Published by Steven I. Weiss August 31st, 2006
in Main.
George Washington University Hatchet reporter David Ceasar reports:
Heather Bentrum and Rachel Weismann are both undergraduates with a similar interest: studying the Middle East. This summer, one chose to go to Lebanon and the other Israel.
The two students return to Foggy Bottom this week with similar stories about their time abroad: bracing for rocket and bomb strikes exchanged between Hezbollah and Israel and hoping to make it back to the United States alive.
Bentrum and Weismann were two of more than a dozen GW students studying or working in the two war-torn countries when the border conflict broke out in mid-summer. Although no one from the University was injured, according to GW, many students interviewed over the past two months vividly recall the death and destruction they witnessed firsthand.
Published by Steven I. Weiss August 31st, 2006
in Main.
Al McArthur reports in the Technician:
At a press conference rally Tuesday, Christians, Jews and Muslims from the Triangle formed a coalition to oppose further violence and bloodshed in Lebanon and Gaza.
[…]
“I’m glad that joining programs like this can happen. It shows that the war is there and not here,” Ben Mazur, a sophomore in statistics and Jewish student, said. “There is no reason for any American Jew, American Muslim or Arab to have any quarrels with each other.”
[…]
Tom Stern, coordinating member of Jews for A Just Peace-NC, said citizens in the Triangle need to work together as a community and work for humanitarian aid to help create peace for the Lebanese, Israelis and Palestinians.
“This coalition is here to help with the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon, support a real, lasting, and just peace between the Israelis, Palestinians, and Lebanese and we oppose further military actions in that area,” he said.
Published by Steven I. Weiss August 31st, 2006
in Main.
Take a look around, and you’ll see we’ve completed a recent overhaul. We’ve upgraded our software, and are changing things up with the design. If you’ve got any comments, questions or suggestions as we finalize the design, we’d love to hear them.
Signs went up today on campus, advertising:
“Join Jewish music sensation Shlomo Katz this Shabbos at YU. Hear Shlomo daven for the amud and lead an amazing tisch Friday night!! Melavah Malka motzei Shabbos with music by Shlomo Katz and make your own sundaes.”
The musician in question has his own Myspace webpage, where you can listen to 3 of his songs. From his website: “[Katz’s] second CD, entitled ‘BIGLAL AVOS’ sold out its first three pressings. The fourth pressing is on it’s way out to the market these days. Shlomo has just released his third album, his first solo album entitled ‘VEHAKOHANIM’.”
The title song from the third album is on the Myspace page. He sounds like your standard post-Carlebach Jewish musician - drawing on folk, simple finger-picking, and lyrics taken directly from traditional Biblical texts. His voice is rough, which would be interesting if he didn’t try to sing notes that he can’t hit. His falsetto isn’t as nice as Dave Matthews, and he doesn’t have the same irreverence for singing as Bob Dylan. Which puts him squarely in the same camp as his major influences: Carlebach, Chaim Dovid, Diaspora Yeshiva Band, and the like. The only two surprises are that he claims to be influenced by Nick Drake and Neil Young. I don’t hear it, but I’m pleasantly surprised that he cites them on his page.
The annual Yeshiva University book project, run mostly by staff from the English department, is currently looking for a speaker to address the University. The book chosen for the year was Graham Greene’s The Quiet American, a discussion of American involvement in Vietnam. Among the questions is tackles is Imperialism.
According to the head of the project, Professor Elizabeth Stewart, currently under consideration are MIT Professor, Noam Chomsky, and New Yorker reporter Seymour Hersh. Stewart said Hersh is the favored speaker, as many professors at the last board meeting felt concerned that bringing Chomsky to Yeshiva University would inspire mass protest. Chomsky has a reputation on campus as being anti-Israel. Stewart did remark, however, that Chomsky has already expressed interest in speaking at Yeshiva University in the past.
The big Center for the Jewish Future gala semester opening continued yesterday. Instead of cookies, a popcorn machine and cotton candy machine were set up. Instead of CDs of screen savers, they gave out refrigerator word magnets (the kind you use to write sentences). “Yeshiva,” “activism,” “leadership,” “Jewish,” and “educate,” are some of the words they were giving out. A big sign also advertised free volumes of tehillim.
Despite the bounty of goodies, by the time they closed the tent up this evening, much of the giveaways had not been given away. There was no rain to keep away the crowds, yet very few people wandered into the pavilion. The CJF workers seemed bored, and milled about.
Unlike yesterday, it was clear what CJF was advertising today. The two big programs they pitched to students were Quest, and Torah Tours. The former is a “leadership training program” for students. Its title is an acronym for “Quality Education Skills Training.”
The lackluster response to the CJF tent indicates that the initial excitement that surrounded CJF’s manifestation has died down. This time last year, the tent was mobbed. Then again, last year they were giving away flashdrives, not cotton candy.
Cheers from planet Stern. Major events on campus yesterday:
-The Center for the Jewish Future opened its first storefront on the Beren Campus. Applications for the Quest Leadership Training program, Torah Tours, and information about other CJF events are available at the store. Previously CJF only maintained a Wilf Campus storefront.
-The Used Book Sale was held in the Koch Auditorium.
-The Political Science Society held their annual Jospeh Dunner Political Science Dinner in the 36th St. Residence Hall.
-The first T3 event - Torah, Tuesdays, TAC (Torah Activities Council) - took place in the Beis Medrash in the main Stern building. T3 is a weekly shiur open to everyone in the student body and featuring free pizza. Today’s topic was “Teshuva in Tanach.”
-Last but not least, an email went out from Joe Bednarsh of the Stern Athletics Department searching for anyone interested in forming a new varsity women’s golf team. He can be contacted at jbednrsh@yu.edu.
A Stern College sophomore by day and an over-caffeinated bookstore employee by night, I grew up in the exciting Midwest city of Milwaukee, WI, which is renowned the world over for cows, beer, and the Packers. Confronted with these options, I became a voracious reader and color-commentator for my elementary school’s volleyball game. I am currently attempting to pool what skills these occupations have taught me in an attempt to produce a decent beat for you, the valued readers.
I can be reached by e-mail at pskier -at- campusj.com .
The Center for a Jewish Future set up a white pavilion tent on the quad this afternoon, atop the muddy grass field as rain poured down. The unaccommodating tent — waterlogged with rain — had sub-par raisin cookies for those visiting. Since its recent founding, the CJF has regularly planted tents on the quad during the year to establish a presence among the students — particularly at the beginning of a semester.
Also under the tent, the vice president of the Israel Club, Dylan Kurlansky, solicited $3 contributions from students in exchange for a CD with an Israel-themed screensaver. When I asked him why the Israel Club was perched under CJF’s tent, he explained that CJF donates a “large amount of money” to the Israel Club. He couldn’t define off-hand what a “large amount” entailed. Anyway, he was soaking wet from the rain and was ready to go.
This post begins my stint as a CampusJ beat reporter for Yeshiva College. You may have read my work in the Forward, where I’m a frequent contributer, or on Jewschool or Mimaamakim. I spent this last summer researching local politics for the Village Voice, but my first love is arts and culture. To that end, I’m the Arts and Culture editor at the Yeshiva University Commentator.
I’m using my beat here to generate insights, reporting, and news about Yeshiva University. As the stronghold of Modern Orthodoxy, this institution deserves a closer, more critical look than it usually gets. Feel free to call to my attention issues that you feel haven’t been adequetely explored. And enjoy.
I can be reached over e-mail at mshinefield -at- campusj.com .
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