Program Exchange Submission Form

Rock & Ruach: A Yom Ha’atzmaut Celebration

Submitter Information (Section 1 of 6)

I am a: Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow

First Name: Rachel

Last Name: Habush

School or multi-campus center if school does not apply (Type the first letter of your school to jump through the list.)

SUNY at Stony Brook

We would like to display your name and e-mail address with this program so that others may contact you about it. (Your name and e-mail will automatically be hidden once your graduation date has passed.)
That's fine. Show my name and e-mail.

Program Information (Section 2 of 6)

Program Title: Rock & Ruach: A Yom Ha’atzmaut Celebration

Program Summary - Please give a 1-2 sentence description of your program. This summary will be shown when people are browsing or searching for programs.

This Yom Ha’atzmaut celebration included a live concert by the Israeli-born Moshav Band (www.moshavband.com).

Program Description - Please describe your program in detail. You will have an opportunity later to describe the planning process of the program in detail. Please limit yourself to a description of the program itself here.

The purpose of the event was to celebrate Israel’s Independence Day in a way that emphasized Israeli culture as opposed to politics. Since Israeli politics during the past few months/years have been so highly emotional and controversial, we thought it would be good to give students a taste of life in Israel. The ultra-bohemian Moshav Band, an Israeli rock band from Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s Moshav Me’or Modiim, came to perform on campus at The Spot’s Fannie Brice Theatre. The event was co-sponsored by the Commuter Student Association and Shelanu: Stony Brook’s Jewish Community Newspaper and open to all students. In addition to the concert set-up, there were decorations, posters with facts about Israel, snacks and Israeli flag birthday cake.

When was this program implemented? (Use the first time if it ran more than once or was part of a series.)

April 2002

What were the goals of the program (what did you hope to accomplish)?

We hoped to educate students about Israeli culture and politics, and expose them to new experiences in a fun and entertaining way. We thought this cool rock band would attract a sector of students who might have a negative impression of Hillel.

Did you meet your goals? Why or why not?

The concert was definitely a fun and successful event, but there were certain factors that were out of our control which prevented it from being even more successful. One was that the huge Israel Rally in DC was called for only 4 days before and required a lot of our resources for that. Even so, the concert was awesome.

If this program was for a Jewish Holiday, for which one was it?

Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day)

What type of program is this? (check all that apply)

Arts and Culture

Educational

Israel

Jewish Holidays

Music

Religious & cultural

Social

Did this program contain any content or raise awareness for any of the following issues (check all that apply):

None

For whom was this program planned? (check all that apply)

Arts and culture students

First year students

Upperclassmen

Graduate students

Young Professionals

Students who spent time in Israel

Birthright Israel alumni

Commuter students

Students who live on-campus

Greeks / fraternity / sorority

Local community

Everyone

Why was this program planned? What did you want to do? (Check all that apply)

Community relations

Education

For fun

Holiday

To do something new

To engage new people

Frequency of Program

This program was done once

Has this program received any grants?
Grants from Hillel's International Center:

No grants received from Hillel’s International Center

Has this program won any awards?
Hillel's International Center Awards:

No award received from Hillel’s International Center

Program Planning (Section 3 of 6)

How far ahead did you have to start planning?

1-3 months

How much time did it take to plan?

Over 20 hours

Which people or organizations were involved in planning the program (check all that apply)?

Students

Program director

Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow

Faculty and staff

Clubs or other Student Organizations on campus

Commuter center

How many people did it take to plan and implement this program?

Planning 4-8

Implementing 4-8

How many students were expected to participate in the program?

51-100

How many students actually participated in the program?

26-50

Please describe the planning process for this program, step by step.

While deciding on what type of programming we would like to see for Yom Ha’atzmaut, I suggested the Moshav Band as a new and fun way to celebrate Israeli culture (I had brought them to a Hillel before but they would be new to Stony Brook). We called them to check on their availability around the date of the holiday and they were free the day after so we booked them. We asked other organizations to co-sponsor this rather expensive event (the Hillel Student Club, Commuter Student Association and Shelanu: Stony Brook’s Jewish Community Newspaper co-sponsored) and booked the facility ahead of time. On the day of the event we put together posters with facts about Israel, went shopping for food and decorated the room.

Materials/resources needed - As a guide for whomever might replicate this program, please describe all the materials/resources that you needed to create this program. Use the following as a guide: food, copies, paper / office supplies, decorations, telephone / e-mail / web, lighting, stage, audio / visual equipment, people (for posting flyers, sitting at tables, ...) etc.

Food: chips, pretzels, carrots, hummus, soda, ice, bottled water (for the band), Entenmann’s chocolate cakes decorated with Israeli flags (white and blue icing)

Copies: flyers (letter size and rave-card size) made on Hillel copier

Paper supplies: forks, knives, cups, small plates, bowls

Decorations: Israeli flags, posters made on poster-board

Stage equipment: speakers, microphones and amps supplied by campus AV

People: students and staff posted flyers, coordinated logistics with the band, and helped with set-up/clean-up

Budget (Section 4 of 6)

The amounts here are in: US Dollars

Please fill in the income and expenses for your program below. If an item does not apply, you may leave it blank. This form will not total amounts for you.

Income
Source	Amount
Local Hillel/Hillel Student Organization/Jewish Students Association	200
Campus Clubs or Organizations Hillel Student Club (student government funded organization)	2100


Other sources of income:
Commuter Student Association	500
Shelanu	300
TOTAL	3100
Expenses
Item	Amount
Band contract	2500
food	50
publicity	50
Stage equipment, lighting, sound	350
Room rental	150

TOTAL	3100

Program Implementation (Section 5 of 6)

How did you publicize or advertise your program?

Co-sponsorship

E-mail

Fliers / posters / table tents / etc.

Handouts (palm cards-invitations-etc.)

Mail

Newspaper advertisement

Voicemail

Web

Word of mouth

Where did the program take place? University building or other on campus location

How was the Jewish content presented and what media were used?

The band was from Israel and about half of their songs had Hebrew lyrics. We also put up posters with facts and trivia about the state of Israel, in celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut.

Program Follow-Up (Section 6 of 6)

What are your suggestions for someone who plans a similar program in the future? Why was or wasn't this program a success?

This program was successful, but could have been more so if it weren’t for the proximity to other large events, putting a strain on the Hillel’s resources. Additionally, the room in which we held it was extremely hot and uncomfortable because the heater was on and could not be turned off. The concert could have been great outdoors but you should have a rain location if you do that.

What impact did the program have? How were students Jewishly enriched and what did they specifically learn?

Students really got into the Hebrew songs and the laid-back atmosphere that the band set. They were impressed that Jewish music can include something beyond what one may have learned in Hebrew School.

If you have any comments about how we can improve this form and or process, please enter them here:

Make it a downloadable form that can then be emailed to be submitted. It was very time-consuming to have to copy and paste each question into a word document, both so the information online would not be lost and so I could keep a copy for my records.

Roughly how long did it take for you to fill out this form?

Over 45 minutes