From an e-mail announcement:
Interfaith Panel- Wednesday, Feb 21st, 6:20 pm at FLI 50 (Flint Hall is located right behind the chemistry building and the room is the large auditorium near the stairs)
At this event, we will have 5 speakers, each representing Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Baha’I, and Judaism. The speakers will
briefly mention the most common misconceptions about their faiths and also address the topic of tolerance. There will also be a question and answer session at the end. Please be on time as we will start promptly.
Students interested in a free, 10-day trip to Israel with Hillel can register for Taglit-Birthright trips beginning Thursday Feb. 15 at 9 a.m., according to Birthright Web site.
Although there is a $250 deposit, that money is refunded whether you go on the trip or not, said Ayala Betzaleli, Arison Israel Fellow and Israel Program Director at UF Hillel.
“You don’t need to be affiliated, you just need to be Jewish,” Betzaleli said.
There is also an interview, but that is only to make sure students are serious about going on the trip.
When you travel to Israel with a Birthright group from UF Hillel, you see fellow participants on campus all the time and you can reminisce over the experience, said Aaron Crespin, a UF freshman who went to Israel with UF Hillel over winter break.
“Just go,” Crespin encouraged. “Once you do it, you’re not going to want to leave, and you’re just going to want to go back.”
On Sunday morning, students can get “down and dirty” with Hillel and give back to the Gainesville community by planting trees around the city in celebration of Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish New Year for trees.
“We are expecting about 70 students, are going to 4 locations and plan to plant 30 plus trees,” Hillel’s Jewish Learning Initiative Educator Allison Schiller told CampusJ.
Students will be meeting Sunday morning at 10:30 a.m. at Hillel to plant trees and will gather back at Hillel for a “free late lunch seder” that will last from 2 to 3 p.m.
The seder will feature “fruit of the seven species that are native to the Land of Israel, including pomegranates, dates and wine,” explained Schiller, who will lead the seder, as she did last year.
The planting was also done last year on the holiday. Schiller said 40 students participated in 2006, and planted 15 trees in two locations.
UF students will relive their middle school years at the Jewish Student Union’s Bar Mitzvah party on Saturday night.
“Everyone remembers their past Bar/Bat Mitzvah party and how much fun it used to be,” declared JSU President Grant Hubsher, asserting, “now, they can relive the fun.”
The event, which will be held at the Paramount Plaza Hotel, begins at 10 p.m. The event is free and open to all UF students. Dress is semi-formal.
The party will feature dance music, including “some popular new songs, the slow love songs, as well as the classic oldies,” according to Hubsher.
“Other activities that we hope to do during the party include a limbo contest, Hula-Hoop contest and the ‘Coke-and-Pepsi’ game,” Hubsher said, adding “There will also be numerous prizes and giveaways at the party.”
This is the first year JSU has thrown a Bar Mitzvah party, Hubsher said, and the five members of the JSU executive board planned the event.
UF students are being bombarded with offensive phrases as they walk to their classes — but the hateful words painted on these bricks are literally for a “constructive” purpose.
All week, students are invited to paint any offensive word or phrase that was ever said to them onto one of 480 cinderblocks. These bricks will become a wall 40 feet long and 9 feet hight that the Writing on the Wall Project staff, the people in charge of the annual diversity event, will build beginning Monday, January 29 in the Plaza of the Americas. The wall will stand the week of the 29th, reminding everyone who passes by that these hateful things are still said and hurt people. Then, on Friday, Feburary 2, the UF community will come together to tear down the wall to symbolize the need to tear down the barriers between ourselves.
For more coverage, see “The Alligator and check back here next week.
The Shpiel, which describes itself as “the only Jew-’ish’ student-run campus newspaper in the country,” is hosting an open house Thursday night for any interested students looking for newspaper experience.
They are looking for writers, photographers, an art director, graphic designers, accounting staff members, a distribution director and a web master. While none of the positions are paid, students can earn academic credit upon request.
The open house begins at 5:30 pm on Thursday, January 25, and will be held at Hillel, located across from the O’Connell Center at 2020 West University Avenue.
In addition to attending the open house, students interested in the art director or graphic designer positions should e-mail a resume and samples of their work to yschiller -at- ufhillel.org. Writers should send a resume and writing clips to kimgouz -at- gmail.com, and those interested in a business position should send a short paragraph about themselves and a resume to Rachel.lewinter -at- gmail.com.
Last week, UF students kicked off the spring semester with a resounding win against Ohio State in the National Championship game; starting Tuesday January 16, UF students can begin the new semester Jewish Student Union-style with a Bath and Foam Party.
“On Tuesday, we will be having a foam party on the front lawn of Hillel,” said JSU President Grant Hubsher. “For this event, there will be a tent and two foam machines, which we rented for students to play around in. Additionally, there will be music and pizza.”
JSU Welcome Week occurs at the beginning of every semester and “consists of social activities designed for students to interact and meet each other,” said Hubsher. This semester’s Welcome Week will be held from Tuesday January 16 through Friday January 19.
JSU’s first General Meeting of the Spring semester will also take place on Tuesday night at 7:15 pm before the Bath and Foam Party, which begins at 8 pm. Other events include free rock climbing on Wednesday night, which Hubsher said has been a success in the past, the traditional “Schmoozing at the Swamp” on Thursday night and a Shabbat dinner at the Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority House on Friday night.
For more information, check out the event page on Facebook.
With news of the Conservative movement’s decision to move toward greater inclusion of gays and lesbians a hot topic among Jewish students, reactions from UF campus Jewish leadership ranged from acceptance and agreement to slight criticism.
“The Torah condemns anal sex between men. As far as I know, that is the only prohibition,” said Faculty Advisor for the UF Jewish Student Union Howard Rothman, adding “Therefore, gays and lesbians should be part of religious and social communities and should be able to participate in synagogue services to the best of their abilities.”
UF Campus Rabbi Jonathan Siger also approved of the Conservative movement’s decision, but observed an “interesting” loophole.
“At the same time, you should note that there is room made for individual rabbis and their congregations to make their own decisions about hiring a homosexual rabbi,” said Rabbi Siger, explaining “In other words, the movement now says it is acceptable to ordain gays, but also says that it is okay to discriminate against them when hiring.” Siger added, “We live in interesting times.”
“If there are gay students that wish to become conservative rabbis, they will now be able to do so…If there are gay students that want a conservative rabbi to officiate at their wedding, they may now be able to fine one to do so,” Siger said, adding “Other than that, I hope it will inspire more students to come to Hillel and argue about the issue at our Friday night Shabbat dinners.”
Hello readers!
I’m a freshman at the University of Florida - Gainesville. I’ll be keeping you up to date on everything Jewish that is happening on campus, so anytime you’re looking for something to do or for a way to keep in touch with your Judaism, I’m your woman! Also, anytime I do a great job or a not-so-great job, comment and let me know!
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