CELEBRATING
YOUR IMPACT
“I’m most grateful for your support as I navigated my most difficult personal journeys at Vassar”
Read Daniella’s story inside
Chabad on Fulton
Jewish Student Center
Annual Report 2021/22
ב”ה
Pre Graduation Shabbat Dinner
Thank you for keeping students proud!
By Rebbetzin Dalia Sanoff
Stepping into a new year on Vassar’s campus, in person, in the middle of a tropical storm during move-in day, could have signaled an ominous start. Nevertheless, at the Chabad House, we chose to see rains of blessing. As life transitioned into in person, our family geared up excitedly to once again open our doors! At our very first event, 60 eager First Years braided challah together, made a group chat, and started building the foundation for their Jewish community on campus. Watching the students exchange numbers, I felt a warmth inside, knowing that this is a crucial component to their happiness and success on campus. Without community, campus life can be unbearable. Your support makes this happen!
progressive Vassar student! It wasn’t a given. Students were unsure at first to have such a loud and proud Jewish statement or how the nine foot menorah would be well received. Your support helps them find their own inner strength! During our weekly Torah classes, we ended up conversing about the meaning of life, what Judaism has to offer when dealing with loss, mental health struggles, and antisemitism in your friend groups. Sophie (real name not used to respect privacy) shared her experience walking to a party on campus one night, “oh, that girl, she goes to Shabbat and supports Israel!” Which was why she wasn’t invited to the party. Sophie was both shocked, and feared for her own social status, she also supports Israel and goes to Shabbat…
When the high holidays came around, just 3 days into the school year, students felt pressure to decide how to navigate observing the holidays She was at a loss of what to do? At that and being a student in an extremely secular moment, another student and I told Sophie. We environment. just learned about being proud and Jewish, G-d is on your side and so am I! They made plans to We were here to answer questions, help draft spend some time together this coming weekend, emails to professors and blow the shofar on and vowed to support each other if they faced the way to class- supporting each student with such comments again- that is how leaders are how much (or little) they choose to observe, born. Thank you for keeping students proud of while giving them access to the knowledge and being Jewish! support they need. As we enter into our 10th year on campus, in At the first ever Public Menorah Lighting a world that can feel dark, a future that can feel on campus, over one hundred students showed grim- we lean on the words of our holy Torah up! President Bradley shared a few words and a and charge forward with optimism, strength, Professor lit the candles. YES, Jewish students and resolve to build a future of shining, proud on this campus can identify as Jewish, can be Jewish leaders- THANK YOU, we cannot do proud, and no, it isn’t a contradiction to being a this without your support!
The rise of Anti-Semitism and the decline of Jewish affiliation is the “perfect storm” Over the past nine years, Dalia and I have identified the following challenges facing Jewish students and Jewish continuity. But we also have found solutions to these issues, and with your help, we have started to transform the campus culture to create a more positive experience for Jewish students. This report is designed to share with you the thoughts behind the impact and the planning for the future of the Vassar Jewish community. As we enter into our tenth year, with the help of donors like you, we have achieved a lot, but there is still a tremendous amount of work to be done!
Problems
students are facing Education & Mentorship Social & Cultural Events
Shabbat & holidays
Without a basic knowledge of Judaism, students find it hard to appreciate what it means be Jewish. This generation is out of touch, not because they are opposed to Judaism, but rather because they are unaware of their rich spiritual and intellectual heritage.
On campus, it is a challenge to have a strong sense of community, which is crucial for students to be proud of their Jewish identity.
Students crave a home environment after a week of classes and mountains of homework. They are in need of a way to balance their lives. In addition, being away from home for the holidays is hard and lonely for students.
Rabbi Daniel sharing the Iranian Jewish community with students
Solutions
you provided them Education & Mentorship Social & Cultural Events
Shabbat & holidays
You taught and explored Jewish thought to help students understand the reasons behind practices to foster Jewish involvement. Intellectually stimulating Jewish exploration through classes and one-on-one study. You created a space where being Jewish is fun and exciting while being open to all. Social events and casual hangouts fostered a sense of belonging to our tribe. Students now understand what it means to be part of a Jewish community and that will encourage them to stay active after they graduate You were their Jewish home away from home! For every holiday, students celebrated in an open, welcoming home environment. This inspired them to want to celebrate the holidays in their future homes. Family style, weekly Shabbat dinner and discussion fed and comforted their body and soul, providing the harmony they needed to succeed.
As I navigated my most difficult personal journeys at Vassar, You were there for me! By Daniella Lorman ‘22
When I needed guidance and support, you cultivated an enriching, inclusive, and positive spiritual environment to learn and grow. Rabbi Daniel and Dalia warmly welcomed me into their home the very first day of college, little did I know that it would become my home away from home. Through bonding and conversation during delicious Shabbat dinners, various enriching campus-wide events, and one-on-one talks when I needed guidance and support, you cultivated an enriching, inclusive, and positive spiritual environment to learn and grow. College is a period of constant flux and growth. I’m most grateful to you and other supporters for extending yourselves endlessly — providing support and delicious home-cooked meals, teaching me perspective-taking skills, and making me laugh and smile — as I navigated my most difficult personal journeys at Vassar. Among my most treasured college
memories are late-nights consisting of stuffing hundreds of hamantaschen with jam and learning to fry schnitzel without burning myself. The Chabad House was a place for me to de-stress, connect with Dalia (my loving and generous campus mom!) and learn more about myself as a person and as a Jew. Rabbi and Dalia always made me feel as though I had someone in my corner. When I needed support or classes amped up in workload, I would most look forward to going over to Chabad. I loved spending time with their kids, prepping and eating meals, and immersing myself in a spiritual environment. It is because of you that I was able develop my personal and Jewish identity, as well as join an amazing community of students to learn and connect with. And for that I am forever grateful.
