Lawyer, author, Harvard law school professor, and much-famed defender of Israel Alan Dershowtiz is coming to speak at Penn March 14. The lecture, entitled, “Global Terrorism: The New World War,” will take place at the Annenberg Center of Performing Arts at 7:00 p.m.
Alan Dershowitz will discuss the threat of radical Islam around the world, especially in Israel and the Middle East. The event is hosted by Aish and the Penn Israel Coalition, with an opening address by Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice Chairman of the Congress of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations. The event is receiving much publicity and is already generating a lot of excitement and anticipation in affiliated Jewish circles.
Student tickets are $5.00 ($15.00 at door), and can be purchased and picked up at the Zellerbach Theatre, Annenberg Center. Box Office Phone: 215-898-3900.
Questions? E-mail:
Max - maxw@wharton.upenn.edu
Rinat - rinatb@pobox.upenn.edu
More information:
http://upenn.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2231348600
From the Hillel listserv:
On Sunday February 11 the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia will be holding its annual Super Sunday event.
At this event thousands of people of all ages join together to create a giant phone-a-thon and raise funds for Israel as well as for the local Jewish community. Penn Hillel as part of Hillel of Greater Philadelphia is a significant beneficiary of the Federation, and is heavily recruiting student volunteers.
There will be a bus from Penn Hillel at 1 p.m. on Sunday which will take Penn participants to 4200 City Avenue and return to campus by 4 p.m. Penn’s Hillel will be offering a free pizza lunch at 12 p.m.
“Yachad is finally here and we are so pumped to have them!” wrote Shalhevet Roth, Co-Chair of the Orthodox Community at Penn, in her most recent weekly e-mail sent out to the OCP listserv. Yachad is a program of the Orthodox Union that “provides unique social, educational and recreational ‘mainstreamed’ programs for individuals (ages 8-40) with developmental disabilities,” according to its Website.
This weekend, 12 Yachad members and 16 advisors came to Penn and stayed in Rodin College House, the on-campus High Rise where most of the Orthodox Jewish students reside in, or with students off-campus. They arrived on Friday, joined the Jewish community for a festive Tu B’shvat-themed dinner at Hillel, and afterwards had a “Yachad Oneg” in which all students were invited to participate. On Saturday morning they learned the Torah portion with several members of the community, and after lunch spent the afternoon taking a tour around Penn’s campus, playing Taboo, or just hanging out with members of Penn’s Jewish student body. After each meal, the male students would dance and sing with the Yachad members around the tables, which is rarely done on an average Shabbat.
“That is basically the whole point of the shabbaton, [for Penn students] to mingle with
Yachad members,” said Julia Klein, one of the Penn students who coordinated the Shabbaton.
A world-renowned scholar, our university president, and 12 pots of cholent were the highlights of Shabbat at Penn this weekend. Scholar-in-residence Lawrence Schiffman delivered a lively lecture on Friday night, University President Amy Gutmann attended Friday night dinner at Hillel, and 12 students created their tastiest crock-pot concoctions for “Cholympics” at Saturday Kiddush.
Over 100 students heard Schiffman, chairman of the Judaic studies department at NYU and Dead Sea Scrolls scholar, discuss “Who Was a Jew? Controversies Over Jewish Identity from Ancient to Modern Times.”
“We spend over $6 million doing surveys, and we still don’t know how many Jews there are in America,” he said, addressing the issue of how one defines a Jew in contemporary society. When the lecture ended at 10 p.m., some students stayed late to ask him questions. On Saturday afternoon Schiffman discussed “Who Wrote the Bible? Orthodoxy and Biblical Criticism.”
Students found Schiffman’s manner engaging.
“He is so charismatic!” noted Judah Greenberg, a med student at Penn.
Amy Gutmann’s participation in Friday night services caused much excitement in the student body. The Jewish university president sat with Hillel student leaders and members of the Muslim Student Association, moving around around the table to converse with different students.
