Published by Gila Singer October 30th, 2006
in New York University.
The Bronfman Center website is full of events for November. Here are some of the highlights:
Wednesday, November 1st at 6:00 PM
Anti-Defamation League Panel: The Threat of a Nuclear Iran
@ Cardozo Law School: 55 Fifth Avenue (at 12th Street), Moot Court Room
Keynote Address by Joshua Muravchik resident scholar, American Enterprise Institute. To R.S.V.P or for more information please contact Pat Anderson.
Contact Pat Anderson
Number: 212.885.7964
Wednesday, November 1st at 7:00 PM
From the Front Lines of the Middle East: Neil Lazarus
@ Bronfman Center, 1st Floor
World Reknown Speaker and Presenter Neil Lazaras comes to the Bronfman Center this Wednesday, November 1. Join us to learn about the political impact of the recent events in the Middle East, as well as the impact it will have on American politics and our way of life.
Contact Jason Leibowitz
Thursday, November 2nd at 5:00 PM
Law School JLSA Event: A Discussion of The Holocaust Litigation
@ NYU Law School, Furman 216
Professor Neuborne will speak about his work in this area, which has recently generated a lot of controversial press. There will be a comprehensive Question & Answer session open to the public to follow. We welcome all and encourage people of all perspectives to come and ask questions. If you’ve ever wanted to use the Socratic Method on a Professor, here’s your chance.
Contact Rabbi Sarna
Tuesday, November 7th at 7:30 PM
Judaism and Israel face Iran and Islamic Fundamentalism: A Clash of Civilizations?
@ Bronfman Center, 2nd floor
Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin: Chief Rabbi, Efrat, Israel, and Founder and Dean, Ohr Torah Stone Colleges and Graduate Programs.
Contact Rabbi Sarna
Number: 212-998-4118
Thursday, November 9th at 7:00 PM
World Faith Meeting
@ Kimmel, Room 403
World Faith, an interfaith organization, is having their first meeting on 9 NOVEMBER (THURSDAY). World Faith is a group of students of different faiths who wish to collaborate in community service, raise awareness of religiously fueled issues, promote dialogue, and challenge other interfaith communities to begin or expand interfaith interaction, to create interfaith action. In the first meeting, they will announce their first event, describe the vision, brainstorm the strategy, and enjoy some pasta and/or felafel. For more information, join the facebook group “World Faith” at http://nyu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2209217709 MEETING INFORMATION: Thursday (Nov 9) at 7:00p, Kimmel rm 403
Contact Frank Fredericks
Monday, November 27th at 8:30 PM
HODS speech at NYU
@ 2nd Floor, Bronfman Center
The Halachik Organ Donor Society will be coming to speak to the community about various issues revolving around organ donation. As always Shalhevet and Kesharim will be cosponsoring the speaker and the FREE DINNER.
Website: http://www.nyu.edu/clubs/shalhevet/
Contact Bradley Hercman
Number: 516 532 8162
Adamai will perform tonight at San Jose State University at 7:30 p.m. in the student union ballroom. Tickets are $25 and $5 for SJSU students.
Adamai is a musical ensemble started in November 2000 by Shlomo Gronich, an Israeli Jew, and Lubna Salame, an Israeli Christian Arab. Gronich and Salame first met while recording “We Brought Peace Upon Us� for Peace Child Israel, a project that started at the beginning of the Second Intifiada to promote peace.
The group members use their music as a way to encourage coexistence in Israel, using Hebrew, Arabic and English lyrics. They play Jewish and Arabic folk music, along with cover songs from Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan.
The group is on tour in the United States, and has performed in northern California at the University of California-Berkeley and San Francisco State University.
I was interviewed about the current situation for Jewish students at UCI in a podcast of the “Brian of London’s” show. We spoke about harassment, Hillel, the Anteaters for Israel and the Muslim Student Union. My interview begins approximately eight minutes into the show.
Published by Shoshana Olidort October 30th, 2006
in Columbia University.
According to a Haaretz report, Professor Zvi Galil, dean of SEAS, may leave Columbia for his native Israel to assume presidency of Tel Aviv University. Galil was responsible for the $26M donation to SEAS from a Chinese businessman for whom the school is now named–the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Haaretz’s source noted “the search committee has agreed almost unanimously to submit Galil as the sole candidate for the university executive council’s vote.” The vote will take place on November 8.
Published by Aviva Levy October 30th, 2006
in McGill University.
Thirty-five female students will be given a trip to Ottawa to see the inner-workings of Parliament this November as part of a program run by McGill’s Political Science Student’s Association, titled “Women in House.” With over one hundred applicants, the program must narrow down the recipients to a few women interested in the Canadian electoral process and women in politics. The selected students are provided with a free trip to Ottawa in late November.
The Hon. Dr. Carolyn Bennett will be addressing the Women in House program recipients. A Liberal Member of Parliament representing Toronto, Bennett has held her seat in Ottawa since 1997. She recently withdrew her candidacy from the highly-contested Liberal leadership race, and now supports Bob Rae. A non-Jew and McGill graduate, Bennett was chair of the Canada-Israel Friendship Group from 1999 to 2003, and is a member of Liberal Parliamentarians for Israel. Bennett has also practiced medicine in Toronto.
When contacted by email, Bennett emphasized her leadership of the Canada-Israel Friendship group for 5 years, and mentioned that she has been to Israel six times. She also highlighted that she will be addressing all the Women in House students in Ottawa at the end of one of the days of the program.