Social and Cultural Events
Unwinding after a long week while cooking for Shabbat at the Chabad House
End of the year backyard BBQ where friendships are formed for life
Casual weekday community building dinner at the Chabad House
Education and Mentorship Dalia teaching a women’s Torah Class at the Chabad House about the the weekly Parsha
Dalia having a meaningful conversation with a student on the Quad
Rabbi leading an eight-part series on Jewish identity and values
Thanks to you, My daughter is more connected to her Judaism than I could have expected! By Sarah Rothschild P’23
Your giving provides my daughter with leadership opportunities that will stay with her long after she graduates Vassar. This upcoming year will be my daughter’s senior year at Vassar. Four years ago when we learned she would be going there, never could I have imagined all the deep benefits her time there would give her. A great deal of that comes from her incredibly meaningful experience with the Chabad House. Thanks to you, she is more connected today to her Judaism than I could have expected. It is a complex and interesting
blend of feminism, leadership, tradition and love.
Spending time with Dalia, the Rabbi, and their kids has given her so much more than I could have wished for while she was away at college. They literally were the family a block away from campus in case of emergencies that any out-of-state parent would want to wish for their child. When my daughter needed to go to the ER in the middle of
the night, Dalia took her, never letting go of her hand until I could fly in the next day. Your giving provides my daughter with leadership opportunities that will stay with her long after she graduates Vassar. You give her a sense of home. You support her with kosher kitchen-full of food to fill her body and soul. Dalia, the Rabbi and the kids play an indescribable important role in her life today and forever into the future. I know that wherever my daughter ends up working around the world, Dalia will know the local Rebbetzin and will make sure my daughter has Shabbos dinner in her hands. For this and everything else, I am forever grateful for Dalia, the Rabbi, the kids and you. You will never in your lifetime meet a more blessed and special family. I am so grateful they are in my family’s life.
Shabbat and Holiday Celebrations
Students enjoying and bonding over an informal pre Yom Kippur meal
Rabbi helping a student shake the lulav for the holiday of Sukkot
Bagels and Lox break-fast, the quietest meal of the year ;-)
Students proudly displaying their Jewish pride while lighting their Menorahs in the Dining Hall
Hamantaschen baking contest to get students excited to celebrate Purim
Rabbi explaining the meaning of Chanukah to the baseball team and doing a team lighting on campus
Thank you to those making a difference in Vassar Jewish students’ lives!!! Alumnae/i
Ed and Shari Adler Maya Horowitz Adler Mark Banschick Georgette Bennett Jane Berenbeim Elle Berger Cap Caplan Rachel and Moishe Chakoff
Natalie Cohen Aimee Dweck Andrew Eisen Victoria Eli Joanne Feuerman Aden Fischer-Brown Kim Gantz Julianne Garber Jeffrey Goodman William Goren Paula Gottesman Melissa Green Rachel Greenfield Jesse Hartman Jonathan Hazin Alex Hess Jesser Horowitz Jaime Illana Laurie Josephs Roberta Kline
Alice and Van Lanckton Anna Lazimi Judith Leader Robert Leikind
Shari and Steven Leventhal
Melinda Maidens Sarah Mamlet Carol Marcus Martin Mendelsohn Jordana Merran Ellen Milberg Jake Miller Graeme Mills Jonathan Nadler Zerlina Panush Sylvan Perlmutter Bruce Raben Karen Rappaport Teme Ring Anna Rothenberg Sean Sacks Zach Sherman Naama Silverman Ian Snyder Sabrina Stacks Yair Stein Rosamond Stern Jason Storch Jesse Szteinbaum Megan Tallmer
Jonah Tuckman Charlotte Waldman Leah Weingast Ariel Zebede Sam Zeitlin Victor Zhelinsky Ethan Zohn
Parents
Alan Rosenthal Sarah Rotschild Mike Sherman Abby Stacks Eve Stern Nancy Storch Alisa and David Weise Susan Zak Behrouz Zarrini
Felice and Len Bergman Friends Hannah Bloch Jacob and Rodica Cohen Lenore Broughton Susan Budson-Fink Meredith Davis Jennifer and Stephen Driker Jared Cohen Steve Cohen Vladimir Fikhman Norman Feingold Daniel Forman Gregg Feingold Ed and Tamar Gelb Anna Gommerstadt Leonard Goldstein Lipa Kaufman Matthew Hinerfeld Alan Schleier Hedy Howard Claude Sherman Rosalie Hsu Miles and Roberta Kuttler Nancy Temkin Eitan Webb David and Rachel Jeremy Zucker Levine Michael Levine Stella Lorman Students Daniel Markind Lori Beth Susan Okrent Miriam Rovin Ruben Perlmutter
Annual Report for ‘21-’22 Scholastic Year (07/2021-06/2022) Chabadonfulton.org | rabbi@chabadonfulton.org | 845-214-6734 | 94 Fulton Ave, Poughkeepsie, NY 12603 Chabad on Fulton is the assumed name of Chabad on Campus Dutchess, Inc. a 501(c)3 registered with the state of New York. We are unaffiliated with Vassar College