A get-a-way to give back!  Spend your Spring Break in El Paso, Texas helping out the local community and learning about a new culture. Spend your days restoring houses and your evenings exploring El Paso, the White Sands National Park, and the local Holocaust Museum.  

Who: Dickinson is partnering up with Habitat for Humanity

What: Restoring a home through the El Paso Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The work will consist of a range of tasks from cleaning and organizing to painting and building.

During our free time we will explore El Paso’s culture of food, shopping, and dancing. Wewill also spend time on the dunes of White Sands National Park and visit the El Paso Holocaust Museum.

Where: El Paso, Texas! We will fly in and out of Philadelphia airport straight to El Paso.  We will sleep in a facility with showers, a kitchen, and plenty of floor space for sleeping so bring a sleeping bag! Our work site will be up to 30 minutes away from our temporary home but we will have our own van all week to take us to the work site and to the city at night.

When: March 10-March 17 (Sunday-Sunday). There will be a few pre-trip Orientation days early in the Spring semester to get to know one another, to learn about El Paso’s history and current state, and to prepare for our trip.

Why: There is no better way to spend your break than giving back to your community!! You will make new friends, make new memories, feel good about yourself, and be doing a GREAT mitzvah! Being in El Paso also allows us to witness a diverse community on the border filled with cultural difference, political discrimination, and poverty that is similar to that found throughout Jewish history. Through reflection and discussion we will unveil how the struggles of the local community, our own physical and emotional journey in El Paso, and Jewish history and beliefs intersect. By making this service trip a personal experience, we will discuss ways to bring back our experiences back to the Dickinson campus.

Cost: $400 all expense paid! This includes flights, housing, food, and additional activities for the entire week. Payment plans or financial aid can be accommodated. Simply e-mail jetterr@dickinson.edu

 How to Apply: fill out the application in the link below by January 31st.  You should receive an e-mail within 48 hours of submission to set up a follow-up interview.

  https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?fromEmail=true&formkey=dE11Y09KTFZTSWNjakJSXzBwWVF3a3c6MQ

 Contact jetterr@dickinson.edu with any questions

Commemorating Kristallnacht

The Night of Broken Glass

 On November 9^th, 1938, the Nazi Party demolished synagogues, homes, and Jewish-owned businesses throughout Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia.

This incident marked the first instance in which the Nazi regime detained Jews on a massive scale simply on the basis of their ethnicity.

“Kristallnacht” owes its name to the shards of shattered glass that lined the streets.

On November 9^th, 2012, Dickinson students, faculty, and staff, from all religious and cultural backgrounds created this mosaic out of pieces of broken glass to commemorate Kristallnacht. It is in the shape of a Hamsa, which is believed to provide protection.

Sponsored by the Asbell Center for Jewish Life