“It was very casual. We were just schmoozing,” said Hillel’s Finance Chair Tina Yaniv.
The weekend was topped off by the annual cholent competition, or “Cholympics.” Twelve students prepared their secret recipes, including such special ingredients as Jack Daniel’s, for the students to consume and critique. A panel of four students, unaware of who made what cholent, sampled the creations, and in their deliberations referred to the number posted on the pots. In the face of stiff competition, Elie Gittler was pronounced the unanimous winner. Panelist Neta Tenenhaus noted that one cholent tasted “like kugel, and another one tasted like barbecue sauce.”
Needless to say, neither of these two cholents belonged to Gittler.
It’s only the first week of second semester, but the Penn Israel Coalition’s agenda is already brimming with Israel-related events, speakers, and pedagogic material.
Their first meeting of the semester took place in Steinhardt Hall (the Penn Hillel) on Sunday evening at 5 p.m. A humble showing of twelve students, mostly freshmen, attended the forty-five minute conference. The session primarily served to present an overview of the events planned for the semester and request for volunteers to assist in their preparation, and to generate more ideas for Israel advocacy on campus.
The Coalition has assembled an impressive list of speakers for the semester. Aryeh Green, an adviser to Natan Sharansky, comes to Penn
on Monday, January 29 to address human rights, freedom, and the “apartheid fallacy” in Israel and the Middle
East. Nonie Darwish is speaking at an undetermined date about her experiences both as a female Palestinian journalist and as the daughter of a martyr.
Then, Walid Shoebat, a former PLO terrorist, will discuss his life, why he renounced terrorism, and why he’s “on Israel’s side.” The date for Shoebat’s arrival is also currently undetermined.
Walid Phares, Senior Fellow at the Center for Defense of Democracies and a Lebanese Christian who has testified before Congress, is scheduled for sometime in February to discuss radical Islamic terror, and to encourage moderate Muslims to speak out. In early April, PIC will be hosting a panel discussion about Iran,
Israel and America, featuring panelists from the moderate Avery Goldstein
to the right-wing Daniel Pipes, with a left-wing speaker to be decided.
The meager attendance at the meeting does not imply weakness in man-power—-among the Jewish students who are active in Penn’s Hillel, the vast majority are active supporters of the Penn Israel Coalition. Many of the volunteers for the scheduled events were not present at the meeting on Sunday, but PIC keeps its membership updated through its listserv.
Over 110 Jewish Penn students paid $25 to support NATAL — a non-partisan organization that aids Israeli victims of terror — chug alcohol at an open bar, feast on Oreos and Twizzlers and grind to Shakira last Thursday night.
The annual Hillel Formal was transformed into the Hillel Charity Ball, allowing students to justify splurging on a dance through the fact that it represented a good cause. The Charity Ball ran from 10:30-2:00 at the chic club Positano Coast in downtown Philadelphia, and raised more than $1,000 enough to cover expenses and still donate a substantial amount to the charity, according to a Social Committee official. The precise amount of the surplus has not yet been determined.
The range of Judaic affiliation of those present spanned the gamut, from Orthodox to Reconstructionist to non-affiliated. Most of the students present were those who play a visible role in the Penn Hillel, but a considerable amount were Jewish students who just went to have a good time. Penn’s Conservative Rabbi Michael Uram attended the beginning of the ball.
Although some students expressed reservations about the political character of the charity involved, the majority seemed wholly supportive of it.
The first few hours primarily consisted of taking advantage of the open bar — the Social Committee covered the first $400 worth of drinks — and schmoozing. The dancing picked up at around midnight and didn’t wane until the club closed at 2:00, at which point the partiers picked up their shoes and headed out for an early breakfast at Lorrenzo’s, a nearby pizza shop.
“Have you ever noticed how laid-back everything is in Israel? They don’t dress up for anything! It’s Shabbat? Okay, I’ll wear a belt. Rosh Hashana? Pants with a belt.”
