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Bama Hillel hosts visting students from Illinois Hillel
In the days before the BCS National Championship, all eyes were on Alabama… and some students from Illinois Hillel were thinking about Tuscaloosa as well. Ten Illinois students were heading south for an “Alternative Winter Break” to help Tuscaloosa residents affected by the April 27th tornado. The students and Illinois Hillel’s program director, Coby Engelhart, met up with Laurie Shinbaum, an Illinois senior from Montgomery who had been home for winter break. Laurie, a Bama fan since birth, wanted to help Tuscaloosa recover so she organized this trip through Illinois Hillel. With suggestions from Kathy Merrell, the program director at Bama Hillel and Star Bloom, co-chair of the Alabama Hillel Board of Trustees, Laurie’s spent weeks planning and organizing so the Illinois students could fulfill their mission working on a Habitat for Humanity project.
After working hard each day, the group experienced a lot of southern hospitality and fun. They watched the Crimson Tide win the BCS Championship at a Tuscaloosa restaurant and saw the Crimson Tide basketball team beat LSU at Coleman Coliseum. Another highlight was meeting with Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, who described the recovery efforts following the tornado. After meeting the mayor, the group headed to the new Bloom Hillel Center to discuss Jewish life in Tuscaloosa with some Bama Hillel students and Hillel advisor, Rebecca Rothman. Both student groups then headed off for a festive dinner together. It was back to Hillel the following night for a kabbalat Shabbat service led by the Illinois Hillel students, and a delicious southern Shabbat dinner of BBQ chicken. Bama Hillel students, Elizabeth Bernstein and Regina Broda, provided a campus tour on Saturday. Later, more Bama HIllel students joined the Illinois group to celebrate Havdalah together.
The week was an extremely rewarding experience for both the visitors and hosts and Bama Hillel looks forward to their next hosting opportunity when a group from Williams College plans a similar visit at the end of March.
Rebecca Rothman corresponded with trip organizer Laurie Shinbaum about her experiences after she returned to Illinois. You can read the entire interview here:
Interview with Laurie Shinbaum
How did the idea for the trip come about?
I am from Alabama and when the tornadoes hit, I felt like there was nothing I could really do. I spoke with Josh, the incoming president of Hillel and also a trip participant, and the interim programming director about doing Illini Hillel’s first ever AWB for the 2011-12 winter break. As a participant and a coordinator of previous alternative breaks, planning one seemed like the next step and the best way to give to the Tuscaloosa community. I also had the thought that students most reliable sources for help are other students since we are all in the same positions. It is easiest to relate to your peers and it is best to depend on them, even if they are strangers. So I thought wouldn’t it be great if it was a pay it forward idea. That our students give and when something goes bad somewhere else, Alabama students remember when their peers came to aid in relief. It starts a chain effect. Students will be more willing to help other students.
Explain your connection with Alabama, and UA:
My blood has run crimson since the day I was born. Alabama was in the NCAA tournament when I was born, and the story goes that I would cry every time my dad turned me away from the game so that he could see what was going on. I would stop crying as soon as my eyes could check out those 1990 crimson basketball uniforms again. Both of my parents are alumni, my mom undergrad and my dad law school. My grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins also went to school there. Growing up in Montgomery, my favorite arguments were who is better Alabama or Auburn, obviously Alabama. While I may not attend the University of Alabama, it is and will always be my first love. My best friends also go to Alabama, so it gave me even more of an incentive to want to plan a trip to bond the people I know and love in Illinois to those who I am connected with in Alabama.
Was it easy to plan the details of the trip?
Alabama Hillel was a huge help! Anything I needed help with someone was there to help me. I made my first phone call in June or July, and Star Bloom and Kathy immediately had their feelers out to help me find places to stay and volunteer. All I had to do was make phone calls and payments. Of course there are details along the way like travel and planning extra things that may have caused little speed bumps, but there was nothing so hard that it ever seemed impossible. Everyone’s help in Alabama and in Illinois was extremely supportive that the trip was a joy to plan. We stayed at Kathy’s church, Fist Presbyterian. They set us up with Habitat for Humanity. It was an incredible experience that I know I will keep with me forever, and I am sure everyone on the trip will too.
How many students joined you? Were you the only one not from Illinois? Had anyone else ever been to Alabama before?
There were 11 of us in total: 10 students ranging from freshmen to seniors, and our programming director who just graduated from U of I in December. Everyone excluding me was from the suburbs of Chicago. To my knowledge, no one had ever been to Alabama but a few had been to the South.
What were some of the highlights of the trip?
It’s hard to choose just one or two things to highlight since each of us loved different parts of the trip. We had the unique experience of being paired with senior citizens who were also staying at the church. Both of our groups forged bonds with each other that I think, while we may not keep in touch, will not soon be forgotten. From the older men teaching us how to properly paint and use power tools, to the women sharing laughs and words of encouragement to all of us, I think that was truly the most amazing part. We also had the opportunity to speak with the mayor who went more in depth in explaining what the city went through and how it continues to recover from April 27, 2011. Other highlights included the National Championship at a local sports bar (Wings U) and the follow up basketball win over LSU that Wednesday. AND of course, Shabbat and Havdallah with you and all of the active students at Alabama Hillel was spectacularly amazing.
Anything else you want to add?
This trip was the most special adventure I have ever had. To see my two homes in Illinois and Alabama come together was not only the most heartwarming experience, it made me believe that no matter what, people are good and want to help. And I could see this both in how everyone in Tuscaloosa was willing to help me plan the trip and the weekend as well as the students who volunteered their time to come to Alabama. I think that’s something amazing and everyone should be proud to have been a part of that week. Everyone in Tuscaloosa has touched our lives,and I hope we have done the same for y’all.