Alumni Spotlight: An 8 Part Series featuring Eric Maurer

1. Eric Maurer will tell you that two summers ago, was one of the most intense experiences of his 24 years. Arriving in Israel with a freshly minted degree in Jewish studies from the University of Hartford and his then fiancĂ© Rebecca Bader (whose adventures in Mayanot’s women’s program you can read about here ), “I didn’t really know what to expect.” Raised in what he calls “an active Reform family,” Eric got interested early on in what was going on in both the Hillel and Chabad associated with his campus. “But when I got to the first Shabbat at Hillel and couldn’t follow the service, I realized how very much I had to learn.” It was at Chabad that Eric found a warm and welcoming community with Rabbi Yossi Kulek and his family and it was there that he was able to begin to learn in earnest. “I knew from the start that I needed to come and learn in Israel,” he says. And when an online course he took qualified him for a scholarship, the dream quickly became a reality.