I’m currently on my semester abroad at New York University’s campus in Prague. Before I left for the Czech Republic I had lunch with David Rittberg, the Executive Director of NYU’s Bronfman Center for Jewish Life. We discussed Israel branding on campus at a café near Union Square and brainstormed ideas for reaching out to students with exciting initiatives. I told David about my upcoming travels and he told me to definitely check out Budapest while I’m in Europe and to let him know if I headed there because the Bronfman Center had some friends in the Hungarian capital.
My friends and I decided to travel to Budapest a few weeks ago for the weekend to see the city and celebrate a birthday. I found an amazing hostel that was really just an apartment, with a common room where we were able to relax and enjoy our downtime from touring. On our way to a restaurant the first night in the city we passed by the enormous Dohany Synagogue, which reminded me that David had mentioned I should get in touch with him.
I shot David an email from my BlackBerry and he quickly responded introducing me to Eszter who works with Marom, a young, non-denominational Jewish organization. Eszter showed my friend and I around the neighborhood she hangs out in and at the café/bar/pub, Siraly where Marom hangs out. Eszter explained that the youth movement is an outlet where young Jews from ages 18 thru 35 hang out and come together for different programs and initiatives. We found out that we have the same things in common. We want to travel, we want to spend more time in Israel (a brand new Israeli Center was just opened in the city by the Jewish Agency). and we want to have fun. Eszter was also nice enough to put me in touch with her friend living in Berlin, the city I was headed to the following weekend.
Having the opportunity to pop into a Hungarian city in Europe and feel connected to a group of locals living there is exactly what I love about attending a global university like NYU. While you can always find a Chabad when getting an urge for some Challah, finding a group like Marom is not always the easiest thing. The NYU Jewish communities’ initiative in connecting with other communities around the world, helped my friends and I understand Budapest better than we had ever thought.
