Darren Hertz is assistant to the head coach for men’s basketball and a Jewish Gator. A Miami native and UF alum, Hertz has been the assistant to the head coach for two years. In this position, he organizes the Gators underclassman recruiting and holds various administrative duties. He is also the summer camp director for the Billy Donovan basketball camps.
How is your Judaism a part of your job as UF Assistant to the Head Coach for basketball?
I can’t really say it’s a part of my job, but because there is myself and Coach (Larry) Shyatt on staff, it has led to many interesting religious discussions amongst our entire staff.
What is your favorite thing about the community at UF, specifically the Jewish community?
I was married last August at Hillel on UF’s campus. The new Hillel was built just a couple years ago and was a perfect place for a wedding. I think it was the first wedding ever there! Obviously that is a special thing that will be with me the rest of my life.
What was it like to be in Atlanta on Monday April 2 for the championship game, which also coincided with the first night of Passover?
It was actually pretty special because my brother, his wife and child live in Atlanta and my parents were there as well. My mother had a seder planned for Monday night in case we lost on Saturday to UCLA. Fortunately, the seder had to be pushed back to Tuesday night!
Why is your Judaism important to you?
Judaism has always been an important part of my life. I spent an enormous amount of time at my temple growing up… everything from Sunday School to the basketball league they had there. My grandfather was extremely religious and taught me the importance of my heritage and what it meant to be Jewish. It is important to me and my wife to someday have children and raise them in a wonderful Jewish home just like our parents did for us.
Who would win in a one-on-one basketball game: Joakim Noah or Moses?
There’s not many people I would pick to beat Joakim, but I can’t bet against Moses!
Congratulations to the new JSU officers for the 2007-2008 school year:
President- Danielle Obrart
Executive Vice President- Shaina Akrish
Programming Vice President- Aaron Crespin
Treasurer- Jason Attermann
Communications Vice President- Carly Fleisher
Other UF Jewish organizations having elections in the near future include:
*LCSG (Lubavitch-Chabad Student Group)- Elections & BBQ on April 22 at 5 p.m. Contact President Jackie Ginzburg at Jax7784@ufl.edu for more information.
*Gators For Israel- Elections on April 8. Contact President David Harris at goos@ufl.edu for more information.
Hillel will host five seders total on April 2 and 3, catering to Gator fans, graduate students, families and other audiences. Each seder will be led by a different Hillel professional, and there is no cost for attendance. The schedule is as follows:
Monday April 2nd-
Gator Seder: 6:00 p.m.
-Come dressed in orange and blue! After the seder, we’ll head over to the O’Connell Center to watch the Gators play in the national championship. Led by Bennie and Russell in the Multi-purpose Room.
Family Seder: 6:30 p.m.
-Held in the Sports Lounge.
Traditional Seder: 8:00 p.m.
-Located in the Dining Room.
Tuesday April 3rd-
Graduate and Young Professional Seder- 6:30 p.m.
-Held in the Libarary
Later Seder: 8:00 p.m.
-Held in the Dining Room
*Kesher will hold its own seder at Temple Shir Shalom, 3855 NW 8th Ave., on Tuesday April 2 at 6 p.m.
As March draws to a close, Jewish Awareness Month has an activity every night to keep students entertained and in touch with their Judaism.
The last two events of the month, a night with Lewis Black and the Slam Poetry Jam, come highly recommended by JAM Chairman Lander Gold, who referred to Black’s appearance as “the culmination of the month.”
JAM and ACCENT will collaborate to bring Black to UF students free of charge at the O’Connell Center at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.
The poetry jam will be held jointly with the Black Student Union at 8 p.m. in the Reitz Union Ampitheater and will feature Jewish rapper Remedy.
Other events of the week include Jewish Jeopardy, which will be held in conjunction with College Bowl at Hillel on Monday at 8 p.m., and Hookah and Cigar Night with Hispanic Student Association at Hillel at 8 p.m.
Students were invited to “explore Religious and Spiritual Diversity Week” beginning last Friday night at Chabad, according to an e-mail.
Sponsored by the Dean of Students Office and the Campus Ministry Cooperative, the weeklong celebration began with “Friday Night Live! Shabbat on Fifth Ave” at Chabad, 2021 NW 5th Ave.
For a complete list of events and descriptions, visit the Web site.
With students returning from spring break, Hillel is back and ready-to-go with a full schedule of events, including the rest of Jewish Awareness Month.
