Published by Rivka Bukowsky September 28th, 2006
in Main.
The Daily Princetonian checks in with recent graduate Scott Greenman, who is playing for the Israeli professional basketball team Bnei HaSharon this year. The former Ivy League star talks about celebrating Rosh HaShanah in the Holy Land:
“What our team did was we went up to the restaurant in the hotel and put napkins on our heads as yarmulkes, said about two prayers, then ate, and it was like any other meal,” Greenman said.
The new Israeli citizen is already enjoying the benefits of living abroad.
Greenman, who during his days at Princeton was listed at five feet, nine inches, is credited with being 5′11″ on Bnei’s official roster.
“I grew two inches over the summer,” Greenman said, before coming clean. “I think in the translation from inches to centimeters, you get to add a couple here or there.”
Yeshiva University’s Battle of the Bands is looking for contestants, according to Yeshiva Student Union President Alan Kleinerman. The due date for applications isn’t yet decided, beyond being “a couple weeks after we return from the holidays,” he said. All you have to do to apply is get a band together, cut a demo, make sure your content is Jewish, and submit it (to whom, and how, are also not yet decided).
To celebrate the upcoming battle, we’ll be featuring previous contestants here, memorable battles, and interviews.
Omek haDavar
This rock band took the crown in 2004, and the group released its debut album, the depth of the matter, just last month.
You can read YU alumnus Aaron Roller’s recollections of his band’s victory in New Voices:
The first group to play, the Josh Heller Experience, lacked cohesiveness, but added stage presence with the harmonica riffs of Avi Steinberg. They were followed by a set of deep, complex songs by Midnight Remedy. Lead singer and songwriter Jeremy Gaison brought out extra singers and a group of talented back up musicians to add power to his songs. But Gaison and his group were beat into second by Omek Hadavar, led by Chaim Feigenbaum, who won over the judges with a set of strong straightforward rock songs.
They’re being offered after Sukkot on campus. Email EMT4YU@gmail.com for more information.
Published by Valerie Saturen September 28th, 2006
in University of Arizona.
More than 100 attendees turned out on Tuesday for the screening of Zero Degrees of Separation, a documentary that follows the relationships of gay and lesbian couples in which one partner is Israeli and the other is Palestinian. The free screening of the Elle Flanders film was co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the department of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies.
The film centers around two couples: Selim and Ezra, a gay couple residing in Jerusalem; and Edit and Samira, a lesbian couple who met at an anti-occupation protest.
Each couple faces its own set of difficulties. Selim, who is from Ramallah, has been arrested numerous times for residing illegally within Israel. Meanwhile, Edit and Samira have trouble communicating across the historic and cultural barrier between them. While advertised as a gay and lesbian film, the content largely avoids discussion of the subjects’ sexuality or their experiences as same-sex couples in Israeli and Palestinian society.
Instead, the main focus of Zero Degrees is its critique of Zionism and the occupation of the West Bank. Juxtaposed with images of roadblocks and checkpoints are idyllic scenes of early Zionist settlement filmed by Flanders’s grandparents when they immigrated to Palestine, displaying the filmmaker’s disillusionment with Zionism and Israel.
The screening was followed by a panel discussion between Flanders, Anthropology and Linguistics graduate student Jessica Weinberg, and Women’s Studies graduate student Ashley Alsayyad. Citing the recent tendency of LGBT studies to focus upon issues of identity, Flanders explained that she “wanted to talk not only about identities, but more about what we do.� When an audience member pointed out the relative tolerance toward homosexuality in Israeli society, she replied that “in Israel, what matters is how well you defend your country, not your sexuality.�
While seeing a positive in Israel’s approach to homosexuality, Flanders is critical of Israeli militarism. Highlighted in the film, for example, are reports of male soldiers returning from the West Bank being excused for domestic violence when they return home.
This screening was part of a weekly film series sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies taking place Tuesday nights at 7PM in ILC 130. The films come from a variety of Middle Eastern countries and present an array of perspectives on life in the Middle East.
Published by Daniel Smajovits September 28th, 2006
in Concordia University.
Hillel Concordia announced in an e-mail that a new innovative and unique program will be starting up this semester. Along with students in the Theological Studies program, the two groups will be organizing a weekly dialogue session between Jewish and Christian students. Although relations between the two groups are normal, the two parties are promoting these events as an opportunity to connect with each other on a personal level. The ultimate goal that they wish to achieve from each meeting is to give “both cultures & religions a venue to understand the commonalities, differences and roots that intersect our histories,” according to the e-mail. Through these discussion groups that will last the entire semester, they hope that a greater appreciation and respect of each others faith is developed. Starting October 3rd, and every Tuesday from 4:00-5:30 at 2140 Bishop, D205.
The board of the Conservative Jewish Community, or CJC, has created an innovative project to excite incoming freshme: “CJC Rush.”
Thus far, the project has involved such events as “Unlimited Hookah Night,” and a night of speed dating that awarded two lucky couples free coffee dates. The freshmen received “rush cards,” on which they can accumulate points by participating in events, which they can redeem to enter a raffle to win $50 to any Steven Starr restaurant, of which there are over 50 in Philadelphia.
