Read the Hillel International Press Release here.

Executive Director Uri Cohen is a recipient of the Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award

Slifka Executive Director Uri Cohen with Slifka Board President Peter Bensinger, Jr and Hillel International President Adam Lehman

Slifka Center’s Executive Director, Uri Cohen, was recognized yesterday with the Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award at the Hillel International Global Assembly Conference. The award recognizes Uri’s extraordinary leadership and his dedication to Jewish values and commitment to building a better, more compassionate world. 

Since Uri joined Slifka in 2018, staff doubled, Shabbat dinner attendance doubled, student engagement quadrupled, and the Jewish graduate community grew by 800%. 

“Uri’s dedication to our mission inspires us all,” Peter Bensinger Jr, President of Slifka’s Board of Trustees, said. “He lives, eats, breathes Slifka Center, and his resilience has sustained us during this extraordinary time of challenge. We are blessed to have such a covenantal partner in our work to empower Jewish students.”

Slifka Wins Innovation Award in Dynamic Jewish Education For the Jewish Women’s Conference “Tradition and Change: Exploring, Confronting, and Celebrating Gender in Judaism” 

Slifka Staff receives the Dynamic Jewish Education Award for our innovative Jewish Women’s Conference in April 2024. 

Slifka Associate Jewish Chaplain Rachel Leiken, staff lead of the Jewish Women’s Conference

The Jewish Women’s Conference, back in April 2024, was a sequel to the groundbreaking 1999 conference Cherut: Jewish Women and Freedom. The conference was designed to take stock of the progress made since then and to convene leaders to generate a vision for the future. Our Associate Jewish Chaplain Rachel Leiken and 12 student leaders formed the core leadership team, and the conference was sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, the Friedlander-Krohner Endowment Fund, and the Henry Kohn Lectureship Fund at Slifka Center. 

The three-day conference included 34 events (including prayer services and meals), featured more than 20 featured guests and all programs were introduced or facilitated by students. Guests were from different generations, practices, and observances of Judaism with panels ranging from Jewish women’s engagement with tradition and innovation in rituals, to queer Jewish practices and community-building, as well as challah bakes, comedy shows, poetry workshops, and more.

We are so proud of Rachel, our team, and our students for their creativity in developing impactful programming.