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Hillel News
Alumni Spotlight: Rachel Katz
CSUN alum Rachel Katz knew she was going to get involved with Hillel 818 when she started college and picked her major. “As a Jewish Studies major it’s just kind of what you did. My sister was a part of Hillel at her college, so I had known about the idea of Hillel. Then I came to a Hillel 818 event with a friend and I just stayed.I even lived at Hillel for a couple of years!”
Intern Spotlight: Lorraine Barnes
For CSUN senior Lorraine Barnes, Hillel 818 has been a place of self-discovery. She always knew she wanted to find a Jewish community filled with people more similar to herself, saying, “The thing that made me want to be part of Hillel was a desire to be part of a Jewish community with people my age. I had heard about Hillel from a woman back home. She told me, ‘Oh, you’re going to CSUN, right? You should join Hillel 818, they’re really great, they’re really fun. I was part of them, I’m an alumni of there.’ I had a coffee chat with Max and then I went to an event."
Alumni Spotlight: Samantha Harouni
For CSUN class of 2021 alum Samantha Harouni, Hillel wasn’t something she was necessarily looking for, but rather something that she bumped into along the way. “I remember when I was first at CSUN a couple groups, including Hillel, were trying to get me on Birthright at the same time. I didn’t know where Hillel was or anything about it but, one day, I was at Freudian Sip with my Hebrew textbook out and Rabs and Sondra were right behind me, she noticed my Hebrew book, and the conversation just started going from there. They connected me with the Israel fellow at the time and we just talked about Birthright and convinced me to go.”
A Look Inside Hillel 818's Grand Opening Shabbat
November 4, 2022 was a momentous day for Hillel 818. After three years of construction, delays, and a global pandemic that shut down the world, Hillel 818 was finally able to host our first event at our newly renovated building. Current students, alumni, the Hillel 818 Board of Directors, and Hillel 818 staff all gathered for the very first Shabbat and dinner at the renovated building on Plummer Street.
Intern Spotlight: Devereux Eulloqui
Senior Devereux “Dev” Eulloqui has been involved with Hillel 818 since he was a freshman at CSUN, having searched for a Jewish community he could join. Dev told us that, “When I was a freshman here [at CSUN], I had no sense of Jewish community back at home. I heard the San Fernando Valley has a pretty well-established Jewish community, so I did some research and searched around the school and I found Hillel 818. I started to come to events like Shabbat and Hillel made me feel well-connected and right at home.”
Alumni Spotlight: Avraham Wolf
Avraham Wolf knew from the beginning that he wanted to get involved with Hillel 818 while in college. “It was up the street from me and I wanted some Jewish engagement with people my age.” At Hillel 818, Avraham found exactly that – creating deep connections with other Jewish students that impacted his college experience.
Intern Spotlight: Emily Anschultz
Emily Anschultz found a part of her she didn’t even know she was missing when she started coming to Hillel 818. She said, “ I come from Santa Clarita where there’s not really a lot of Jewish people so being in an area where there are a lot of Jews who have similar family stories and similar backgrounds, it’s just nice and refreshing. Until you’re involved in a Jewish community you don’t really understand what you’re missing.”
Karmi Monsher is Ready for the Jewish Future of the Valley
For Karmi Monsher, being Jewish in Los Angeles is an integral part of who she is, saying, “I’ve grown up in LA and Judaism has been the most important thread in my life; that has always influenced everything that I do. My involvement, my kids, my volunteer work, in my professional work I’ve done have always had a Jewish connection… It’s in my soul and that’s who I am and I relate to all things Jewish. I relate to the community, I relate to supporting the Los Angeles community, it’s very natural for me.”
These ties influenced her personal and professional decisions throughout her life are whatt lead to her being asked to join the Hillel 818 Board and becoming the new Board Chair for Hillel 818 Board of Directors.
Intern Spotlight: Tiffany Brown
Fourth year CSUN Marketing student Tiffany Brown has always loved the close knit Jewish community in the San Fernando Valley. She says, “I feel like my favorite part [about being Jewish in the Valley] is that everyone knows each other. The amount of people who I’ve talked to in my life who say ‘oh I did this, I was a part of that, I’ve been to this temple’ and they’ll say ‘Wait do you know this person?” and I’m like “I know them!’. I just think it’s really fun that there’s this really rich community in the Valley.”
It’s her connection to people in the Jewish community of the Valley that brought her into Hillel 818.
Get to Know Hillel 818 Staff
In the last year the size of our staff has doubled! We are so excited to have so many new faces and returning ones on this year's Hillel 818 team.
Over the last couple weeks everyone has had the chance to share some fun facts about themselves with our students. While everyone will get the chance to meet these staff members and know them better over the course of the year, here are just a few fun things about our team members.