“Our goal is to revitalize the Conservative community,” explained CJC co-Chair Eliot Gordon in a phone interview. “The majority are not involved in services at home, so they won’t come to services here… especially without friends,” he asserted.
Therefore, “We want Conservative kids to establish relationships with each-other early on in the semester, so they can get to know each other and feel comfortable in services,” he explained, adding “We also want to create more social events for students not comfortable in services.”
Whereas the Orthodox Community in Penn, or OCP, tends to achieve social unity through common attendance at services and meals at the kosher cafeteria, Gordon said that getting Conservative students together has been more difficult. “We hope that if they make more Jewish friends they will become more oriented towards Jewish life,” he explained.
The CJC Rush coordinators have embraced this project with vim, creating Facebook groups, selling t-shirts, and making a video spoof of SNL skit “Lazy Sunday.” Their efforts have proven remarkably successful, as each event has had showings of 65 or more students. Interestingly, although all activities were free to freshmen (upperclassmen had to pay $5 for Hookah) and only freshmen were given rush cards for the raffle, more upperclassmen showed up to the events, Gordon said.
Tonight marks the final event of CJC Rush: it is an invitation-only dinner for the freshmen who participated. Free kosher Chinese food will be served on the third floor of Hillel. During dinner, the CJC board will explain to the freshmen the different ways to get involved in Hillel, and potentially breed another enthusiastic crop of CJC members.
Published by Aviva Levy September 27th, 2006
in McGill University.
Picketing in front of the Roddick Gates since June 2004, Lloyd Davidson is avoided by most walking past one of the main entrances to campus. Standing tall for over 2 years — and back for a sizeable portion of our first month of this semester — he holds aloft his anti-Semitic signs that rarely make even grammatical sense. The signs always sling proverbial mud at Jews as a whole. In some, he warns passersby not to go to the Jewish General Hospital, of which he claims he was once an employee who was wrongfully terminated.
Owing to freedom of speech laws, there’s not much that can be done about him while he stands in public property, and since he doesn’t cross over onto McGill property, campus security isn’t allowed to do anything about him.
So, Davidson stands, often alone, proudly holding his sign, walking from one side of the gates to the other. Other than the odd student who sparks up a discussion with him, he is without companions. A Facebook group at McGill hosts students’ venting about his posters and the similar comments he makes to students who confront him. Some of those who’ve talked to him share their experiences in detailed postings.
Last year, the McGill Tribune interviewed Davidson, wherein he provided the insight that “the Jews are the anti-Semites because Christ is the King of the Semites.”
Published by Steven I. Weiss September 27th, 2006
in Main.
Published by Rivka Bukowsky September 27th, 2006
in Main.
In politics, the past is considered fair game - and one aspiring representative’s past is now coming back to haunt him.
The Minnesota Daily reports that when Democratic Congressional candidate Keith Ellison was a law student at University of Minnesota, he wrote some pieces for the Daily that Republican opponent Alan Fine is now presenting as evidence of Ellison’s anti-Semitism.
“The single most distinguishing characteristic of the Nation of Islam, from a black perspective, is the Nation’s message of economic self-determination,” Ellison wrote in a 1989 Daily column as Keith E. Hakim.
That piece ran with an editor’s note, which said in part, “I see Hakim’s piece as a genuine threat to the long-term safety and well-being of the Jewish people.”[…]
Republicans have associated Ellison with the Nation of Islam, the leader of which, Louis Farrakhan, has made anti-Semitic remarks. Ellison had raised money for the group’s Million Man March.
Ellison attributes this criticism to campaign smear tactics, he said.
In a statement issued Thursday, Ira Forman, the National Jewish Democratic Council’s executive director, called on Fine to apologize for his “hate-filled attacks” on Ellison.
“Like many of us, Keith Ellison is not perfect, but he is a good man,” Forman said. “Keith has recognized his past mistakes and renounced his brief association with the Nation of Islam and has condemned the anti-Semitic statements and beliefs of (Nation of Islam leader) Louis Farrakhan.”
Published by Rivka Bukowsky September 27th, 2006
in Main.
Carrying around signs that say “Turn to Jesus, You Are Heading for Hell” may not be the best way to win friends and influence people, but Montana siblings Joshua and Sarah Warnecki are giving it a shot. They’re spreading the gospel at colleges nationwide, and visited the University of Connecticut this week, The Daily Campus reports:
By the Warneckis’ estimate, their family, which is not a part of any particular Christian denomination or organization, has managed to come to “every large university in the country.”
Encircling the yelling Warnecki siblings for most of the afternoon were large bands of UConn students who seemed to have united in protest over this particular display.
According to Bethany Buffon, a 3rd-semester bio-medical engineering major, the Warneckis’ message was particularly objectionable because “Jesus preaches a message of love.,” she said. “Instead of preaching love, these people are preaching hate. Hitler did the same thing to the Jews. [The Warneckis] are equating Jesus with Hitler. They have missed the entire point of the Bible.”
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