Hillel Israel held its first Hilleluya gala this past Monday evening in Tel Aviv. The event was a public celebration of Hillel activities in Israel. During the evening Hillel Israel honored outgoing CEO Rabbi Yossie Goldman for 25 years of dedicated service, and granted, for the first time, the Hillel Israel Award for contribution in leading Jewish renewal across Israel.

Awards were presented to several including Lynn Brill, an MA student in Security Studies and a research assistant in computer warfare at Tel Aviv University, for her initiative in developing the “Circle of Giving” project that combines the study of Jewish sources and community volunteerism.

Prominent in attendance: a special mission of 80 students from the USA who were also guests at the President’s Conference. As part of their visit to Israel, the student group participated in a Bat Mitzvah ceremony for students being held along with Holocaust survivors who never celebrated their own Bat Mitzvah during World War Two.

photo Aviv Naveh