The sultry, inviting tones of Norah Jones filled the second-floor lounge of the Hillel House last Tuesday night, setting the mood for what would be a deep, intimate conversation about sex with the rabbi.
In what potentially could have been an awkward hour-long group conversation with Rabbi Avi Heller, Hillel’s new rabbi handled the topic with grace and an impressive command of the material -– not to say there weren’t a few snickers during the night.
If there was one thing students could take from the lecture, it was that sex stands as an essential part of Jewish life. “Sex is like a nuclear reactor,�? Heller said, explaining that when sex occurs in marriage, it is a wonderful, spiritual thing. But, if it’s performed under the wrong circumstances, “it’s like Chernobyl.�?
While the talk explored the historical aspects of sex in Judaism, the conversation was brought to the practicality of applying Jewish law to modern times. One student asked Heller how young Jewish adults are expected to understand how they are expected to abstain from sex until marriage. Heller said there is no real way to cope with it; it’s just the way things are.

As a part of the continuing education monthly meetings on aspects of Jewish life, Rabbi Avi Heller will be hosting a forum on “Sex and Judaism�? tonight at Hillel at 8:30. Heller admits that discussing sex with a rabbi defies most people’s understanding of what role a rabbi could serve.
“I’m into changing perspectives on rabbis,�? Heller said in an interview, adding “I’m not trying to tear down what people think of rabbis, but I want them to have a new level of approachability, like, ‘I didn’t know a rabbi could be that.’ �?
As with last month’s meeting about the meaning of the new year, Tuesday night’s gathering will have food and well as music that pertain to the discussion topic. Heller, who said last month’s musical choices included U2’s “New Years Day,�? joked last week that he had not figured out what music will be played Tuesday night.

Elie Wiesel gave his first in a series of three lectures Monday. Arguably Boston University’s most famous professor, Wiesel is a Holocaust survivor and the author of several books, including Night. Unfortunately for me, the lecture was held at 6 pm on a Monday, as will the next two lectures on Oct. 23 and Oct. 30, and I have a class at that time.
So, for all of Wiesel’s lectures, I will point you in the direction of the Daily Free Press. Later this week, I will also include links to DFP articles about his annual lecture series over the past few years.

Turnout at the second night of the David Project’s presentations at Hillel took a little bit of a hit due to the competition with Hookah in the Sukkah, which had been rescheduled to earlier tonight because of rain the previous day. However, I passed up the opportunity for tasty, flavorful tobacco, deciding to spend another night at the discussion on how to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict.
While last night’s talk focused on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, tonight’s was about strategies to appropriately debate the topic while portraying Israel in a fair and honest light.
David Project representative Larry Muscant dispelled what he called a common misconception that the David Project is based on a “fair and balanced�? approach to the Arab-Israeli project.
“I do not do ‘fair and balanced’ talks,�? Muscant said. “I do ‘fair and honest’ talks. If it were ‘balanced,’ then I would believe that Israel should be assigned 50 percent of the blame for the conflict, and that’s simply not true.�?
One of the main purposes of the campus mission of the David Project is to prepare students to be able to effectively argue in favor of Israel in classrooms, debates, forums, and so on. Muscant provided a formula, which he labeled “ARM,�? for a debating approach to effectively counter any arguments condemning Israel.
ARM stands for:
Address — brief response/negation;
Reframe — change the agenda;
Message — reinforce your point.
The classic conflict of between an Israeli claim that its need for security from Palestinian suicide bombers necessitates occupation, versus the Palestinian’s claim that Israel is unfairly occupying their territory, is one example Muscant gave of how to use ARM.
Muscant listed several “don’ts�? on how to debate effectively, including: don’t repeat negative language; don’t spend too much time defending yourself from other’s accusations; don’t make up answers off the top of your head.
Muscant said Palestinian supporters’ preparedness to debate and to go on the rhetorical offensive is one of their greatest public relations strategies. If Israel supporters don’t have the same ability, Muscant warned, it will have a negative effect on Israel.
“When we don’t have the chutzpah to go on offense like the Palestinians have, then we are in big, big trouble,�? Muscant said.
Muscant encouraged students to contact him at lm -at- davidproject.org.