http://www.jliconline.org/index.php en bennykeil@gmail.com Copyright 2012 2012-02-29T17:02:42+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/ou_nextgen_division_hosts_conference_for_orthodox_student_leaders1/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/ou_nextgen_division_hosts_conference_for_orthodox_student_leaders1/#When:16:02:02Z Baltimore Jewish Life ran a story about JLIC and the OU's NexGen division and the Jewish Leaders conference. Check it out!Baltimore Jewish Life ran a story about JLIC and the OU's NexGen division and the Jewish Leaders conference. Check it out! http://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=2&ARTICLE_ID=27174 All Campuses, Articles, JLIC in the Press, News 2012-02-29T16:02:02+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/ou_kosher_and_jlic_training_the_kosher_laws_of_birds_princeton/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/ou_kosher_and_jlic_training_the_kosher_laws_of_birds_princeton/#When:01:17:35Z Katie Wachsberger visits one of Rabbi Loike’s fine, feathered friends in Rabbi David Wolkenfeld’s basement. By Stephen Steiner Some college students use their winter break between terms to relax, fly to warm climates, catch up on movies and television and in general to recover from the academic burdens of the fall semester. Others study how to slaughter chickens according to kosher law. A partnership between OU Kosher and its OU Kosher Coming program -- that sends the Orthodox Union’s kashrut experts far and wide to provide kosher education to all levels of students -- and the OU’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) program, brought a week of intensive kosher learning to the Princeton University campus for a week beginning New Year’s Day. Rabbi David Wolkenfeld, the JLIC rabbi at Princeton, played host toRabbi Chaim Loike, OU Kosher’s bird expert, and a skilled shochet, that is, ritual slaughterer. JLIC is found on 15 major campuses in the United States and Canada, in which a young rabbi and his wife, known as Torah Educators, provide the learning and social atmosphere of the yeshiva to Orthodox students who have chosen to attend secular campuses. (Rabbi Wolkenfeld is joined at Princeton by his wife, Sara.) Students came from Princeton, Rutgers, Cornell and the University of Pennsylvania, all of which are JLIC campuses; Cornell also sent its JLIC rabbi,Ami Silver, and the campus mashgiach, the supervisor of kosher food. Other students came from Columbia and Wellesley and were joined by an Israeli visiting in America before his Army service. (As can be expected, the student from Wellesley, which is not coed, was a woman.) The national JLIC office and the Alumni Venture Fund of the Bronfman Youth Fellowship in Israel helped subsidize the program, which enabled Rabbi Wolkenfeld to charge a moderate tuition of $350, which included the cost of the source books, shechita knives and sharpening stones for each participant, a supply of birds, both exotic and common, and food for the eight days of the program. Food For Thought The program came about because of a conversation several months previously between William Herlands, a Princeton senior and Rabbi Wolkenfeld, in which William asked Rabbi Wolkenfeld to help him learnshechita, ritual slaughter.“William may live abroad next year, in a location without a regular supply of kosher meat, and so being proficient in shechitawould be a way for him to ensure access to meat wherever he ends up after graduation,” Rabbi Wolkenfeld explained. “I was eager to help William find a way to study shechita since I too had an interest in learning. Unlike William, I have no plans of living abroad, but I am interested in ways to take greater responsibility for the food I eat. The self-sufficiency inherent in being able to ritually slaughter one's own meat is also very appealing to me. We buy a lot of the fruits and vegetables for our family at farmers’ markets where we know just how and where the food was grown.Shechita is a way to have that same concern and consciousness when eating meat.” As part of the OU extended family, Rabbi Wolkenfeld made inquiries and came up with the name of Rabbi Loike, who he learned is an OU Kosher Rabbinic Coordinator with a specialty in birds, as well as a teacher of shechita at Yeshiva University. In addition, Rabbi Loike travels far and wide in the OU Kosher Coming program and other educational initiatives of OU Kosher and fascinates audiences of all ages while he lectures on the feathered friends he brings with him. “It soon became clear, however, that it was not realistic to expect that all of the theory and practice of shechita could be taught and learned in one week,” Rabbi Wolkenfeld said. “Rabbi Loike and I came up with an alternative curriculum that would introduce students to the study of shechita, while also including lectures and observations on "halachic ornithology." "Halachic ornithology," Rabbi Wolkenfeld explained, “is the study of birds for the purposes of determining their halachic (Jewish law) status. Since birds can only be eaten with a mesorah (tradition) that they are kosher, a lot of scholarship has been devoted to authenticating claims that a given species has been eaten by Jewish communities, and also determining which sub-species are included in a mesorah to eat a certain kind of bird.” Reaching Out to OU Kosher Setting up the program was easy, with the two rabbis putting together a curriculum. Rabbi Wolkenfeld then reached out to Rabbi Eliyahu Safran, Vice President of Communications and Marketing for OU Kosher, who coordinates educational programs, to arrange for Rabbi Loike’s services. Rabbi Menachem Genack, CEO of OU Kosher, approved the arrangement, which included Rabbi Loike supervising factories in the vicinity of Princeton which are his regular accounts. “We have been gratified to have our OU Kosher experts visit with many of the JLIC campuses including Boston University (formerly in the program), Brandeis, Rutgers, the University of Pennsylvania and others as part of our ongoing OU Kosher Coming educational programs,” said Rabbi Safran. “There are campuses where we have been back two and three times. The feedback is always positively enthusiastic. They want more!” JLIC Director Rabbi Ilan Haber stated, “"The Orthodox Union is a multi-faceted organization with broad educational and programmatic resources. As a constituent part of the OU, JLIC benefits greatly from access to these