From the Hillel palm card (all events will be held at Hillel unless otherwise noted):
Mon, Mar 19
8:00pm GFI Blues by the Beach documentary
Tues, Mar 20
7:30pm Blockbuster Movie Nights w/KOACH: Importance of Being Ernest
Wed, Mar 21
5:30pm All You Can Eat Meat @ Café Jerusalem
6:30pm JSU meeting
7:00pm Israeli Dancing
7:30pm Café Ivrit– Hebrew tutoring, practicing and speaking
7:30pm KOACH Chocolate Seder
8:30pm Knitting Circle
*Passover Seder Grants applications are being accepted until Wed, Mar 21. Any questions email Shaina@ufhillel.org
Thurs, Mar 22
5:30pm All You Can Eat Sushi @ Café Jerusalem
10:00pm JAM Chai Black Tie club night w/ The Shpiel
Fri, Mar 23
12:00pm BBQ with Bennie
6:15pm Almost Shabbat Snacks
7:15pm Shabbat Services
7:30pm Rabbi Altman’s “Postures of Prayer” Services
8:30pm Free Kosher Shabbat Dinner
Sat, Mar 24
10:30am Services
12:00pm Rabbi Altman’s “Tefillah Yoga”
1:30pm Cholent
3:30pm Discussion on Weekly Parshah
6:00pm Havdallah with the Rabbi
By the end of this week, Hillel may have a new Associate Director of Jewish Student Life.
Since late November, a search committee headed by Executive Director Keith Dvorchik has been looking for someone to fill this position, Dvorchik said.
“Depending on how things play out in terms of the position being accepted,” Hillel may announce the new staff member at the end of this week, Dvorchik said.
In the past month, two potential candidates, Rabbi Yoni-Kaiser Bleuth and Rabbi Josh Cohen, have visited Hillel to interact with the UF Jewish community.
Hillel needs an Associate Director of Jewish Student Life because Associate Director Debbie Joseph is leaving for a different position and former Campus Rabbi Jonathan Siger took a position with UCF Hillel, Dvorchik said.
Whoever is chosen for the position will start with Hillel on July 1.
It was a hamentaschen cook-off Tuesday night, with Kesher (Reform) and Koach (Conservative) facing-off in a competition reminiscent of Iron Chef.
Program Director Bennie Cohen named Koach the winner because of how soft their hamentaschen were, which may have been due to the Koach team’s “secret ingredient.”
Hillel provided the basic ingredients and supplies, and each team chose its recipe ahead of time. Fillings included chocolate chips, peanut butter chocolate chips and different kinds of jelly.
Participants got even more creative by making a hamentaschen in the shape of a pretzel, a hamentaschen ball and some mini-hamentaschen about one-tenth the size of a normal one.
While the hamnetaschen baked in the oven, participants decorated and put together mischloach manot, gift baskets for their friends, which is another Purim tradition.
When March rolls in like a lion this Thursday, Jewish Awareness month 2007 will kick off at the Swamp, 1642 W. University Ave.
The JAM kickoff event will start at 10 p.m., following a Jewish Student Union general meeting at 9:45 p.m., which will also be held at the Swamp. This meeting is one of the last few meetings until JSU elections in April, and JSU members need to sign in at and attend at least three meetings in order to be eligible to vote.
Keep checking this page later in the week for more information about JAM and the Purim Palooza described below.
In other UF news:
The Israeli Student Organization is holding its 4th Annual Israeli Film Festival as part of JAM on March 5 through March 8 at 8 p.m. at Hillel. Free snacks and drinks will be provided every night. The schedule for the movies is as follows:
Monday: Free Zone
Tuesday: Campfire
Wednesday: Operation Thunderbolt
Thursday: Someone to Run With
As usual, Cafe Ivrit is held on Wednesdays at 7:30pm at the Hillel Coffee Shop for anyone who wants to practce their conversational Hebrew or get help with their Hebrew homework, and Israeli Dancing is held on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at Hillel.
Hillel is hosting a weekend of “Purim Palooza,” beginning Saturday March 3 at 10 p.m. with a concert and club night at Rehab featuring a performance by Y-Love, a Jewish rapper, with DJ Handler, an open bar, the Megillah reading and a night of dancing. The celebration continues Sunday, March 4 at 1 p.m. with the Purim Festival at the Hippodrome State Theatre featuring carnival games and prizes, free food and an open bar, live bands, the Megillah reading and performances of the traditional Purim Shpiel.
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