Staff Rachel Gartner Rabbi Rachel, as she is known by our students, is the new Rabbi and Executive Director of the Hillel Foundation for Jewish Life at Miami. Rabbi Rachel is an author, educator, spiritual director and chaplin, who comes to us with seven years experience in the rabbinate. Ordained by the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 2002, with awards in Practical Rabbinics and Spiritually Motivated Social Action, Rabbi Rachel has served a range of Jewish populations from the elderly to the very young: She co-authored the nationally acclaimed “Rosh Hodesh: It's A Girl Thing - Sourcebook for Leaders”, the signature project of Moving Traditions. Through this program, 6,000 adolescent Jewish girls from across denominations have experienced how Jewish teachings can enable them to make more positive choices in a culture steeped in pressures related to school, relationships, body image, sexuality, drugs and alcohol. Rabbi Rachel has worked with other populations as well. She was a student chaplain at a life care center for Jewish elderly in Philadelphia for many years ,where she produced a theatrical piece with holocaust survivors about their lives; she served as a rabbinic intern at Congregation Beth Simchat Torah which serves the gay and lesbian NY Jewish community, and she is a fellow in the prestigious Marshall T. Meyer Fellowship of Congergation Bnai Jeshurun of New York City. She was a pulpit rabbi in Montclair, New Jersey for three years before turning her sites on campus work. When Rabbi Rachel came to campus work she immediately fell in love with working with college students. “Students' passion, intensity, searching and smarts are remarkable to be around. Their Jewish questions and life questions are very engaging; they keep me growing as a rabbi, a Jew, and a human being. It is a privilege to work with students at such a powerful time in their lives.” Rabbi Rachel's vision for Hillel at Miami is that it be a “home away from home” where Jewish students can experience the warmth, companionship and familiarity of home and of Jewish community. She hopes Jewish programs can also help students explore the implications of their Miami education, integrate what they are learning in the classroom into their lives, their futures, and their emerging secular and Jewish selves. To these ends, Rabbi Rachel facilitates a variety of expressions Jewish life - social, cultural, religious - on campus. Events range from Shabbat and holiday celebrations to professional networking, from community service to travel in Israel, from text study to exhibiting student artwork. Rabbi Rachel is currently leading a weekly informal pizza dinner discussion group on what she calls Hot Jewish Topics. Topics have ranged from Jews and Tattoos, Interfaith Dating, Judaism and the Environment, Sex in the Text: Jewish Approaches to the Body and Sexuality. This year Hillel is also offering a paid internships for a team of six students to create cultural programs across campus. These programs aim to educate the broader campus community about Jewish life and to engage Jewish students who don't affiliate with Hillel, but who identify Jewishly. Rabbi Rachel welcomes the opportunity to talk with anyone who is interested about all the exciting new initiatives going on in Jewish life on campus, or about their own personal religious journeys. To contact her call: 513 523-5190 or email: rabbirachel@muhillel.org Paula Duncan Paula has worked with Hillel staff and students for nearly 17 years. Her matzah ball soup and brownies (free!) are famous on campus and whenever alumni are back in town they stop by for a taste. Paula has lived in the Oxford area for 30 years. Together with her husband Jeff she has four children- David 25, Jessica 22, Nathan 19, and J.D. 10. Bonnie Kretschmer Administrator Bonnie Kretschmer returned to her hometown (yup, she’s a townie) last summer to be near her parents and sisters.  She says that being a parent is much easier with them around.  Her baby, Joe, is 6 months old, has big brown eyes and loves people.   In the career arena, Bonnie has worn many hats - most of them in pursuit of a career in technical theatre, acting and singing.  These pursuits were very fun - she particularly loved living in Chicago!  But in the end, she discovered that fame was not to be and changed careers - spending 10 years working at an Engineering firm in Cincinnati and then the first 8 months of this year at home with Joe.  She loves being with him, but is ready to return to the workforce and is excited to be at Hillel.   While Bonnie and baby Joe are both Episcopalian (a christen denomination - the same as Anglican or Church of England), she’s looking forward to bringing Joe to his first Shabbat.  Episcopalians are very pluralistic, as a rule, and Bonnie is no exception.  She knows from personal experience that a good faith community can make you feel at home even if you are not at home.  She wants to help the Jewish students at Miami University find a familiar and meaningful community - here in Oxford – at Hillel.