As a student at Emory, Joel Frankel was active in Jewish life. He was president of Emory Students for Israel, active in Hillel's JBiz Roundtable, and went with Hillel on an alternative winter break trip to Guatemala. The consumate networker, Joel was always finding ways to bring people together. In short, Joel was a passionate community builder on campus.

Joel graduated from Emory in 2007 to pursue a business careeer in New York, where he worked as an analyst for Nielsen’s Business Consulting Services Group. His journey eventually brought him to law school at Washington University in St. Louis.

Joel has now found a way to mesh his professional aspirations with his personal passions. Joel recently began working for the Jewish Federation of Saint Louis as the Israel Engagement Professional - a job devoted to finding, connecting with, and bringing together young Jews returning from programs in Israel.

“My goal is to get as many young adults as possible involved in the Jewish community in St. Louis, helping to create a vibrant and sustainable community where young adults play a major role,” says Joel.

This is networking of the highest order. Joel describes his approach as "consierge-style service" by getting to know people on an individual basis and helping them plug into existing, appropriate Jewish programming and venues. “After connecting with people individually, I leverage the structures already in place to connect people to each other,” he explains.

Joel's experience at Emory as a leader and community builder no doubt gave him the experience and skills to do an exceptional job in this new role. We wish him continued success and look forward to see the many ways in which Joel will make a valuable impact on the Jewish community.

Hillel at Emory has been named one of four Hillels in North America this year as a "Center for Israel Excellence" to function as an innovation laboratory for Israel advocacy and educational programs. The designation also comes with grant money to be used toward the planning and implementation of the Excellence models.

Working together with staff, students, board and other campus and community stakeholders, these Hillels will develop and pilot creative approaches to Israel education, engagement, advocacy, and civil dialogue and become resource centers to develop and spread best practices throughout the Hillel field and influence university culture on Israel.

Students at Emory can expect new opportunities for student leadership and creative ways to experience Israel, both in Israel and on campus. The university community will experience Hillel's "Big Tent" approach to discourse on Israel incorporating civil dialogue and engagement, a multi-vocal approach to programming, and learning from a diversity of viewpoints.

Click here to view Hillels of Georgia’s guide to “Israel Discourse on Campus.” Stay tuned for more information as the year continues.

The Emory Wheel today took a clear, strong stand on recent attempts by Emory Advocates for Justice in Palestine to stir controversy through hate speech on campus. The editorial board blasted EAJP’s decision to bring Norman Finkelstein – a known terrorist sympathizer and anti-Israel propagandist – to campus as “unfortunate,” “divisive” and “alienating.” In particular, the Wheel took issue with the intentions of EAJP:

The ultimate goal behind any speaker event ought to be the fostering of discussion and encouragement of ethical and intellectual advancement among the Emory community. This was not, by a member of the EAJP’s own admission, the objective behind the decision to invite Finkelstein. Instead, the member admitted that the goal of the event was to raise awareness about the plight of the Palestinian people.

Instead of raising awareness of Palestinian struggles, however, Finkelstein used his pulpit to bash Israel. The Wheel’s criticism continues:

Adar Morag, a Goizueta Business School junior from Boca Raton, Fla., and a leader in the Emory Israel Public Affairs Committee, wrote an op-ed piece that appeared in the Emory Wheel today. In it, she argues that the U.S. relationship with Israel is a strategic one that is "useful and reliable":

The following is a guest post by Sara Faber (‘13C), who is active in Hillel, Emory Students for Israel and Kol Hanesher, Emory’s Jewish a cappella group.

Last Thursday I skipped class, something I don’t normally do. But last Thursday, I had somewhere important to be.

Last Thursday I attended the Southeast Rally for Gilad Shalit at Centennial Olympic Park, along with about 15 of my fellow Emory students. Despite the fairly large number of people in attendance, it was not a riotous or enthusiastic crowd. Unlike other rallies I have attended, this one was tinged with a certain melancholy I wasn’t expecting. The speakers shouted words of encouragement and hope, but that was the not the feeling of the rally. Instead, there was a sort of hopelessness to the rally: the cheering was muted and the smiles few. No one wanted to be here; no one wants to have to attend this type of rally. But perhaps it isn’t the amount of energy or enthusiasm we bring to the rally; perhaps the very fact that we attended was enough.