One of the newest members to Hillel’s Leadership Team is Amy Zimmerman.
A junior biology major, Amy has made several inroads in CSU’s Jewish community before joining Hillel as a board member this semester.
“Since my freshman year I have been apart of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi,” said Amy, adding, “I joined before we were officially chartered, but my sophomore year we became official. In between that time a lot of our meetings were held at the Hillel House actually.”
Being a early member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi encouraged Amy to run to be the sorority’s president from December 2016 to December 2017. She and her sorority members have collaborated with Hillel on many initiatives like “Backpacks for FOCO” that occurred last semester.
“We do so many different events, with many different organizations. As an organization we show support to Hillel events and to the general Jewish community. We do a lot of programming events within the sisterhood and community service events. A few projects over the years have been making care packages for the Ft. Collins homeless community as well as doing a large scale clothing drop off for Crossroads, which is a local domestic abuse safe house,” said Amy.
Amy jumped into the CSU Jewish community in part because she yearned to learn about her Jewish heritage – something that didn’t occur in her youth.
“I’ve always really liked Judaism. I was raised half Catholic, however, I never felt I belonged there,” said Amy. “With Judaism I feel like I belong. I’m always educating myself on Judaism through books, lectures, group discussions and more,” she said. “Not being raised very Jewish made me appreciate others peoples’ religions. The Havdalah has been a great source of education for me. Just understanding the meaning and the purpose of separating the Sabbath and work week has enhanced my own spirituality and connection to Judaism,” said Amy.
This semester as a Hillel board member Amy is supporting all Hillel initiatives, but she plans to educate the Hillel leadership (and members) on vegan diets and how to prepare healthy and delicious food. She also hopes to break down the stigma around veganism so more people can reap the benefits of a plant-based diet.
“I love steak but I’m still a vegan. I know too much about the effects of red meat,” said Amy, adding that,”there are so many misconceptions of being vegan and how to eat like one. I’m just hoping to show people vegan food besides tofu and educate them on the benefits of being vegan.”
Other initiatives Amy hopes to implement next semester are deeper conversations surrounding Jewish scripture and a group focused on mindfulness and spirituality. If you are interested in these or any other ideas please come to an upcoming Shabbat and talk with Amy and or the rest of Hillel leadership team!
My name is David Kravitz. I’m a senior journalism major and this semester I’m writing stories for Hillel. I love to tell stories and write. I’m originally from Washington state. I enjoy cooking, writing, laughing with friends and enjoy dogs more than people.
CSU Hillel serves as an important bridge from the Jewish kid world to the Jewish adult world. We empower students to become leaders, and provide a warm and welcoming home-away-from-home for every student. Additionally, at CSU Hillel we take pride in cultivating a strong community with our weekly shabbats, sustainability projects and community mitzvahs around Fort Collins, as well as, helping our students learn about Judaism and Israel in whatever capacity most comfortable to them. To learn more about CSU Hillel visit our website and make sure to follow us on social media on Facebook at CSU Hillel and Twitter @CSUHillel.