Birthright Alumnae Stories, Laugh In Peace, & Exciting Upcoming Events

An Interview with Marissa Lehrman, Birthright Alum

Like any other Birthright alum, I thought my trip was fantastic. So fantastic that one of my goals for this academic year was to make a Birthright reunion event so that everyone from all different trips could come together to reminisce about our experiences.

I went on Birthright last summer, with Sharon and Rafi and about 30 other UVMers. Also with us were students from other schools who had friends on our trip or just wanted to come along with us. It was a very eclectic group of people with diverse personalities and many stories to tell. Together, on bus 354 (Tre’ Fi’ Fo’), we visited beautiful cities like Tzfat and Jerusalem while going on some breathtakingly beautiful adventures down mountains, up mountains, along waterfalls, and down rivers. 

Returning back to school this year as a Peer Network Engagement Intern for Hillel, I knew that part of my job would be to organize a Community Building Event of some sorts, I immediately new that it would be a lot of fun to get my trip back together to eat some falafel and talk about our favorites parts of the trip, and what has impacted us the most. It was also clear to me that there were five other trips that might want to get together to talk too.

In the end, participants from all of the prior trips (that still had participants at and around UVM) were invited and four trips were represented at the reunion at Thursday evening. It was a blast talking about the best moments from each trip.  I think we all realized how much each trip had in common and how different they were at the same time.

I hope for many other reunions in the future!

Laugh In Peace

Last Wednesday, we were fortunate to have comedians Bob Alper (a rabbi) and Mo Amer (a Muslim) come and perform. They were so so funny--I almost never laugh out loud but I did many times during their routines. Their message is very powerful, proving that different cultures can come together and join in happiness over laughter. Check out their site here. 

Sign Up For Upcoming Events!

• It's crazy that we're already at the time of year for Passover. Hillel is hosting a special seder for the first night with delicious food catered by Vermont Kosher--check out event details here. 
• We also have a very exciting opportunity to visit the Holocaust Memorial Center in Montreal and explore the city. If you're interested, sign up here.