Joel Chasnoff performed for a group of around 125 Penn students and staff this past Friday night, to an appreciative audience of primarily Orthodox and Conservative Jews who had just completed Friday night dinner at Hillel.
Chasnoff, who had an observant upbringing, threw in phrases of Hebrew, and delivered jokes about Israel and religion. He played to his audience, and they ate it up.
A Penn alum turned professional comedian, Chasnoff has performed in seven countries at some of the world’s premier comedy venues. According to his Website, though, it is in the Jewish world of comedy that his “Innovative experience-based, positive Jewish humor has garnered him a cult-like following among the People of the Book and widespread recognition in the Jewish press.”
After graduating, Chasnoff served in a combat unit in the Israel Defense Forces, and at the end of his service performed stand-up comedy for soldiers on bases throughout Israel. He now lives in New York City with his two identical twin girls, who scampered about during the performance and won the heart of many a Penn woman.
The students, somewhat jaded and reluctant to hear a comedian after an abysmal experience with one last year, expressed how much they enjoyed the performance.
“I’ve heard him before… He came to my camp, but he had some new ones tonight; he was really funny,” said Conservative Jewish Community co-chair Elliot Gordon.
“Faith & Leadership” was the topic of discussion as Rabbi Avi Weiss, founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, spoke Wednesday night at Hillel. Weiss discussed his concept of “Open Judaism,” which he a strain of Orthodoxy that he explained embraces six ideas: the rejection of the approach of daat torah, or reliance on leading rabbis for instruction in most areas of life, in favor of more Jewish learning combined with secular studies, and rabbis and individuals making their own decisions; concern for all Jews; open support for the modern State of Israel; greater roles for women; Pluralism; public political protest and activism.
Over 60 students came to the Hillel auditorium for Israel Advocacy Night earlier this evening. The Penn Israel Coalition event featured a screening of the documentary film Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West. The screening was followed by a speaker from The David Project, a nonprofit group committed to Israel advocacy among Jews and non-Jews.
The movie elicited a variety of reactions from the audience. Many students were horrified by the images of decapitated terror victims, American flags burning, and young Muslim pupils shrieking suicidal poems. A few students expressed concern regarding the association of Saddam Hussein, a secular leader, with Islam. Others noted that violence perpetrated by Israel and America should not be overlooked while jihadists are demonized.
In the discussion following the movie, a brief controversy was instigated by one student who said, “Terrorism is wrong, but we are not considering their objectives. Terrorism is the tactic, not the objective. We are confusing the two.”
Another student responded: “That is very noble of you, but when they say ‘Death to America, Death to the West,’ practically speaking, they are not separating the two. They don’t separate method and ideology.”
The discussion was cut off before it got too heated.
The representative from The David Project gave a presentation on how to be an effective advocate, explaining how one should communicate pro-Israel ideas - with compassion, honesty, and respect.
“We think there is a very clear David and a very clear Goliath,” he stated. “And, of course, we believe Israel is in the right.”
The Penn Israel Coalition sent out the following e-mail to those on the Penn Leadership listserve:
Dear Hillel Leadership,
With the election over, now is the time to really form lasting connections with the members of the 110th Congress. To that end, PIC invites you to participate in our annual lobbying trip to Washington, D.C. We’ll be meeting with members from our home districts to discuss the importance of America’s continued support for Israel. We’ll also get to talk to a few of the new Congressional leaders. In the afternoon, we’ll head over to the White House for an exclusive tour and a briefing by foreign policy experts.
Here are the details about the trip:
* Cost: Free
* Date: Tuesday, February 6, 2007
* Time: 5:45am - 10:00pm
* Departure/Return: Penn Hillel
* Registration Deadline: December 1, 2006
If you’re worried about missing class, the PIC leadership will be happy to
write your professors a note to explain your activities. Also, don’t worry
about catching that early breakfast; it’s on us.
Please find the lobbying form attached and return it to me, Alex Sulyevich,
at asulyevi@law.upenn.edu. See you in DC!
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