Abel Bellows ’29

Abel Bellows is a Sophomore in Leverett House, hailing from Brooklyn, NY. He is a Chemistry concentrator, enraptured by the creative thinking it demands and awed by humanity’s capacity to predict and understand the unseeable. Abel’s academic interests are interdisciplinary; he enjoys exploring the intersection of the humanities and sciences and believes surprising new insights emerge from combining often separate areas of study. This belief drives Abel’s interest in ancient oral traditions as a chazzan, avid knitter, and Irish fiddle player.

Abel joined the IVSAB as a First-Year, motivated by his love of challenging and rigorous conversation in pursuit of Truth. Abel believes strongly in intellectual vitality as a practice and believes it must not be left in the theoretical realm. Following from this philosophy, Abel contributed to the development of “Berg Banters,” a program for other First Year students to engage in discussion of important moral and ethical topics while attending Brain Break. 

In addition to his position as an IVSAB member, Abel is a member of CrimsonEMS, working as an EMT-B to help fellow students experiencing emergencies on campus. Abel is a founding editor of The YARID (theyarid.org), a Jewish Journal. The YARID aims to bring diverse collegiate voices into conversation with each other, contributing to the ongoing effort to form, question, and engage with Jewish tradition in a changing world. Abel has helped spearhead the revitalization of the Student Harvard Egalitarian Minyan (SHEM) in his role as Gabbai, creating the Artist in Residence Program as well as the Song Fellowship program to work on enhancing the davening experience at weekly egal services.