Hillel and gave out OU-JLIC mason jars for the students to fill up with candy. The students really enjoyed the sweet event! The Taubes also hosted a Purim seudah for the graduate and professional community. The students at UPenn, with the assistance of their OU-JLIC educators, organized a mental health awareness Shabbat meal where the entire community was encouraged to attend, during which a few of the junior and senior students spoke about their personal struggles through college. The purpose of the meal was to create conversations and awareness within the community. It definitely achieved that goal, and they hope to follow up with other events and programs.

� Rabbi Yehoshua Dovid and Chava Schwartz, OU-JLIC educators at Boston University, had an incredibly busy March! A new development was their involvement in some fundraising efforts, including a parlor meeting of sorts in Connecticut, at the home of one of their students. Parents of current students and of prospective students came to discuss the development of Jewish life at BU and the continuation of the OU-JLIC program. The Schwartzes also hosted Rabbi Chaim Tabarsky who came to give a shiur

***MAZAL TOV!!!***OU-NextGen Director of Professional Recruitment and Leadership Development Rabbi Gideon and

Aliza Black on the birth of a baby girl!OU-JLIC educators at University of Pennsylvania Rabbi Yaakov and Racheli Taubes on the birth

of a baby girl!

with Chinese food, and then a very successful wine glass decorating and hamantashen making event, after which Matisyahu came to BU and performed, all in one week! On Purim night they had a community Megillah reading for around 80 students, and then the next day hosted a Purim party in their home, which was attended by around 40.

� OU-JLIC National held its third annual pre-Purim event this month at the Brooklyn Brewery. Close to 70 alumni joined in for beer, dinner and a chance to reconnect with old friends and educators. OU-JLIC National also ran their annual OU-JLIC/Yad Eliezer Matanot L'Evyonim drive, bringing in $12,000 by Purim morning.

6

Director, NCSY Alumni & Advisor Recruitment:Rabbi Yehoshua Marchuck

NCSY Alumni Associates:Shayna ZukermanTali LebenbomRachel Shammah

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ myNCSYAlumni

Twitter: @NCSY AlumniYouTube: www.youtube.com/

NCSYAlumniInstagram: NCSYAlumniWebsite: www.ncsyalumni.org

12th Grade Specialists:Rabbi Phil Karesh (Midwest)Yardena Bannett (New Jersey)Josh Cohen (West Coast)Elisha Finman (New York)Chaim Albert (Southern)

The mission of NCSY Alumni is connecting our alumni to authentic Jewish programs on and off college campuses.

Ariella Weinstein, West Coast NCSY Views to date: 321

Mordi Spero, Atlantic Seaboard NCSY

Views to date: 124

Rabbi Yosef Ginzburg, NCSY Israel & KollelViews to date: 133

Jonathan Hurewitz, NCSY Kollel &

Atlantic Seaboard NCSYViews to date: 147

NCSY Alumni Events: February 2016

Around 130 advisors came to hear Rabbi Dovid Bashevkin speak and afterwards all went to the Yeshiva University Seforim Sale together and received a discount on the books.

NCSY Advisor Shiur at the YU Seforim Sale

7

Ayelet Prero, Midwest & National NCSY

Views to date: 333

Eitan Ungar, New Jersey NCSYViews to date: 151

Rabbi Dave Felsenthal, Director, OU NextGen

Views to date: 149

NCSY Alumni Events: March 2016

Rabbi Marchuck and the two 12th Grade Specialists in the Tri-State area, Yardena Bannett (New Jersey) and Rabbi Elisha Finman (New York), visited Binghamton and met with the educators on campus. They met with Rabbi Chaim Harkavy, Head of Meor Binghamton, Nataly Weiss, director of Binghamton Hillel, and the OU-JLIC educator, Rabbi Akiva Weiss.

Binghamton Trip

On March 16th, NCSY Alumni organized a Masa Israel program training to educate our NCSY and NextGen staff of the programs that Masa offers our participants. Adina Poupko, Masa Israel’s Director of Recruitment, gave an interactive presentation on their programs and taught us of all the different programs that our diverse participants can attend. We had 13 staff in the office attend with another 2 joining us on a live webinar.

Masa Israel Program Training

Chaim Albert, Southern NCSY 12th Grade Specialist, went to Hillel Community Day School of Boca Raton, to meet with high schoolers to tell them about life on campus before they get there. He spoke about pro-Israel groups to get involved with, Israel trip opportunites, what Jewish life is like on campus, having a kosher dorm room, Shabbat meals, and how to keep the chagim on campus.

Chaim Albert's High School Trip

NCSY Alumni attends AIPAC

8

Director: Rabbi David Felsenthal

Senior Executive Consultant: Rabbi Menachem PersoffIsrael Director: Yael Tamari

Recruiting Director: Scott Shulman

Registrar: Leah Weinberg

North American Director: Penny Pazornick

Program Manager: Tatyana Plotkina

Registration Associate: Lauren Hertan

Website: www.israelfreespirit.com

The vision of Israel Free Spirit-Birthright (IFS) is to share the magic of Israel with young Jewish adults, ages 18-26, of all backgrounds and interests. We believe that intimate encounters with the people of Israel in their communities and the land of Israel through activities such as volunteering, hiking, biking, kayaking, etc. present unique and unforgettable opportunities. Through these active learning experiences, IFS participants are able to appreciate the complexities of Israel while forming true friendships that last a lifetime.

