Coming from a year of yeshiva study in Israel, Binghamton University did not seem like a practical option for me in continuing my education and growth into adulthood. When the idea of applying to secular colleges such as BU came up in conversation with my teachers, I was told that it was not the ideal place for a “yeshiva kid” to be. So after much debate, Queens College is where I enrolled. Sometime about halfway through my first semester at Queens, a friend who was attending Binghamton invited me for a Shabbat. When I walked into the Chabad House for the first time I was taken aback. It was so pleasant and full of WARMTH. The Slonim and Creeger families seemed to care so much about their guests. This made me realize that my yiddishkite could not only survive but grow even stronger in this type of atmosphere. To make a long story shorter, right when I got home from that weekend, I applied to BU and was enrolled here the next semester.
The idea that a family could sacrifice what a large Jewish community has to offer to join the BU community is unfathomable to me. Here we have two families that fall into that category. Without them, we as a community could not be thriving and growing by leaps and bounds. I would like to thank them for all that they have done for me and making me want to be a better Jew and a better person.