March 17, 2020
Dear Hillel Milwaukee Community,
Given the current coronavirus crisis and the prolonged uncertainty of holding large scale community events, we have made the regretful decision to cancel this year’s Blue and Gold Community Shabbat that was planned for Friday, April 24th. We would like to thank all of those involved, particularly our co-chairs, Nina Gary, Brandon Halpern, Amanda Krahn, and Ben Stern for your passion and commitment to planning what was sure to have been an inspiring evening.
The good news is that we are still accepting student applications for our Bernard & Helen F. Soref Scholarships. Applications are available online at www.hillelmke.org/scholarship and are open to eligible students through Friday, April 3rd. Scholarship recipients will be announced the week of April 20th. We hope all of our students take advantage of this exciting scholarship opportunity.
Thank you for your continued commitment to Jewish student life and we look forward to you joining us next year for Blue and Gold Community Shabbat with Hillel MKE.
Julie Schack
Executive Director
Given the current coronavirus crisis and the prolonged uncertainty of holding large scale community events, we have made the regretful decision to cancel this year’s Blue and Gold Community Shabbat that was planned for Friday, April 24th. We would like to thank all of those involved, particularly our co-chairs, Nina Gary, Brandon Halpern, Amanda Krahn, and Ben Stern for your passion and commitment to planning what was sure to have been an inspiring evening.
The good news is that we are still accepting student applications for our Bernard & Helen F. Soref Scholarships. Applications are available online at www.hillelmke.org/scholarship and are open to eligible students through Friday, April 3rd. Scholarship recipients will be announced the week of April 20th. We hope all of our students take advantage of this exciting scholarship opportunity.
Thank you for your continued commitment to Jewish student life and we look forward to you joining us next year for Blue and Gold Community Shabbat with Hillel MKE.
Julie Schack
Executive Director
March 15, 2020
Dear Hillel Community,
As a follow up to my earlier statement about Hillel Milwaukee moving to an online learning platform as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, I wanted to follow up with the decision that we made to close the Hillel Milwaukee building until Monday, April 13th. Our team will all be working remotely during this time as a measure to ensure we all stay healthy and mitigate spreading of the virus. We are hard at work planning creative, fun ways to stay connected with you, our students, during this time and we encourage you to share your thoughts and suggestions too. It is more important than ever that we continue to strengthen our Kehillah Kedoshah- our holy community, and know that the Hillel team is here to support you in any way that you need. Please note that the proverbial ‘door; is always open and we trust that you will reach out on ways we can be supportive. We will be creating new, inventive spaces for Jewish learning, mindfulness and wellness, and of course Israeli cooking! We trust that you are stocking up (but leaving some toilet paper for your neighbor!), practicing social distancing and finding ways to stay connected with friends and family.
Kol Tuv ( all good things) and we look forward to the time when we can all be together soon.
Julie Schack
Executive Director, Hillel Milwaukee
As a follow up to my earlier statement about Hillel Milwaukee moving to an online learning platform as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, I wanted to follow up with the decision that we made to close the Hillel Milwaukee building until Monday, April 13th. Our team will all be working remotely during this time as a measure to ensure we all stay healthy and mitigate spreading of the virus. We are hard at work planning creative, fun ways to stay connected with you, our students, during this time and we encourage you to share your thoughts and suggestions too. It is more important than ever that we continue to strengthen our Kehillah Kedoshah- our holy community, and know that the Hillel team is here to support you in any way that you need. Please note that the proverbial ‘door; is always open and we trust that you will reach out on ways we can be supportive. We will be creating new, inventive spaces for Jewish learning, mindfulness and wellness, and of course Israeli cooking! We trust that you are stocking up (but leaving some toilet paper for your neighbor!), practicing social distancing and finding ways to stay connected with friends and family.
Kol Tuv ( all good things) and we look forward to the time when we can all be together soon.
Julie Schack
Executive Director, Hillel Milwaukee
March 12, 2020
Dear Hillel Friends,
Our primary role at Hillel Milwaukee is to support our students both spiritually and emotionally and we know that the evolving situation regarding COVID-19 has been sad, confusing and stressful. As a community we have just celebrated the holiday of Purim, in which we recognize the chaotic nature of our world where as the saying goes, a Jew learns to laugh with one eye and cry with the other.
We have been monitoring the unfolding of the corona virus pandemic, and this week we learned that the primary campuses we serve will be moving to remote on line instruction until April 10th. UWM has decided to expand its spring break for two weeks until March 29th to allow time for faculty to properly equip themselves with this decision, and Marquette will implement on line learning effective March 23rd. Students living in university housing are being asked to vacate their residence halls and refrain from returning to campus following spring break.
Hillel Milwaukee is actively engaged with University administration, Hillel International, the greater Milwaukee Jewish community and our other many partners. At this time, we have made the following decisions regarding programming and building usage until April 10th:
We recognize at times like these the urgency to support one another. Our Hillel Milwaukee team is dedicated to assisting our students in whatever way possible. Your wellbeing and safety is our #1 priority. Please don’t hesitate to call us at 414-961-2010, or contact me directly at Julie@hillelmke.org for any specific questions or concerns.
In good health,
Julie Schack
Executive Director
Hillel Milwaukee
Our primary role at Hillel Milwaukee is to support our students both spiritually and emotionally and we know that the evolving situation regarding COVID-19 has been sad, confusing and stressful. As a community we have just celebrated the holiday of Purim, in which we recognize the chaotic nature of our world where as the saying goes, a Jew learns to laugh with one eye and cry with the other.
We have been monitoring the unfolding of the corona virus pandemic, and this week we learned that the primary campuses we serve will be moving to remote on line instruction until April 10th. UWM has decided to expand its spring break for two weeks until March 29th to allow time for faculty to properly equip themselves with this decision, and Marquette will implement on line learning effective March 23rd. Students living in university housing are being asked to vacate their residence halls and refrain from returning to campus following spring break.
Hillel Milwaukee is actively engaged with University administration, Hillel International, the greater Milwaukee Jewish community and our other many partners. At this time, we have made the following decisions regarding programming and building usage until April 10th:
- We will cancel all non-essential programs including weekly Shabbat and Passover seder until April 10th. With the fluidity of the situation, we will update our students and community with any changes as they unfold.
- Despite not holding student programming, our building will remain open during normal business hours M-F 9a-5p.
- Our staff is dedicated to supporting our students during this stressful and confusing time and are working diligently to determine what remote programs we can offer in the coming weeks based on student feedback. JLF will continue with a remote learning model. We have yet to determine whether our Side x Side trip to Israel will take place in May. We will continue to monitor the travel guidelines in the weeks to come.
- Many of our students will feel the financial implications of the universities shutdown and we will be available for consultation and crisis management. In addition, we will be boosting the grocery items available from our Hillel food pantry for those students who can benefit from it. We will be adding kosher for Pesach items in the coming weeks.
- Following the recommendations from the universities and health professionals, we strongly request that if you are not feeling well, please refrain from visiting the Hillel building until you are better.
We recognize at times like these the urgency to support one another. Our Hillel Milwaukee team is dedicated to assisting our students in whatever way possible. Your wellbeing and safety is our #1 priority. Please don’t hesitate to call us at 414-961-2010, or contact me directly at Julie@hillelmke.org for any specific questions or concerns.
In good health,
Julie Schack
Executive Director
Hillel Milwaukee
