Two Grants Support Jewish Life at W&L
Brett Schwartz, director of Hillel at Washington and Lee University, has received a grant from the Richmond Jewish Foundation to support W&L’s annual Holocaust Remembrance Week, taking place this year from April 26-May 4, 2014, on campus.
Hillel is the foundation for Jewish campus life with local chapters at more than 550 colleges and universities across the country.
Hillel’s 2014 Holocaust Remembrance Week/Yom HaShoah will include a visit by a Holocaust survivor; a visit from Joe Fab, the producer, writer and director of Paper Clips, a documentary about a project to gauge the magnitude of the Holocaust; and a screening of Paper Clips. There also will be a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Richmond, Va.
“Our Holocaust Remembrance Week provides opportunities for the University and Lexington-Rockbridge communities to learn about the Holocaust, and turn their attention to other genocides happening around the world today,” Schwartz said.
The Richmond Jewish Foundation, established in 1979, provides funds to central Virginia charitable, educational and religious causes, as well as services to the community and its donors. It also makes grants and undertakes community leadership and partnership activities to address a wide variety of needs in its service area.
In addition to the Remembrance Week grant, Hillel received a $5,000 grant from the Sam and Marion Golden Helping Hands Foundation to expand the number of Shabbat dinners (Friday dinners) currently offered. At the moment, Hillel provides a First Fridays at 5 once a month, but this grant allows Hillel to offer Shabbat every Friday.
“This grant will also allow non-Jewish students to attend and to learn more about their Jewish friends’ religion and culture,” said Schwartz.
