UNCOVERING UTICA'S GEMS - Clinton - Hamilton College

new face on campus:
society
anat guez
This year, Hillel at Hamilton is under the new leadership of Anat Guez. Born and raised in Israel, Guez came to New York when she was
offered a job teaching Hebrew at Colgate University. Later, she was offered a position at Hamilton teaching Hebrew. She currently splits her time
between the colleges.
We’ve all seen the navy Hillel at Hamilton t-shirts scattered around campus, but few of us understand what the organization really does.
Hillel—“The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life”—operates at more than 500 colleges and universities and encourages students to explore their
Jewish heritage. Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, and according to their website, their mission is to “enrich the lives of
Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world.”
Although she has only been director of Hillel for a few months, Guez is beginning to settle in to her new position. The first Shabbat dinner
Hillel hosted this year attracted between 40 and 50 people—both Jewish and non-Jewish alike. Shabbat is celebrated on Saturday, and is a day of
celebration and prayer.
Guez says that she would like to see the Jewish community at Hamilton become more active and engaged. She also hopes for Hillel to get
a space of its own on campus, which would make it easier to share Jewish customs and traditions with all members of the Hamilton community.
Having a unique space would also provide members with ample space to prepare meals for Shabbat dinners, which Guez hopes will become a
weekly tradition.
Guez served in the intelligence field for the Israeli military for several years. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Israeli Studies from an Israeli
university and is currently working on her Master’s Degree in the States. Guez lives in Clinton with her 15 year-old son, and the two return to Israel
for two months every year to spend time with family and friends.
Guez would like to see more students take their “birthright” trip to Israel, and return to the United States with more knowledge and less
prejudice against Israel as a culture. “Israel is more than a political place,” she says. “It has a culture; a culture with amazing people and amazing food.
Students should go and bring their experiences back to campus.” Guez certainly has the passion and personality to make this vision a reality.
erica pettis ’10
the continental | autumn 2008 37