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58 November 23 • 2017 jn for college students by college students Students at the HCAM Shabbat Nov. 23, 2017 / 5 Kislev 5778 G rand Valley State University's Hillel hosted an HCAM Shabbat Nov. 3. Students attended from Grand Valley State, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan universities as well as Kalamazoo College. The idea for this Shabbat dinner sprouted from my experience this past summer while representing GVSU at Hillel's Engagement Institute. During the conference, I was lucky to meet other student leaders from HCAM schools. There, I bonded with them as well as other members from different Hillels across the country and throughout the world. I am grateful to have met them because we are able to discuss different event ideas as well as work together to plan this Shabbat. At our Shabbat dinner, we reconnected and met other members from HCAM. It was fun Stronger Together Nathan Dumond } Contributing Writer HCAM campus Hillels join for Shabbat dinner. Nathan Dumond of West Bloomfield, Blake Zack of Bloomfield, Yale Lash of Farmington Hills and Max Miller of West Bloomfield O n the Michigan State campus, I am a co-head intern for the David Project, an Israel advocacy organization that focuses on building relationships with targeted audiences. The goal of the David Project is to dispel misconceptions about Israel through building genuine relationships across campuses. Being an intern has presented me with many opportunities I otherwise would not have experienced. I was granted the privilege of attending the Black-Jewish Summit in Washington, D.C., Nov. 3-5. At the summit, there were delegations from eight different schools from all regions of the United States. This broad outreach enhanced opportunities to learn about the challenges faced by attendees from different backgrounds. At the summit, I participated in numerous activities. The most meaning- ful and memorable was a play. On the first night of the weekend, two actors came to the Schusterman International Center. The lead actor, Ron Jones, wrote an inspirational play focusing on the relationship between the Jewish and Black communities, dating back to the 1960s. During the play, the actors discussed the injustices done to both communities, along with the collaboration during the civil rights movement. The points that were given by both actors were incredibly interesting. Observing the play truly made me reconsider some preconceived thoughts related to the relations of our two diverse communities. Considering the David Project's mission, the concept behind this week- end summit is crystal clear. The purpose was to build connections between Jewish and Black communities in the United States and create a dialogue — a dialogue that could be continued once we all returned to our cam- puses. The delegation from MSU plans on continuing this dialogue by bring- ing the same writer, Ron Jones, to perform at the Black Caucus around our campus. We believe this will be integral in initiating a conversation on how building bridges between our communities can be mutually beneficial as we continue to learn from one another. @ Ari Chesterman of Huntington Woods is a junior at Michigan State University majoring in International Studies with a focus in the Middle East. Building Relationships MSU delegation attends Black-Jewish Summit. Ari Chesterman } Contributing Writer Delegates at the Black-Jewish Summit Nov. 3-5 in Washington, D.C. continued on page 60