About 30 people attended a Sabbath dinner at Birmingham-Southern College last Friday night hosted by the college in partnership with The Birmingham Jewish Federation. Jewish students and others from Birmingham-Southern and UAB attended.

In this photo, BJF Director of Outreach Caren Seligman, who is The BJF's liaison to Birmingham-Southern, lights the Shabbat candles as students watch. Caren spoke to them about The BJF, the Birmingham Jewish community and the many ways that students, including those who aren't Jewish, can become involved in The BJF.

BJF Executive Director Richard Friedman also spoke to the group. He focused on the four purposes of The BJF: To nurture Jewish life at home and abroad, to support Israel, to help build a better Birmingham and to help all people in need.

The BJF's outreach to Alabama's college campuses is part of Our Next 100 Years, a historic effort now underway that will strengthen our Jewish community for generations to come. Birmingham-Southern has a small but growing Jewish population -- about 20 students out of approximately 1400 total students -- and the college wants to increase its number of Jewish students. Samantha Dubrinsky, a recent Birmingham-Southern graduate, is currently working as a projects assistant at The BJF.

As part of Birmingham-Southern's expanding efforts to strengthen Jewish life on campus and connect even more deeply with our local Jewish community, Gen. Charles C. Krulak, Birmingham-Southern's President, Rev. Jack Hinnen, the college's Chaplain and Director of Religious Life, and other school personnel will be coming to The BJF today. They will be having lunch with Caren and Richard.

In an recent email to The BJF, Rev. Hinnen shared some perspectives on Jewish life at Birmingham-Southern. Here are edited excerpts:

I haven't been at Birmingham-Southern long. I only started in June as the chaplain but in this short amount of time it is obvious to me how important our Jewish faculty, staff and students are to the college. Birmingham-Southern is a United Methodist-affiliated college and as such takes seriously our endeavors to welcome those who contribute to our amazing diversity and intellectual pursuit.

Our campus Jewish community is small but growing, and we have great neighbors in the Jewish citizens of Birmingham! To encourage greater awareness and community involvement, the Office of Religious Life partnered with The Birmingham Jewish Federation last Friday night to sponsor our first Shabbat meal of the school year.

The BJF's Caren Seligman has proven to be an essential resource. She also knows how to throw a great party. I like to think of her as my Jewish mom!

The purpose of the Shabbat dinner was to encourage our Jewish students to be connected and active in the Jewish community of Birmingham and to provide an opportunity for them to meet some of the wonderful Jewish leadership present in Birmingham. This was the first of several opportunities for all Birmingham-Southern students to learn more about Jewish customs, Holy days and the Jewish community, and to broaden their appreciation for Judaism and our Jewish community.

We are blessed to have a great relationship with The Birmingham Jewish Federation.

Update continues to receive great feedback from throughout the country. We thank Jerry Benjamin, of Milwaukee, WI, for sending us the following:

Everyday I read Update. The Birmingham Jewish Federation's enthusiasm for the details of Jewish communal life, for Israel, and for the world Jewish community is inspiring.

I'm at the end of my second year, with one more to go, as President of the Milwaukee Jewish Federation. There are those who believe that Jewish Federations are anachronistic; that the time of central Jewish communal organizations has passed, and that we are too deeply divided along religious lines or that events that embroil Israel are too divisive for Jewish Federations to be successful.

The truth is, however, that we need our Jewish Federations -- strong, creative, unifying central organizations -- more than ever before.

Know that you in Birmingham continue to inspire us. Many on our staff read Update and I've passed Update to many friends. Of course, there is one odd byproduct. We're becoming experts on Jewish life in Alabama!