Hillel’s fellowship at SU urges students to bridge religious communities
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The Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life at Syracuse University will launch its new Bridging Service Fellowship in October, aiming to unite students from varying religious backgrounds through volunteering and interfaith connection.
The fellowship, created by Hillel International and Repair the World, includes 218 fellows from 16 campuses across the country, nearly double its first year. At Virginia Commonwealth University, which conducted the fellowship last year, a participating student said the program transformed their “understanding of service itself,” according to a Hillel International press release.
Led by Rabbi Natan Levy, the appointed Jewish chaplain at SU, the fellowship will also include chaplains from other faiths on campus, such as Reverend Devon Bartholomew and Muslim Chaplain Imam Hamza Gürsoy.
The Bridging Service Fellowship is run and sponsored by Hillel, but non-Jewish undergraduate or graduate students are welcome and encouraged to participate. Levy said he hopes to have seven Hillel students working alongside seven non-Hillel students in the fellowship and wants students to reach out to him if interested.
“I love interfaith work, and I think interfaith work around social action and service is really key,” Levy said.
“The Bridging Service Fellowship equips students to lead with empathy, confidence, and curiosity in an increasingly divided world while actively serving their community,” Dani Levine, Hillel International’s senior director of social impact, said in the release.
Lasting seven to ten weeks, the fellowship, now in its second year nationwide, contains three fundamental elements – ethical volunteer service, cohort learning and peer and small group bridge-building, according to the release. Cohort learning consists of dialogue that explores interfaith connection, while bridge-building focuses closely on leadership skills through one-on-one and group sessions.
With Jewish students making up 16.2% of SU’s student population, the Hillel community has a strong presence on campus, offering fellowships, Shabbat services, leadership opportunities and volunteering. The fellowship also comes after numerous reports of antisemitism on campus and a ‘C’ ranking in the Anti-Defamation League Antisemitism Report Card for the third year in a row.
“I think it’s important for students to learn about each other’s cultures, learn about each other’s values, and show them that at the end of the day as much as there can be these ‘divides’ between us, we’re all still people,” senior Talia Klein, vice president of engagement at Hillel, said.
Amber Fulop, a freshman Hillel member, said the staff is constantly reaching out to new members, like herself, to check in and help them get more involved. She said the fellowship is something she will consider applying to in the future.
“I feel like in the world we live in today, there is so much tension between different religions,” Fulop said. “Having this sort of thing would be great so people can talk about it openly and connect with others.”
The Bridging Service Fellowship aims to begin community service by next semester, including tasks such as making sandwiches, collecting school supplies for children and bringing toiletries to women’s shelters. The fellowship will consider both on- and off-campus organizations for volunteering, Levy said.
“We are people of God and believe that we have a purpose here on this earth,” Levy said. “We live in a world where those who can should be supporting those who do not have.”
Though the fellowship is still working to build its cohort, the group of students will begin their work in October.
