Posted by Anonymous on 3/17/2010 6:43:00 PM
A panel discussion with Rabbi Marc Schneier, hip-hop founder Russell Simmons, and Rabbi Moshe Shur was held at the Goldstein Theater at Queens College in Flushing on March 15, sponsored by The Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and Hillel of Queens College. The group talked about the relations between African-American and Jewish communities and their effect on the world.
“There is no question about the well documented history where Blacks and Jews have stood together in their fight for civil rights, equality and political power,” Simmons said.
Many examples exist of how African- Americans and Jews have come together to fight against hatred and bigotry. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an ardent supporter of Israel and the Jewish people, including taking part in efforts to ease discrimination against Jews in the Soviet Union and the safety and security of the state of Israel. King also spoke out strongly against anti-Semitism in the United States. Jews and African-Americans also marched together in the streets of Birmingham and Washington, D.C. during the civil rights movement in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Ku Klux Klan during the “Freedom Summer” of 1964 murdered two Jewish men from New York, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman, and African-American James Chaney. Their bodies were found just outside of Philadelphia, Mississippi.
“The Jewish community has been able to sympathize with the struggles facing African-Americans because we too were once enslaved,” Schneier said.
The Hollis-born Simmons recalled the days when white gangs like the infamous “Green Ways” would chase him home from school. “I would run to a white and Jewish housing development where the kids and mothers accepted me,” Simmons said. “It was here that I learned the difference between the various whites in Queens.”
“There is good in all of us,” Shur said.
Read more in the Queens Gazette.
Tags: (
Interfaith Tzedek-Social Justice)
Posted by Anonymous on 3/17/2010 6:23:00 PM
The Cirque du Hillel Fashion Show, sponsored by Tanger Hillel at Brooklyn College, is a far cry from Julie Ganik’s Siberian town that she left at age 11 when posters urging Jews to get out were plastered everywhere.
Yet with Hillel at Brooklyn College, a beneficiary agency of UJA-Federation, she has continued her Jewish journey, which last weekend had Ganik modeling designs by students at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Pratt Institute.
Julie Ganik models at Brooklyn College Fashion ShowIt was part of Hillel at Brooklyn College’s effort to use their annual fashion show to teach core Jewish values like tzedakah and donate money to a charitable organization.
“This year the student committee chose to raise money for UJA-Federation of New York because it represents many different agencies,” says Nadya Drukker, acting executive director of Hillel at Brooklyn College.
More than 300 people attended the fashion show that raised over $3,000.
Read more on the UJA-Federation site.Tags: (
Federation Jewish Life Student Programs Tzedek-Social Justice)
Posted by Susan Leff on 3/16/2010 5:46:00 PM
University of Vermont
Hadag Nahash performed at UVM in the Davis Center’s Grand Maple Ballroom on Feb. 25. Hillel co-hosted the band with UVM Program Board, SA Concerts, Student Life and the Israeli Consulate of New England.
On Feb. 25, Hadag Nahash transformed the Grand Maple Ballroom into an Israeli rock club. While most of the crowd of UVM students did not know Hebrew, that didn’t stop them from rocking out to the music of this Israeli hip-hop/funk band.
The seven-piece band, popular in Israel and performing in Vermont for the first time, gained international attention after one of their songs was featured in “You Don’t Mess With the Zohan,” starring Adam Sandler.
http://www.vermontcynic.com/arts/provocative-hip-hop-act-hadag-nahash-packs-davis-center-1.2191841Tags: (
Arts and Culture Campus Life Campus Partner Israel Education Jewish Life)
Posted by David Meyer on 3/11/2010 3:27:00 PM
University of Vermont
Hip-hop duo Axum is spending the semester at Emory Hillel as part of the Schusterman Visiting Artist Program, in which Hillels across the country host artists from Israel.
Gilor Yehuda and Reuben Aragai — who perform as Judah and Tedross, respectively — blend Ethiopian and Middle Eastern sounds with Israeli-style hip-hop and reggae. As artists-in-residence, they run various workshops and public concerts meant to engage Jews and non-Jews at Emory and all of greater Atlanta. These include a Multicultural Seder, a discussion on diversity, a “Dumming-Up iFest,” a workshop on entrepreneurship, and a slam poetry jam.
On Saturday night March 6, Axum performed at the Apache Cafe with Athens, Georgia-based reggae band Dubconcious. The show was a huge success, drawing a crowd of about 150 people. According to Emory Hillel director Michael Rabkin, “There were Dubconscious fans who heard about it from a jam band website, members of the Black-Jewish coalition of the Atlanta chapter of the American Jewish Committee, college students, Jewish Federation YLC members, Limmud participants, and more.”
According to Rabkin, the band is beginning to develop connections with local Atlanta rappers. “In fact, the guys told me after the show that it felt just like being at home. They felt the love from Atlanta!” Rabkin says.
