I have now spoken further to the person who wrote to the new Executive Director at Berkeley Hillel. She has given me permission to post much of the response on my blog. As I believe that this is an important issue that needs to be covered accurately and fairly, I will publish the relevant parts (
which is pretty much the whole response).
"I want to thank you for your concern for Hillel and offering us an opportunity to respond to some of the accusations as well as tell you the current state of affairs at Berkeley Hillel.
After several mistakes and errors by previous leadership of Hillel the board responded by hiring a new Executive Director. I began work as the executive director of Berkeley Hillel in July of 2009. All of the claims that Ms. Glick speaks about happening 2 and 3 years ago have not happened since. Past mistakes have been corrected and last year Hillel restored a robust range of Seders after a two-year hiatus, contrary to what Ms. Glick wrote in her column. On Yom HasShoah last year we had a packed room of students who listened to the story of a survivor experiences and rebuilding his life.
We have also had a robust offering of Israel opportunities to help students develop a deep and mature relationship with Israel. Here are just a few of the offerings this past semester:
* Hebrew Hour - Twice a week The topics range from Hebrew poetry to life of the average student at Cal.
* From Rambam to Yehudah Amchai - Every Friday, Hebrew speaking graduate students, facilitated by two Hillel staff members, study a wide spectrum of text. The forum is modeled after a pluralistic Yeshiva in Tel-Aviv which brings together both observant and secular Israelis that study text ranging from traditional Rabbinic to modern poetry.
* Teaching Hebrew - All the Birthright participants who do not speak
Hebrew and other students who express interest will meet on a weekly basis to study basic Hebrew in a casual manner.
* Israeli Art exhibit - Hillel will host different art exhibitions from
Israel around the building. The content will range from nature scenes, to typical life throughout the country, to artistic depictions of different Israeli communities.
Fall 2009
* September 3 & 26 - Kesher-Enoshi held their kickoff event, followed up with hosting Friday night dinner at Hillel. They had dynamic and creative ice breakers and valuable information about the group to help new students orient themselves with the goals and mission.
* October 8 - Professor Hanan Alexander, visiting from Israel, from the
Education department spoke to students about the relationship between the holiday of Sukkot and the idea of Aliyah to Israel. 14 students from different groups came and discussed this topic, which led to interesting perspectives and ideas.
* October 21 - Singer's from Israel's version of American Idol joined the
students at the weekly BBQ. They shared their music and their amazing life journey's. We hope to meet up with them again in Israel on our Birthright trip this January.
* October 22 - Mr. David Makovsky (Ziegler Distinguished Fellow and
Director of the Washington Institute's Project on the Middle East Peace
Process) and Mr. Ghaith al-Omari (former senior advisor to Mahmoud Abbas) had dinner with a handful of student leaders from Tikvah and later spoke to the community about the process of moving to a true agreement of peace in the region.
* October 23-25 - 5 students from campus attended the J street college
track portion of the conference in Washington DC. Their hope was to get a better understanding and educate themselves about the organization. Our goal is to equally subsidize Cal students to attend the AIPAC and StandWithUs conferences.
* October 27 - Linda Gradstein, National Public Radio reporter discussed the role of the media in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian territories.
* November 3rd - Yariv Oppenheimer, Secretary General (Director) of
Shalom Achshav, will come to speak with the campus community.
Again thank you for your interest in Berkeley Hillel and I want you to know that it is my vision as the new Executive Director of Berkeley Hillel to not repeat the mistakes of the past and to continue to build strong and committed Jewish students.
Happy Thanksgiving."
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