Published by Aviva Levy October 30th, 2006
in McGill University.
Elie Wiesel’s free talk in Montreal titled “Building a Moral Society” on November 14 has already sold out of student tickets, but it may not be too late to gain admission. The tickets were accessible for free in advance for students that registered online, and the limited number of student spots has been filled.
However, some students who registered may not have picked up their tickets at the Hillel House, as directed. Unclaimed tickets will become available for those that registered too late.
Also, there are some volunteering opportunities for those who still can’t get tickets:
This unique event is being organized by a committee representing Hillel UQAM, SHOUT (Students Helping Others Understand Tolerance), Institut du Nouveau Monde, Forum jeunesse de l’île de Montréal and the Newman Catholic Centre.
The event coordinators are currently looking for volunteers to help the evening run smoothy. Interested students “will assist in the preparation of the venue, acting as ushers, crowd control, standing at the information desk, and other important tasks,” and can contact alexhalperin@hillel.ca for more information.
“I do want to address your concerns,� said Paul Henisey, UCI chief of police during a phone interview with CampusJ on October 27. Henisey spoke about the recent vandalism at Vista Del Campo and shared some information about the ongoing investigation.
“There were two instances when a swastika was used and two with profanity against Vista Del Campo.â€? The chief said the investigation points to evidence that the f-word was used as an implication that VDC is “totalitarian.â€? UCI police have “…an active investigation going on; we have suspects,” he asserted, adding “to have an effective investigation we need to make sure that certain information isn’t released to warn our potential suspects.”
But one angle that investigation isn’t leading, he revealed, is toward an anti-Semitic motive: “If we felt that there was an anti-Jewish component, we would put that out,” he claimed, noting “we just don’t see that in this case.” However, he said, “we are concerned and looking into this [to establish if] this is an anti-Semitic incident” and that “we are taking it seriously because of the negative implications that this can have on Jewish students.”
Henisey urged Jewish students to come forward if they have experienced any verbal or physical harassment, as some claimed in the meeting with Chancellor Michael Drake. “From a criminal perspective we can’t prosecute every case, but from a university perspective we can,” he explained, asserting that “we want to make sure that we have a campus that welcomes diversity.”
“If an instance of harassment occurs, report it,” he declared.
Published by Shoshana Olidort October 29th, 2006
in Columbia University.
Two back-to-back Spectator articles reflected on Columbia’s relationship with Jews.
Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust studies, wrote about University President Nicholas Murray Butler, who invited Nazi ambassador Hans Luther to campus in December 1933, insisting, against student protests, that Luther “‘represented the government of a friendly people,’ and therefore was ‘entitled to be received . . . with the greatest courtesy and respect.’”
In his article, Medoff insists that “it is still not too late for Columbia to acknowledge its mistake and make amends.”
A day earlier, Tanveer Ali reported on the Orthodox Jewish contingent at Columbia in “A Welcome Home for Orthodoxy.”
Published by Valerie Saturen October 29th, 2006
in University of Arizona.
The character Shylock, a villainous Jewish moneylender in William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, has been widely condemned as an influential example of anti-Semitism. Shylock’s “hath not a Jew eyes” speech, in which he exhorts the listener to recognize the humanity of Jews, has been highlighted by some critics as evidence that Shylock invites sympathy toward Jews. However, many point to the character’s greed, which approaches grotesque dimensions, as a perpetuation of one of the most enduring stereotypes about Jews. On Thursday, November 2, at 4 PM, David Nirenberg of Johns Hopkins University will present a lecture on the controversial play at the University of Arizona Museum of Art. Nirenberg is a Charlotte Bloomberg Professor of the Humanities, whose recent work pertains to the complex relationships between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean. The lecture is sponsored by the UA Center for Judaic Studies, the Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies, the group for early modern studies and the UA Medieval, Renaissance and Reformation Committee. It is both free and open to the public, and will be followed by a reception.
Published by Valerie Saturen October 29th, 2006
in University of Arizona.
Despite the devastation the Holocaust wrought upon the Jewish people, Rabbi Israel Becker of the Orthodox congregation Chofetz Chayim says that inspiration can be found in the catastrophe. A son of Holocaust survivors, Rabbi Becker challenged students gathered at Hillel to think about how the dwindling number of living survivors would want future generations to remember their stories. Relating several stories in which Jewish faith persisted amidst unprecedented destruction, Becker said that the survival of the Jewish people is a testament to the strength and tenacity of the Jewish community, which was able to emerge from the Holocaust as a veritable force in culture and politics. Particularly powerful in its expression of Jewish faith was the story of an underground synagogue found at the Theriesenstadt concentration camp, which had walls inscripted with the words, “and in spite of all this, we have not forgotten Your name.” He also related a story in which the faith of the famous Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal was shaken by an incident in which a fellow concentration camp inmate was found lending other inmates a prayer book in exchange for bread rations. When Wiesenthal expressed his outrage at the man’s behavior, a rabbi pointed out the incredible commitment to Judaism demonstrated by the inmates’ willingness to give up their rations for the sake of a prayer book. Becker added that Hitler himself affirmed the Jews’ contribution to society by writing in his autobiography, Mein Kampf, that “I free humanity from the shackles of the soul; from the degrading suffering caused by the false vision called conscience and ethics. The Jews have inflicted two wounds on mankind: circumcision on its body and conscience on its soul.” From this quote, Rabbi Becker concluded that “the Nazis showed us in technicolor what a world without Torah is.”
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