100s of Israelis Hillel Students Help Rehabilitate Northern Communities Damaged by War
Thursday, February 1, 2007

Ki HaAdam Eitz HaSadeh is First Israeli Multi-Campus Tzedek Effort

JERUSALEM and NEW YORK, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillel: The Foundation for Campus Jewish Life will launch Ki HaAdam Eitz HaSadeh on February 5, 2007, a project to bring 250 Israeli students from colleges and universities throughout Israel to several northern communities damaged by last summer's war. The project, sponsored by The Samuel Bronfman Foundation, will be led by Adam Bronfman, the foundation's managing director.

Adam Bronfman said, "We are excited about helping Israeli students develop their own model for engaging in community service as part of their Jewish identity. We'll begin in Kiryat Shemona, Haifa, and Ma'alot, which are still struggling with the aftermath of the summer war."

Prior to leaving for Northern Israel, on February 4th Mr. Bronfman will meet with Hillel Tel Aviv student activists and take part in dedicating Tel Aviv Hillel's new home at the Diaspora Museum. On February 5th he will take part in affixing a mezuzah and chanukat habayit of Hillel at Beit Hecht on the Carmel in Haifa.

The aim of the Ki HaAdam project is to nurture students' individual Jewish identity as well as their dedication to ongoing community service projects that strengthen the communities in which they live.

Ki HaAdam represents the first time that students from campuses across Israel will join together in a single coordinated project to perform Tzedek (community service) for fellow Israelis in the north. Hillel students from Hebrew University, Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University, Technion and several other schools will travel to northern Israel on their February academic break. Focusing on economically disadvantaged communities, they will work with local school children and adults to plant trees, clean up parks, and paint shelters, community centers and schools.

Rabbi Yossie Goldman, director of Hillel Israel, said, "We are seeing a renaissance of Jewish student life in Israel as demonstrated by the tremendous response to the Ki HaAdam project. Israeli students are increasingly eager to explore their Jewish identity alongside other Hillel students in projects that have meaning and value for the broader community as well as for themselves."

"It's appropriate," Goldman continued, "that we are launching the project in conjunction with Tu B'eshvat, the holiday of trees. The Hebrew name of the project -- Ki HaAdam Eitz HaSadeh -- translates in English as 'every person a tree,' with the idea that young people, like trees, need to be nurtured and developed to reach their full potential."

As follow-up to the project's northern launch in February, The Samuel Bronfman Foundation and Hillel will provide grants for an additional 15 student-initiated Tzedek projects in students' local communities. "The idea," said Dana Raucher, TSBF's executive director, "is for students to take their experience up north and apply it in their home communities as a means of strengthening their Jewish identity, not only as individuals but as part of a larger community in which they can have a meaningful presence."

About Hillel in Israel

Hillel, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, set up its first center in Israel in 1951. Today, Hillel Israel operates on five campuses: the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University/Technion, the Interdisciplinary Center and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Hillel Israel serves Israeli, new immigrant and overseas students by offering a multitude of informal educational, cultural, social, and religious programs. Hillel encourages students to take ownership of their Jewish identity and expression: from participating in community service projects to creating art and theater productions; from informal Jewish learning opportunities to cultural and social gatherings. Hillel is committed to a pluralistic Jewish vision that embraces all movements and streams of Judaism.

About The Samuel Bronfman Foundation

The Samuel Bronfman Foundation (TSBF) focuses on projects dedicated to fostering a Jewish renaissance. TSBF is an active supporter of the Hillel: The Foundation for Campus Jewish Life, The Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel, The Curriculum Initiative, and MyJewishLearning.com. More information about TSBF can be found at http://www.thesbf.org/

    Media Contact:

    Jonathan Cohen
    The Weiser Group
    (212) 468-3372
    jcohen@weisergroup.com