Penn Hillel will lose its director of 23 years, as Jeremy Brochin is retiring at the end of this school year.
Brochin has been at Hillel for 36 years, and in that time, the school has seen various changes in the Jewish community, including the opening of Steinhardt Hall as Penn Hillel in 2003.
Hillel has become a destination “not only for Jewish students but for other students as well, and intercultural and interfaith activity,” Brochin said.
Partnerships between the Jewish community and other Penn entities, including the LGBT Center, the Greenfield Intercultural Center and others, are “natural now … and [are] part of the fabric of the University, which is pretty cool,” he said.
Seeing graduated students’ contributions to the Jewish community and the community at large remains “exciting,” he said.
In his time at Penn, Brochin has also served as a mentor to students.
“Jeremy is always there to listen and help, and knows how to deal with people better than anyone I know,” College junior and Penn Hillel President Naomi Kaplan wrote in an e-mail. “No crisis is too big, or any personality too difficult, to faze him.”
To College junior Ariel Fisher, Brochin is both an advisor for student events and a “friend that I can ask for advice when necessary.”
Throughout his time at Penn, Brochin has also led students on various service and learning trips all over the world, including a trip to the former Soviet Union in the winter of 1989. During the trip, students were able to personally witness the experiences of Jews who weren’t allowed to leave the USSR.
During a birthright trip to Israel in the winter of 2008, College junior Sarah Laskin recalled him “getting on the arms of the chairs on a bus and walking down the aisle,” standing on the chairs.
On the trip, “he was very fun … he obviously had our respect, but he didn’t make it seem like we had to treat him as an older person,” she said. “He made it seem like he was one of us.”
When asked to reflect on his accomplishments at Penn, Brochin joked about ridding the previous Hillel building — located where the Annenberg Public Policy Center currently stands — of asbestos.
“People can overlook that. It’s a little thing, but it could save lives,” Brochin laughed.
For Hillel Communications Chairwoman and College junior Brittany Bell, Brochin’s outreach to students is what initiated her involvement in Hillel.
“The passion and enthusiasm that he brings to the Jewish community each day is definitely going to be missed,” she added.
Plans for Brochin’s retirement were made two and a half years ago, when he and current Assistant Director Rabbi Mike Uram “made a deal” that he would succeed Brochin once he retired.
Brochin’s presence will undoubtedly be missed. According to Hillel Office Manager Joan Bobroff, Brochin is “one-of-a-kind.”
