Great first weekend with List College
Being a List College student comes with the great benefit of being part of an amazing Columbia/Barnard/JTS Hillel. Last Friday, Hillel invited all of the LC first years to partake in their annual Jewish Life Orientation, more commonly referred to as JelLo (or when tweeting it #JelLo). All weekend we had a blast meeting fellow Jewish students and participating in a variety of programs. The weekend started off with a free bagel brunch and coffee. The Hillel board and special JelLo leaders were very welcoming and made everyone feel at home. Later in the day a special session was hosted for transfer students who had spent a gap year or studied in yeshiva. All day Hillel gave out slushy cups with reusable straws. It appeared they were trying to base their weekend off the hit television show glee, but no one was sporadically braking out in song, so it was a bit confusing.
As our first Shabbat as List College students approached, everyone was very excited. Many rooms made last minute trips to the supermarket to buy food for Shabbat. Some MSRH residence even showered for the first time all week. Shabbat is a special time for List College students because everyone has the opportunity to observe the holiday in their own way. Many LC freshmen went to Hillel and could be seen praying at the Kesher, Koach, and Yavneh minyans, all affiliated with different movements (reform, conservative, and orthodox respectively). After services everyone headed over to the Diana Center on Barnard’s campus for a communal Shabbat dinner. Hillel reported that over 300 people were in attendance. Each table at the dinner had a centerpiece with a unique word on it. We were all asked to sit at the table of something that filled us with “glee” (get it). This gave us the opportunity to meet new people who had similar interests. Hillel hosted an A capella concert which included two Jewish groups on campus. It was fun to see familiar List College faces in the two groups. The night ended with a dessert reception for everyone to enjoy. Have you noticed that the first week of college includes a lot of free food!
Saturday morning many LC first years had their first experience with services at Hillel. I attended the Koach service and enjoyed davening with a community of my peers. That evening Hillel hosted a Times Square scavenger hunt where participants were split into groups and spent the evening photographing themselves in front of Times Square’s biggest landmarks. My team came in sixth place, which is probably not something I should be bragging about, but I did have a great time downtown.
Hillel’s JelLo program ended with the Hillel activities fair. Representatives from Hillel’s forty groups, organizations, and clubs spoke to new and returning students about how to get more involved this year. Hillel’s president made slushies for everyone really putting the cups we got at the beginning of the weekend to good use.
New York City has so many resources to learn about Judaism and to be a part of a Jewish community. Hillel is just one of the many ways that List College freshman get to experience a pluralistic environment to study, engage, laugh, and eat with likeminded people. I enjoyed JelLo weekend, and I have heard from many first year’s that they hope to get involved in Hillel in the coming weeks.
Anything you want to know about the List College freshman experience? Comment on this post, and we will try to write about it ASAP!
Thanks Hillel Lehmann for Having Us!!!
