Unique Opportunities
for Jewish engagement happen every day, such as when Houston Hillel brought Israeli pop star Shira Gavrilov for a very special evening concert at Rice University this past fall.
Houston Hillel’s weekly Shabbat dinners take place at the Hillel Student Center and, for Houston’s Jewish twentysomethings, at participants’ homes. Pictured below, students enjoy Shabbat dinner prior to hearing comedian Benji Lovitt, whose appearance was sponsored by Ellen and Richard Lowe. Bryan LeBouf, a UH student, said of his experience with the Community Health Fair, “Usually when I volunteer, I’m assigned a job that involves setting up or moving things, and I don’t get to see the end result or those impacted. However, at the Community Health Fair I was able to be more involved and actually interact with people. Meeting those who were directly benefitting from the event made volunteering an even more meaningful experience.” Pictured are Tamara Marks-Moses, Bryan, Hannah Bosley, Abigail Axel and Noah Levine. Below right, Rice juniors Abigail Axel and Hannah Bosley lead services at Rice University President David Leebron’s home. The annual Shabbat at the President’s home creates a unique bond between students, Jewish alumni and faculty. Each week Houston Hillel sponsors free lunches on at least two campuses. Pictured below enjoying lunch in Houston Hillel’s Student Lounge in the University of Houston A.D. Bruce Religion Center are Sarah Stone, Hope Cowan, Mitch Cohen, Tamara Marks-Moses, Jocelyn Wedelich, Alex Brown and Paul Brokhin.