Each year at Alpha Epsilon Pi’s International Convention, the fraternity’s undergraduate chapters elect members of the undergraduate cabinet who are charged with being a liaison between undergraduates and the Supreme Board of Governors as well as helping to facilitate communications and relationships between chapters, alumni and staff.
Mazel Tov to Brothers Max Zimmerman (Towson, 2027), Leeor Plafkin (California State – Northridge, 2025), and Daniel Tawil (Reichman, 2026) for winning their seats on the 2024-25 AEPi Undergraduate Cabinet! Look for more from them in the coming days and weeks as they begin reaching out to chapters in their regions and across North America and Israel.
Daniel Tawil
Originally from New Jersey, Daniel Tawil made Aliyah several years ago and served in the IDF’s special forces, rising to the rank of company sergeant major. “I never thought I’d join a fraternity, especially at that point in my life. I told my friends, ‘Guys, I don’t have time for more stuff.’ I was starting law school and getting my Bachelor’s degree at the same time and I went to my first rush event because my friends were there and I was hooked.”
“I remember we held our first Good & Welfare right after initiation and I mentioned that I was going out with this girl right after the event…lo and behold, we’re getting married in 20 days! AEPi has been a part of my journey, including when I was hospitalized for 10 days in December (for wounds sustained while serving in the IDF). When I was injured, it was my guys – my brothers – who took care of me until I was on the mend. I went back to school and I just threw myself into it and now I’m chapter master and we’re growing and it’s really, really fun out here!”
“My personal goal for being on undergraduate cabinet is to help connect more brothers to our Israeli chapters and brothers.”
Leeor Plafkin
“When I joined AEPi last fall, I was immediately hooked. I wanted to be hyper-involved with everything. I lost my first e-board election but then I became our IFC treasurer and started getting involved in more things on campus,” said Leeor.
After participating in AEPi’s Shabbat Across AEPi last fall and attending conclave in the spring, Leeor got more interested in getting involved in the broader AEPi experience. “I met Noah Levinson (AEPi Regional Director) and we got to talking and that was the seed of it. I wanted to get more involved in AEPi national. I love our guys but meeting with the other guys from the west coast has helped open my eyes to the next level of brotherhood. I’m excited to do this.”
“I’d like to be able to make it easier for chapters to get together, whether it is through going to events together or meeting up when on Birthright. That would be so cool to see more opportunities for us to get together and meet each other. I’d also like to create some cheat sheets – or best practice documents – that chapters can share to help take good ideas for events or philanthropies and share them across all of AEPi.”
Max Zimmerman
Max’ AEPi story started before he arrived on campus at Towson University. “I was visiting the University of Hartford, looking at colleges. We went to a Sunday brunch with the rabbi and I saw all of the AEPi brothers at a table and that’s when I found out that there was a Jewish fraternity. I had no clue and I knew that no matter where I ended up going to college, I had to get involved in AEPi. As soon as I got settled into my dorm room at Towson, I went and found AEPi and haven’t looked back.”
“I first got involved with AEPi International when I started a program last fall called ‘Morning Mitzvah’ where we would go wrap tefillin in front of some form of hate speech on campus (post October 7) and then take pictures and post them on social media. It was a way to push back against the antisemitism and hate (You can read more about Max’ story in this Friday PiDay article from January 2024).
“I’m my chapter’s scribe but I wanted to get more involved, I wanted to do it on a bigger level and that’s why I wanted to be on the undergraduate cabinet, to bring some of my ideas to other chapters to get them involved. I have some really specific ideas about philanthropy that I want to pursue at a national level and I’m excited to bring them to the board and other chapters.”
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