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 Leading the Blind: Winter Trips in Israel
Brandeis University student Bryan Wexler began his recent trip to Israel walking blindfolded in the Negev desert. Five days later he was leading, and being led by, blind students from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
"The Hebrew University students taught me more than anything else in life what living is. They are true heroes. They not only accept and embrace their disability, they value it," Bryan says.
Bryan was one of 3,500 students who traveled to Israel this winter through Hillel. For most, the trip was their first visit to Israel courtesy of Taglit-Birthright Israel. For 500, their winter Israel experience was part of several Hillel initiatives aimed at providing a more in-depth understanding of Israel, students' Jewish identity and Jewish leadership. For the firs time ever, the Charles Schusterman International Student Leaders Assembly was held in Israel. At the same time, in different parts of the country, students were doing social justice as part of Hillel's alternative winter break. And the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) created an in-depth mission for 31 students representing the complete ideological spectrum of its member organizations.
Read more about the the students' experiences meeting with Sheldon Adelson, meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and participating in the Schusterman International Student Leaders Assembly.
(PHOTO: Students meet with IDF soldier in Jerusalem. ) |
IN THIS ISSUE:
• Winter Trips in Israel
• Editor's Column
NEWSMAKERS:
• Lisa Edelstein
• Cory Booker
FEATURES:
• LGBTQ Resource Guide
• Haifa Hillel
• 2008 Summit
• News Bytes
• College 101
• Learn Something Jewish
• Hillel's Blog on JPost.com
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"I've been to the mountaintop..."
Monday is observed as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day throughout the United States.
While most famously associated with African-American history and the American Civil Rights movement, Dr. King is also lauded by the American Jewish community as an outspoken proponent of Israel and Jewish civil rights. Just two weeks before his murder in 1968, Dr. King delivered a speech in which he said, "peace for Israel means security, and we must stand with all our might to protect its right to exist, its territorial integrity."
Believing all forms of racism, including anti-Semitism, to be toxic for any society, Dr. King led many civil rights marches including the most famous, the 1963 March on Washington.
Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, he was accompanied by 250,000 supporters, a quarter of them white, many of them Jewish. Jewish college students worked alongside him in this struggle, including a young man named Moshe Shur who today is executive director of Queens College Hillel.
With the Holocaust barely 20 years in the past, the tens of thousands of Jews who supported Dr. King and his mission were bearing witness to the injustice of segregation and stifled civil liberties. Like their ancestors before them, Jewish Americans forged ahead in the direction of freedom, led by a man who declared, "I've been to the mountaintop. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land."
To read more about my comments on Jewish-black relations, visit the Corner Office Blog.
With shalom,
Danielle Freni
Editor, Hillel Campus Report
dfreni@hillel.org
Photo caption: King with Moshe Shur, 1965
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 Lisa Edelstein: Dr. Cuddy Makes a "House" Call
Before starring on the hit medical drama "House," Lisa Edelstein was an MTV veejay; a stage and sitcom actor; and starred alongside Ben Stiller on the big screen. Recently, she chatted with Jewish Woman Magazine about her personal struggles and professional successes. "Being Jewish informs everything I do," says Edelstein. "When I get a role that's ethnically undefined, it always ends up being Jewish. I mean, it doesn't work to pretend I'm anything else."
(Photo credit: Art Streiber/FOX)
Cory Booker: A Friend of the Faith
Newark Mayor Cory Booker doesn't look Jewish; he's not. But as Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (TLC's "Shalom in the Home") writes in the Jerusalem Post, the former Rhodes scholar has never let being a Christian prevent him from studying, teaching and embracing Judaism, even when the Orthodox Jewish community tried to push him out.
(Photo credit: Matt Bressler)
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LGBTQ Resource Guide Released
Already receiving attention from local and national press, the Hillel LGBTQ Resource Guide is a new tool for Hillel professionals working on college campuses. The resource guide seeks to educate professionals on LGBTQ terminology and lifestyle while providing practical recommendations for welcoming all Jewish students.
Haifa Hillel's New "Old" Home
This month, Haifa Hillel proudly dedicated its new building, The Chais Hillel Center. Built in the wine cellar of a building constructed 150 years ago by a Christian religious order, Haifa Hillel is breathing new life into the space.
2008 Summit Registration Goes Live
Registration is now live for Hillel’s 2008 Summit on the University and the Jewish Community, March 24 – 26, 2008, and the Pre-Summit Lay Leadership Symposium, March 23-24 in Washington, DC. The Summit will bring together renowned leaders, thinkers and practitioners in academia, journalism, philanthropy, and the Jewish community to discuss the practical challenges of the campus today and how we can respond.
Confirmed Speakers include: Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, and Robert D. Putnam, author of the acclaimed “Bowling Alone.” Lawrence S. Bacow, President, Tufts University, Summit co-chair, will host ten university presidents, including University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala.
Early bird registration closes Feb. 4. For complete registration details, including special arrangements for Hillel professionals, visit the Summit Web site.
News Bytes
Alternative breakers visit African refugee shelter in Tel Aviv / NASA astronauts award $10,000 scholarship to Wash U Hillel student / New York City's small and mighty campuses profiled in The Jewish Week / UW's Barbara Hochberg Center for Jewish Life on YouTube
College 101: Why It's Good To Get Carded
If you think your student I.D. is only good for discounted movie tickets, you haven't been doing your homework. Nowadays, flashing that little piece of plastic just about anywhere is likely to stretch your college dollars.
Learn Something Jewish: Happy New Year's Days!
Depending on where you live and what calendar you use, New Year's Day doesn't always land on the same date. January 1 may be the most popular new year's day in a largely non-Jewish world, but as Hillel Rabbi Seth Goren explains, it isn't the only one.
The Hillel Experience on JPost.com
Are you a Hillel student, parent, supporter or professional? We want to hear from you! Comment on recent posts or submit your own topic for feedback. Join the international conversation on the Jerusalem Post's Web site
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