JHP, Pioneer in Peer-to-Peer Programming on Campus, Honors Jonathan Schottenstein and David Sandelovsky

NEW YORK, May 23, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A Taste of New York, Jewish Heritage Program's  (JHP) reunion gala, will take place this year on Thursday, June 8th from 6:30-9:00 PM at LAVO, 39 E 58th Street, New York, NY.  JHP, launched in 1993 at University of Pennsylvania, is a pioneer in peer-to-peer outreach.

This year's honorees will be: former JHP participant, Jonathan Schottenstein, President and Chief Operating Officer of American Signature Furniture; and JHP Parent, David Sandelovsky, Managing Director of Frontcourt Group.

Sandelovsky, University of Pennsylvania, '80, and parent of a former Penn JHP participant is a huge proponent of the program as a result of the flagrant anti-Israel rhetoric taking place on college campuses across the nation. As Sandelovsky describes,  "Between BDS, anti-Israel sentiment, protests against pro-Israel speakers, and plenty of hate speech, our children are faced with a choice: to stick their heads in the sand, or to stand strong, proud of who they are."

Sandelovsky firmly asserts, "We need our children to find strength in their identity and their powerful, rich heritage. We need programs like Jewish Heritage Program (JHP) to be there for our children at Penn, and colleges across the country." He continues, "JHP is not about religious observance. It is about identity, pride, socializing, and social action. It is about one Jew helping another. It is about mentoring, it is about career help, it is about presence, and it is about time we all recognize the tremendous work they have done, and continue to do on a daily basis."

As Schottenstein, University of Pennsylvania, '04, illustrates his time at Penn, "My experience and my friends' experience at Penn... definitely changed. I joined a fraternity and that's when I became friends with the friends that I have and it went from doing what fraternity people do...[until]..finally by senior year we were involved in Chabad House and JHP.  As time went on that helped plant the seeds to grow a deeper connection to each other and to Judaism."

Schottenstein continues, "JHP comes into people's lives at a very crucial time. I have seen first hand how JHP enables people to experience Judaism in a different way than they have been able to experience it before."

Since its inception in 1993 with seed funding from legendary philanthropist, Michael Steinhardt, JHP has been launched on 10 college campuses and is poised for a much larger "roll out."

Rabbi Zev Johnson, Director of Chabad Jewish Student Center at University of Texas in Austin, launched JHP on their campus--what they call "JTribe"--3 years ago.

As Rabbi Johnson explains, "I believe we need to inspire and empower the students to fulfill that mission - make them mini-shluchim, mini-emissaries, mini-advocates as Jewish leaders empowered to make their impact on campus." Furthermore, he continues, "JHP is the most critical, important movement on campus. I personally am invested and want to see it go national. I think every Chabad house really needs this in the nation, and I believe it can actually influence and affect more people than we reach on the ground."

Today, JHP is one of Lubavitch House at Penn's premier programs, reaching thousands of students each year. One very important example of JHP's power is "Shabbat for 2,000." Each semester at Penn, the core group of JHP program interns host over 60 simultaneous Shabbos dinners for close to 2,000 students.

JHP has grown its programming over the past 24 years to reach more than 250,000 young Jews, including students and professional young adults, through mentoring, a business network program (JBN), community service programs (such as our annual PB&J event), and trips to Israel.

For more information or to RSVP please call 215-746-6105, email [email protected] or go to JHP.org.

SOURCE Jewish Heritage Programs

Related Links

http://www.jhp.org