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Sept. 16, 2005
Out of the wilderness
SFU's Hillel House was 40 years in coming.
PAT JOHNSON
For 40 years, the Hebrew people wandered in the wilderness. But
last Sunday, coinciding with the university's 40th anniversary,
Vancouver's Jewish community came together to open the sparkling
new Hillel House at Simon Fraser University – the first on
the Burnaby university's campus.
Alan Marchant, president of the Vancouver Hillel Foundation, noted
the importance of the number 40 in Jewish tradition. He said 40
years is considered the span of a generation and noted that the
creation of Hillel House at SFU represents a new generation of Jewish
strength.
The expansive new suite in SFU's just-completed Cornerstone Building
was packed to overflowing Sunday with students and supporters, marking
the official opening of the long-awaited Jewish space on campus.
On hand was SFU's president, Dr. Michael Stevenson, who called Hillel's
launch during SFU's 40th anniversary "a wonderful coincidence."
The connection between his university and the local Jewish community
is strong, he noted.
"We honor and take pride in the fact that some of the greatest
supporters of our university come from your community," Stevenson
said.
Geoffrey Druker, the new director of development for Hillel Vancouver,
emceed the event, beginning with a moment of silence for the victims
of the 9/11 terror attacks, which took place four years earlier
to the day.
Kira Draliuk, president of SFU's Jewish Students' Association, said
a permanent space will make all the difference in bringing Jewish
students together and keeping them involved. Until now, she said,
it has been tough to get people to come out to events.
"Our 'Jews and Brews' were more brews than Jews," she
said.
With a facility that includes meeting rooms, social areas and a
kosher kitchen, Jewish students will now be able to have a central
place to meet.
Already in the works is a term filled with outreach and special
events, according to Elad Guberman, an Israeli who is the Jewish
Agency's shaliach (emissary) to Hillel Vancouver and who
will be director of the SFU Hillel House for its first year.
"I think it's going to be an amazing, amazing year," said
Guberman. "The students are so excited. My guess is it will
double, triple at least the number of members on campus this year.
"The first month, we are concentrating mostly on outreach,"
he said. "We're going to have, like at UBC, every Wednesday
a hot lunch. We're going to have the first Shabbat dinner on Sept.
23."
There is also an Israeli movie night in the works and a hookah and
barbecue night on the beach for students from both UBC and SFU.
Jessica Apter, an SFU student and past-president of the Jewish Students'
Association, said the new space will allow Jewish students to get
to know each other.
"We finally have a centre here like so many other campuses,"
she said. "It's been so hard over the past few years trying
to rally people together to have lunch in a different room every
week.
"I think Jewish students are going to know a lot more Jewish
students," said Apter. "Apparently, there are hundreds
and hundreds of them up here on the hill, but we've never met them.
Now we'll have some place to centre around. There's going to be
a lot more spirit, a lot of pride."
Though the ribbon-cutting at SFU was the culmination of 40 years
of hopes and a couple of years of explicit preparation, Hillel's
work is not done, said Marchant.
"We now have a place at Simon Fraser," he said. "Now
we have to go on to UVic [the University of Victoria], Prince George
and other places within the province. We've got students everywhere
now."
A campaign is under way to create a new facility to replace the
existing Hillel House at the University of British Columbia.
Pat Johnson is editor of MVOX Multicultural Digest, www.mvox.ca.
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