News

Bringing Alex Edelman to Campus – A Dream Come True

Author

Amalia Stulbach and Noam Karger

Date

April 30, 2026

Amalia Stulbach and Noam Karger are fourth-year students at Washington University in St. Louis. Together, with the partnership of their university, WashU Hillel, Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and ĚÇĐÄvlogl, they hosted comedian Alex Edelman for a night of laughter, Jewish joy, and belonging. This show was part of a multi-campus comedy tour that crisscrossed the country, with nearly two thousand students in attendance across four campuses – WashU, Northwestern University, USC, and Cornell University.Ěý

In the summer of 2025, we met for dinner and walked away with our stomachs full of falafel and our minds buzzing with a big idea. Over the following months, that idea became our dream, and in March 2026, that dream finally came true.

For each of us, this dream began when we had the chance to see Alex Edelman perform — Amalia at his solo show “Just For Us” on Broadway in 2023, and Noam at a conference in Denver. Alex’s comedy, which weaves his Jewish identity into his storytelling, stood out to us as uniquely relatable, sharp, and deeply thoughtful. He has a rare ability to deliver witty, high-level jokes while tapping into more complex questions about Jewish identity in 21st-century America.

Sitting there in the falafel restaurant, we knew we wanted to bring him to WashU for a campus show.

But before moving forward and presenting the idea to our student government for funding, we took a step back to define what we wanted this event to accomplish.

First, we wanted to bring together a truly diverse audience. We hoped to gather Jewish students across religious and cultural backgrounds, while also welcoming non-Jewish peers from the broader university community. We believed Alex’s comedy could resonate across all of these groups. His humor, rooted in everyday experiences and identity, feels especially relatable to college students navigating similar questions of belonging. Humor, after all, is something universal, something we all share.

Second, accessibility mattered. We were committed to making the event completely free in order to remove any financial barrier to attending.

And finally, we wanted Alex to shine. For Jewish students, we knew it would be powerful to see someone perform who felt familiar — a regular Jewish guy, someone who went to the same high school as Noam — and had achieved success at the highest level. Alex’s Broadway run, comedy special, acting and producing work, and late-night appearances are all remarkable. But what stood out most to us was who he is: warm, humble, and deeply thoughtful. A true mensch. We hoped our non-Jewish peers would walk away with that same appreciation, creating a shared moment of connection and kiddush Hashem, sanctification of God’s name.

After a successful pitch, the WashU student government was in to help us bring Alex to campus. And then WashU Hillel stepped up to take us the rest of the way there. They quickly partnered with us, committed to making the event happen. Soon after, we learned that ĚÇĐÄvlogl and the Schusterman Family Philanthropies would cover the remaining costs, as part of Alex’s larger campus tour to Cornell, Northwestern, and USC. Suddenly, our dream started moving toward reality.

As we continued planning for the show, WashU Hillel and ĚÇĐÄvlogl became true partners. They empowered us to lead while offering constant support behind the scenes. We met with teams across marketing, communications, and event planning — all eager to help. Every check-in started the same way: “How can we support you?” The message was clear: this was our event, and they were there to help us succeed. We are incredibly grateful for that partnership. The event would not have been possible, or nearly as successful, without it.

When the day finally arrived at the end of March, nerves and all, we were able to step back and watch everything come together.

The evening started with a private meet-and-greet with Alex before the show. The meet and greet was a highlight for everyone — Alex was playful, genuine, and completely himself. He answered every question and gave aspiring student comedians a closer look at how he engages with a crowd.

Next came showtime.

We walked Alex from the green room, snapped a quick selfie, and introduced him to a crowd of 525 students, faculty, and community members in Graham Chapel. It was a surreal moment. Alex joked that it was his first time performing in a chapel. In fact, this stage at WashU has hosted icons, from “Saturday Night Live” cast members to Jane Goodall to Eleanor Roosevelt.

As he began the show, we sat in disbelief for the first few minutes. Then we took in every moment.

