Hillel director practices creativity, commitment to students

Hillel director practices creativity, commitment to students

Catherine MacDonald

Managing Editor

Last spring at a Weinstein Jewish Community Center softball tournament, K.B. Levin did not want to play ball.

It was the last game in the tournament and Levin, the Hillel of Richmond director and Jewish Education coordinator, was told her team needed her. Duty-bound, 30-year-old Levin spent a day preparing. She practiced hitting, throwing and catching—only to realize she was actually quite talented.

“So I called my parents and said, ‘Why did I never play sports?’ ” Levin said.

Her parents’ response: “ ‘Because you liked art.’ ”

Levin’s affinity for creativity still holds true today, she said. She still paints and said she often gives paintings and sketches to friends as wedding gifts. Levin’s artistic side is what she and her co-workers say drives the Los Angeles native to be so good at what she does.

“It’s the creative aspects of all the parts of my job that I really like the best,” Levin said. “I like to think outside of the box of what has been done for years and years and years and years and try and find something new and interesting.”

As the Hillel of Richmond director, Levin is responsible for VCU’s and other Richmond area universities’ (University of Richmond, T.C. Williams Law School, Medical College of Virginia and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College) chapters of Hillel, which is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world. She plans social programs, trips to Israel and learning opportunities for her students, as well as “ways to broaden their Judaic tools.”

But all that is just 80 percent of her job, she said. In fact, Levin’s work at the Weinstein JCC sometimes keeps her busy from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.

As Jewish Education coordinator, she creates curriculums, finds professors and facilitators, and teaches adult religious education courses. Levin also sits on four interfaith boards, works to maintain good relationships with local congregations, and is an assistant camp director during the summer.

Randi Amar, Weinstein Hillel’s membership director, says despite Levin’s busy schedule, her free-spirited nature makes working with her less stressful.

“You can feel that the office (is) a really relaxed atmosphere for her and she makes it a relaxed atmosphere for others,” Amar said.

When she is not busy with meetings, paperwork, e-mails or phone calls, Levin says she tries to be on campus as much as possible to be available to her students. She said each of them has her personal cell phone number, and she makes sure to post her location on her Facebook so students can find her.

“I’m not just planning and programming,” Levin said. “I’m also here for them if they want talk or get a cup of coffee.”

Wednesday, at VCU Hillel’s “Welcome Back Bagels,” Levin greeted each of her students warmly after not seeing most of them since Winter Intercession began. “Monday Bagels,” usually held one Monday each month, is meant to give students a good momentum for the upcoming week. Anyone is welcome to attend and most active students from Hillel try to attend regularly, said VCU Hillel President Sarah Sonies, a senior mass communications major.

Levin has a master’s degree in social work from Eastern Michigan University and she says her education is an asset for her work with students.

“One of my favorite parts of my job is just hanging out with the students and being at a successful program with them that they helped to create,” Levin said. “The counseling part is like the bonus. It’s like, ‘Oh look, I get to use my degree!’ ”

Allison Singer, a senior psychology major who has been involved with Hillel since she was a freshman, said she sees Levin as both a mentor and a friend. She said even though Levin is busy, she is “always offering to hang out.”

“She’s always willing to put her stuff aside and come chat with the collegiate members of Hillel,” Singer said.

However, Levin’s work as a mentor has been more serious in the past. She said there have been instances where Hillel members have come to her when their friends are in danger of hurting themselves.

Singer said she trusts Levin—no matter what the situation.

“If I ever need anything … I know can always call her,” Singer said.

Levin also provides religious counseling.

“If people are having a hard time with their religious identity and they want to have a conversation about it, I meet with them and discuss that,” Levin said. “I don’t proselytize; I don’t preach; I don’t say, ‘This is the one right way.’ I say, ‘What do you feel?’ ”

Assistant Membership Director Elizabeth Lyon, who Levin describes as her closest friend at the Weinstein JCC, said Levin has found her niche.

“She’s doing exactly what she’s passionate about,” Lyon said.

Levin said it was a six-month trip to Israel she took when she was 19 that taught her important life lessons and helped her decide she wanted to work with kids.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned from being in Israel, it’s to really live each day to it’s fullest and appreciate life as much as you can,” Levin said. “I feel like if you’re not giving back to the community in some way, then you’re only taking from it, and then what kind of citizen are you?”