IFS Summer 2016 Updates

Trip Coordinator: Shuli Schwartz

Registration for the IFS Summer 2016 cycle opened February 1st, and so we also expanded our interview team to complete interviews faster than ever before!

Registration Consultant:Bassy Mueller

Program Associate: Ari Ziegler

Follow-Up Coordinator:Barak Schechter

Recruiter Associate:Jeremy Kugelman

IFS Alumni Specialist: Dory Leviashvili

Director of Development: Rayna Kalish

Applicants: 2657Deposits: 1525Eligible & Complete: 1739

IFS Staff Coordinator: Rachel Shammah

In March, we also sent out our annual Purim packages to our alumni.

***MAZAL TOV!!!***IFS staffer Ari Ziegler and Rachel Namdar on their engagement! Ari and Rachel met

on an IFS trip.

9

Project Manager: Matti Presworsky

Website: www.bringisraelhome.com

Logistics Manager:Zahava Samet

Bring Israel Home (BIH) is a an innovative online Birthright follow up program that is leading theway in transforming the way follow-up is being done across the globe.

BIH Updates

Beginning February 2016, Bring Israel Home has been acquired as project of the OU Next Gen Department.

BIH is now the preferred follow-up provider for the Birthright Foundation and is partnering with them on their new Bridge app.

In the past BIH has run the 100 Point Challenge for IFS and Kesher, and this past season BIH partnered with JNF-Shorashim to run the program for their bus. The results of that bus were astonishing!

Participation in the BIH 100 Points Challenge: 42 participants (35 North American and 7 Israeli participants completed)Challenges completed: 555, including: 45 prayer/services attended,

33 classes taken related to Judaism or Israel, and 45 Shabbat meals attended or hosted

“ I attended a Challah for Hunger dough making sessionat UGA last week. I chose to volunteer for this organization because it is for a good cause and I would do it again. “

- University of Texas

Challenge: Volunteer for a Jewish Organization

“ This last Friday, I attended services at the Chabad at IndianaUniversity Bloomington again. I am happy to have gainedsome sort of a Jewish routine in my life once again, and amexcited to hopefully continue this trend in the future! “

- Indiana University Bloomington

Challenge: Attend a Prayer Service

10

Heart to Heart (H2H) is a grassroots movement that includes uninvolved Jewish students in Jewish campus life by empowering Jewishly involved students to engage their peers through meaningful Jewish experiences and relationships.

Number of campuses that hosted H2H Shabbat meals: 13 (last month: 4)Number of meals hosted: 15 (last month: 4)Number of uninvolved Jews reached: 99 (last month: 21)Total participants: 172 (last month: 59)

Director: Hart Levine

Website: theheart2heartproject.org bringbackshabbat.orgFacebook: www.facebook.com/

H2HprojectTwitter: @Heart2Heart_09

Campus Coordinators: 17 student volunteers

Assistant Director:Dov Winston

Bring Back Shabbat Director: Lily Stute

Number of campuses that hosted H2H Shabbat meals: 10Number of meals hosted: 10 Number of uninvolved Jews reached: 86Total participants: 166

H2H February: By The Numbers

H2H March: By The Numbers “ For one of the Jewish students who came this washis very first time at a Shabbat dinner! And he seemed to have really enjoyed himself! When I walked him out after the meal he related that when he told his mom he was coming, she mentioned that she had never been to a Shabbat dinner.* “

- University of Maryland

* Which means this was the first timein 2 generations that someone hadbeen to a Shabbat meal!“ It was a group of people from different ages that doesn't

usually interact, but everyone enjoyed the company and the food. The majority of attendees were Ramah alumni who are not a part of a Jewish community at UF. However, a lot of them find Shabbat special (when they are observing it), so we were able to do a Carlebach style Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv. Attendees who knew more helped the people who were newer to the service, and it was really beautiful to watch! “

- University of Florida

11

Rabbinic Couple:Hart & Yael Levine

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ groups/openupwh www.facebook.com/ beiscommunity

Open Up Washington Heights (OUWH) is a grassroots cross-community effort focused on connecting Jewish young adults to Judaism, the Jewish community, and each other. It is also known as The Beis Community.

February Shabbaton: davenings, dinner, lunch-and-learning, musical Havdallah; 52 people (42% not core Orthodox, 88% single)

Purim Katan event: learning, music, and celebration; 51 people (43% not core Orthodox, 84% single)

March Shabbaton: davenings, dinner, dessert-and-learning, seudah shlishit, FrED talks, musical Havdallah, meditation;

64 people (48% not core Orthodox, 86% single)

Community Events

We started Bowl For Your Soul, a program delivering chicken soup to anyone who’s feeling sick and under the weather – physically, mentally, or spiritually.

On Purim, we organized mishloach manot to 90 people in the neighborhood, including some for whom this was their only celebration of Purim; we also ran a late-night Purim tisch and megilah reading/reenactment for over 50 people

The OU NextGen Team

1212