We got to experience an hour of laughter, followed by a standing ovation. We saw a room full of people sharing something meaningful together. And we’ve heard our friends and classmates sharing the joy they felt together in the weeks since the show. It was incredibly fulfilling to unite so many people at WashU around shared laughter, especially around a Jewish comedian as special as Alex Edelman.

It was everything we had imagined back at that falafel dinner eight months earlier.

Alex — same time next year?

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News

Reflections from Hillel’s New Professionals Institute 2023

Author

Hannah Parish Erbrick

Date

July 28, 2023

Hillel’s New Professionals Institute is held every year at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) for all new staff members in the Hillel movement. It is an opportunity for new professionals to connect with their peers from all over the world and to learn about the skills and values that make Hillel the largest and most inclusive Jewish campus organization in the world. Hannah Parish Erbrick, a first-year Springboard Fellow at Tulane University, shares her experience at NPI below:

Vibe Check:

As a brand new Ezra Jewish Education Springboard Fellow at Tulane Hillel, fresh off the plane from a year in Israel with Masa, all I knew about Hillel’s New Professionals Institute (NPI) was to bring an extra blanket because the WashU dorms would be cold. While I had been involved with Hillel at Tulane University as a student, I was not sure what to expect as a staff member and a Springboard Fellow.Ěý

What I found was warmth (thanks in part to the extra blanket!), caring, and fun. Every new Hillel professional who came to St. Louis this week walked in with an open heart and ready to learn. The collaborative, relationship-focused environment was so familiar to me from my days as a student — it really carried through to every interaction and every session at NPI. It was incredible to be surrounded by people who are joyfully working together for a common mission — to enhance the lives of Jewish students on campus. 

Three Moments of Wonder:

Throughout NPI, I found moments of inspiration and connection that are fueling my excitement for my work at Tulane Hillel. Here are just a few:

I often struggle with what I call “Jewish insecurity” — a feeling that I am not Jewish enough or don’t know enough about Judaism. Growing up in an interfaith family and not being raised traditionally Jewish, I was apprehensive about becoming a Jewish educator at Hillel. Before NPI, I knew that this fellowship would be an opportunity to enhance my Judaism, but I didn’t anticipate how many people I would meet from all different kinds of Jewish backgrounds. It was an amazing experience to speak with people who work at Hillel and who come from backgrounds like mine. I’m leaving NPI feeling like Hillel is a place where I can thrive and belong.

One of the most powerful moments at NPI was when my Springboard cohort studied a Torah text together. We discussed the story of Rabbi Akiva, a sage from the Mishnah and the Talmud who didn’t start learning Torah until he was 40 years old. I love connecting with Judaism through text and find it so meaningful to see myself and my experience of learning Torah for the first time as an adult reflected in texts that are thousands of years old. I’m excited to bring that connection and meaning to learning sessions with students. 

In one of our other cohort sessions, the facilitators wrote out Jewish texts on poster boards all over the room. We each walked around the room and added our reactions to the different texts. Then we added our reactions to our peers’ reactions. Over the course of the hour, we created a living Talmud of commentary and reflections on these meaningful texts. It was a moment filled with joy and connection with our tradition which I’m so excited to bring back to campus.Ěý

What I’m Bringing Back:

As I pack my bags and head back to New Orleans, there are two ideas from the week that are sitting with me. 

For the first time, I encountered a famous Jewish text from , “Rabbi Tarfon used to say: It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” When I feel overwhelmed by the challenge that I’m taking on in my Hillel work, I remember this text and use it to center myself. It is my job to work with students to enhance their Jewish lives, and I have a team and a movement of people on my side doing the work with me and helping me grow and learn.Ěý

The other idea that continues to resonate with me is that failure is an opportunity for learning. I will fail, my students will fail, and we will use those moments to learn together how to move forward. Empowering student leaders is a big part of the work I’m excited for at Hillel, and this framing is inspiring me to start building those relationships and seeking out those moments of growth and learning.Ěý

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