BBQ on the roof of Hillel

Yesterday, our chapter hosted a free BBQ on the roof of the Hillel center. An evening full of kosher hotdogs to hamburgers was capped off with our very own brother, Josh Freed, DJing the event. Many people came out to the event and they all had a great time.  A special thanks goes out to Hillel for allowing us to hold this event.

Brother Taylor Forlano's Bar Mitzvah!!

Saturday morning, March 19th, Sophomore brother Taylor J. Forlano took a large step into identifying his Jewish roots by becoming a Bar Mitzvah at the Edward H. Rosen Hillel Center for Jewish Life at Temple University. The service was ran by Rabbinical Intern Jessica Shimberg and was a delight for all of the brothers of the Alpha Pi Chapter and for Taylor's family members who were in attendance. Taylor looks forward to continuing his Jewish studies!

LATKAH FEST AT HILLEL!!

Last night at the Edward Rosen Hillel Center at Temple University Alpha Epsilon Pi co-hosted Latkah fest!! While there, the Chanukah candles were lit and there was an intense latkah eating contest! It was a great event and was enjoyed by all!

Sukkah Building!!

To kick off the holiday of Sukkot, brothers from our chapter helped Temple Hillel with the building of their Sukkah. Helping out the Jewish community is something the Alpha Pi Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Pi takes seriously and enjoys doing when ever there is a need for a helping hand. The president of Temple Hillel and one of our senior brothers, Andy Markowitz, is one of the many brothers who is always so helpful to the Jewish community here on Temple's campus and we are so proud of the great things that he does and how well his accomplishments reflect on our beloved chapter. The celebration of Jewish holidays is an AEPi tradition and there is no better way to embrace the festivities of this, The Time of Our Joy, by lending our efforts for the building of a magnificent Sukkah.

3rd Annual Holocaust Remembrance Event

Tuesday April 27th, Alpha Epsilon Pi presented its 3rd annual Holocaust remembrance event in partnership with Israel week, Hillel at Temple, Delta Phi Epsilon, and Sigma Alpha Mu. In the early morning on the center of campus we held a name reading for all of the victims of the Holocaust. This event lead into our Holocaust banquet where Holocaust survivor, Michel Jeruchim, told his riveting survival story. The whole event went extremely well due to the great showing of brothers and supporters. Alpha Epsilon Pi looks forward to doing many more Holocaust remembrance events in the future because we know that it is important to always remember and never forget what happened to our ancestors.

Alpha Pi at AEPi Convention-Las Vegas

Over the past few days, AEPi held its annual international convention is Las Vegas, Nevada. The chapter was represented by Jon DeSantis (2010 and Pesach Kessler (2010), who had an incredible time in Sin City. Jeff Gutkin (2010), Alex Mandel (2011), and Brandon Cohen (2011), who happened to be a cross country road trip at the time, spent a night in Vegas during convention. Alumni Marc Prine (2008), Jon Alexander (2007), and Rabbi Shalom Denbo (honorary) were also there proudly representing Temple. In a repeat performance of last year the chapter would several awards as well as a number of individual awards. The chapter received Century Club recognition for our philanthropy contributions as well as the Philip and Susan Cohen Jewish Communal Activity Award. Not only is this a huge honor, but it also won the chapter $50 and a $50 to Temple Hillel. Pesach won the prestigious Nehemiah Gitelson Medallion for Jewish communal activity, and Jon won the Philip H. Cohen Undergraduate Achievement Key. All in all, Alpha Pi received a lot of recognition for our hard work over the course of last year. It was a great time in Las Vegas, and convention next year is slated for New Orleans.

Picture: Pesach Kessler's award certificate and medallion.

AEPi at Super Sunday

Yesterday, 29 brothers participated at Super Sunday, which is the Jewish Federation's largest annual fundraising drive. The effort raised over $1.2 million from over 3,000 donors and had over 600 volunteers making phone calls. We went through Hillel and had the largest delegation of any university. The Jewish Federation supports Hillel, which is consistently one of our chapter's greatest friends and most supportive of partners. During the event, Senator Arlen Specter stopped by to address everyone and make a few phone calls himself. He was kind enough to speak with a few brothers about various issues.

Pictures: Above-brothers and Senator Arlen Specter. Below-Dan Lyons on the phone raising money for a great cause.