Tags: (
Arts and Culture Campus Life Israel Education News)
Posted by David Meyer on 3/11/2010 3:25:00 PM
University of Vermont
Under-the-weather students at the University of Minnesota no longer have to wait out their sickness without their parents’ warm, tasty soup. Hillel at the University of Minnesota has begun an initiative to provide students across campus with a free bowl of soup upon request.
All parents and students have to do is email SoupforU@ujews.com and they’ll have a bowl of soup delivered within two days. In addition to soup, students will receive a get well card, a booklet of jokes (because laughter is the best medicine), tea and honey to soothe their throats, vitamin water to replenish electrolytes, and tips on how to fight the common cold and flu from Boynton Health Center on campus.
According to Executive Director Sarah Routman: “Hillel created Soup for U because we’re not just a Jewish center; we’re a Jewish community center. We take pride in our positive interaction with all university students, faculty, and staff. Our students remind us every year that it can be a challenge to adjust to a new life on campus and a struggle to get through the stress of finals, roommate drama, or the dreary winter months. Soup for U is a direct result of these concerns. Sometimes, a bowl of steaming, hot soup and a friendly face can make all the difference!”
Tags: (
Campus Life Student Programs)
Posted by David Meyer on 3/11/2010 3:23:00 PM
University of Vermont
Students across the country are spending their spring break on service projects organized through Hillel.
Hillel has partnered with City Year to create weeklong service programs in Los Angeles, New York, and Miami in which students from over 25 campuses provide assistance to at-risk communities. You can read more about it on the Hillel-City Year blog.
Jewish students are also doing service work down in New Orleans, helping the rebuilding process that has been on-going since Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Read more about it at the Hillel New Orleans blog.
But Jewish service projects are not restricted to cities. This year, Penn Hillel is sponsoring, along with the Jewish Farm School, an alternative break at the Terra Miguel Farm in Pauma Valley, CA in which students learn about sustainability, environmentalism, and their connection to Judaism. Read more about it here.
Tags: (
Alternative Break Student Programs Tzedek-Social Justice)
Posted by David Meyer on 3/11/2010 11:18:00 AM
University of Vermont
Westboro Baptist Church brought its message of hate and intolerance to four Richmond, Virginia institutions on March 2, including Hillel of Richmond. Local students took a stand against the group’s message and held an anti-hate rally on the campus of Virginia Commonwealth University.
While counter protests were held across the city, the students did not want to give any press or attention to the church, and instead decided to hold a separate event altogether. “They didn’t want to give WBC the press they were seeking and they didn’t want to counter-protest at any of the locations,” says Hillel of Richmond Director KB Levin. “AEPi, AEPhi, and Hillel decided to hold an anti-hate rally in the VCU Commons Plaza at the same time that the WBC people planned to protest Hillel at the JCC.”
More than 350 people from all walks of life attended the rally and heard from a variety of speakers on unity and diversity. More information on the Westboro Baptist Church’s protests in Richmond can be found here.
Tags: (
Campus Life Tzedek-Social Justice)
Posted by Anonymous on 3/9/2010 4:31:00 PM
University of Vermont
After nearly six years at the helm of GW Hillel, Dr. Robert Fishman announced last week that he plans to leave his position as director in August to focus on fundraising for the organization.
Many members of GW's Jewish community said they consider Fishman - who they call "Rob" - a mentor who has profoundly impacted their lives and shaped their college experiences.
"Rob created a warm, vibrant and diverse Jewish community that, after four years at GW, became my family," senior Eric Gallagher said. "It was Rob that encouraged me to go to Israel with Hillel my freshman year. I took his advice and I've been back five times since. Rob played an instrumental role in my development of a positive Jewish identity."
(From the GW Hatchet.)
Tags: (
Campus Life)
Posted by Anonymous on 3/9/2010 4:06:00 PM
University of Vermont
Hillel Israel's alumni association has created a new Kehillat haBogrim – a community of graduates that meets together to share new Hillel-style experiences and continue to promote Hillel's goals.
In early March, Kehillat haBogrim met in Tel Aviv's Neve Tzedek neighborhood for a Purim celebration that included an optional, free-style megillah reading. Participants took turns reading parts of the megillah, emphasizing whatever part of the story they found particularly relevant. The group discussed what Hillel means to them and what they'd like to continue doing together, to build a young community of post-university Israelis who share a common vision.
After the "free-style" megillah reading, the Hillel group joined a general Purim party of about 400 young people in two adjacent pubs, celebrating the holiday with live music and dancing in both venues plus the courtyard in between.
Tags: (
Holidays Hillel in Israel)
Posted by Jodi Kushins on 3/1/2010 4:49:00 PM
Ohio Wesleyan University
Last week, Jewish students from the Small & Mighty Ohio Wesleyan Hillel hosted Hamantaschen for Haiti: A Bake Sale. Through the event, we taught our classmates and colleagues about Purim and fulfilled the mitzvah of doing community service in honor of Queen Esther's heroic actions. We sold about 200 Hamantaschen and raised $176 for American Jewish World Services efforts in Haiti
You can read all about it at
OWUJew.
Tags: (
Campus Life Holidays Tzedek-Social Justice)
Archives↑Back to Top