resources. In particular, there has been a long and fruitful collaboration betweenJLIC and OU Kosher, which has enabled JLIC to provide high-level, engaging content relating to keeping kosher in a modern world in a manner that is relevant and practical to college students.” Rabbi Loike said, “Rabbi Wolkenfeld and William Herlands did a fantastic job creating the curriculum and making sure that the environment was conducive to the study of shechita. The basement of the Leigh Avenue House was transformed into a verifiable Mesorah Zoological Garden; the Lewis Library became a center for the study of treifos; the Chabad House became anad hoc slaughter house; the sounds of people sharpening chalafim echoed through the halls of the Center for Jewish Life; and various kitchens were filled with dish racks and salt for the study ofmeliha. The JLIC Beit Medrash was populated from 7:55 a.m. until midnight with people studyingshechita; and then when security closed the building the learning continued in other parts of the campus. This was a fantastic learning experience. Yasher Koach to everyone who made it happen. Rabbi Loike gave several presentations, up to two hours in length. They included: · Introduction to halachic ornithology and the kashrut of quail; · Sharpening a shechita knife and the varieties of invalid shechita; · Dissection of a chicken to observe the internal signs of a kosher bird; · Identifying non-kosher chickens in one's local kosher supermarket; · The kashrut of partridges and the identity of the biblical "slav" – a bird eaten by Jews in the desert (noted in Parshat Beha’alotecha); · The kashrut of ducks and geese; · The kashrut of pigeons and doves; · The kashrut of chicken species. He also participated in the shechita of chicken, quail, and partridge, and gave a hands-on lesson in gutting and cleaning birds, and then soaking and salting them. Rabbi Wolkenfeld gave two shiurim (classes) including one on "Why Keep Kosher." Rabbi Silver of Cornell gave a shiur on eating meat in the Torah. The students were involved beyond their classroom work. According to Rabbi Wolkenfeld, “They pitched in and helped cook Shabbat meals at our home. I think it added to the experience by giving participants full continuity in each stage of preparing the meat, from learning why a specific species is kosher, to assisting the shechita, to cleaning and gutting the bird, to melihah (salting), to cooking the birds, and then finally to enjoying them at a Shabbat meal.” The students clearly enjoyed the program. As Aminadav Grossman, a junior at Columbia from Riverdale, NY, wrote: “Overall, it was a very enriching week in which I learned a great deal from formally engaging with mekorot(sources), discussing the texts and ideas with participants, and from unique experiential learning led by Rabbi Loike. The program gave me a newfound appreciation for the intricacies of the halachic system through gaining a conceptual knowledge of differentiation between kosher and non-kosher birds and the processes of shechita and melihah. “Additionally, actually going through the entire process of preparing meat from the slaughter through consumption at Shabbat dinner reinforced my convictions about the morality and sensitivity of the halachot. Rabbi Loike was a dynamic and entertaining teacher who was also incredibly knowledgeable about the areas we studied and I really appreciate that we were able to have him. I think the shiurim, the various philosophic understandings of kashrut and on eating meat in Judaism added a valuable component.” Perhaps the most unique aspect of the program for the Wolkenfeld family was turning their home into an aviary. “The birds that were brought to Princeton for Rabbi Loike's demonstrations lived in our basement for the week,” he said. “Heading down to the basement each evening to give fresh food and water to chickens, quail, partridges, doves and a goose, and waking up each morning to a rooster's crowing, has certainly been a unique experience in my years as a campus rabbi. Our kids loved visiting the birds each morning before going to school -- and the house seems strangely quiet now.” OU | Enhancing Jewish Life This article originally appeared in The Jewish Press. JLIC in the Press 2012-02-03T01:17:35+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/orthodox_rhodes_scholar/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/orthodox_rhodes_scholar/#When:19:52:34Z The Jewish Press ran a story about a JLIC student at Princeton. Follow the link to see the story: http://www.jewishpress.com/in-print/orthodox-rhodes-scholar-excelled-in-classroom-but-found-spiritual-enrichment-in-orthodox-union-program/2011/12/14/The Jewish Press ran a story about a JLIC student at Princeton. Follow the link to see the story: http://www.jewishpress.com/in-print/orthodox-rhodes-scholar-excelled-in-classroom-but-found-spiritual-enrichment-in-orthodox-union-program/2011/12/14/ All Campuses, Princeton University, JLIC in the Press, News 2012-01-31T19:52:34+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/yale_gets_first_woman_halachic_advisor1/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/yale_gets_first_woman_halachic_advisor1/#When:17:25:36Z The Jewish Ledger ran a story about the JLIC's Sarah Cheses in August. Follow the link to see the story: http://www.jewishledger.com/2011/08/yale-gets-1st-woman-halachic-advisor/The Jewish Ledger ran a story about the JLIC's Sarah Cheses in August. Follow the link to see the story: http://www.jewishledger.com/2011/08/yale-gets-1st-woman-halachic-advisor/ All Campuses, Yale University, JLIC in the Press 2011-09-16T17:25:36+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/go_west_young_couple_how_a_young_rabbi_and_his_wife_migrated_from_new_york_/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/go_west_young_couple_how_a_young_rabbi_and_his_wife_migrated_from_new_york_/#When:16:44:11Z GO WEST YOUNG COUPLE: HOW A YOUNG RABBI AND HIS WIFE MIGRATED FROM NEW YORK TO LA, TOOK OVER A PROGRAM FOR ORTHODOX STUDENTS AT UCLA, AND BUILT A THRIVING CAMPUS COMMUNITY By Rabbi Aryeh and Sharona Kaplan In recognition that the overwhelming majority of Modern Orthodox college students are being educated at secular universities, the Orthodox Union, in partnership with Hillel and with assistance from the Torah Mitzion institute of Jewish study, administers the Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC), a program that helps Orthodox students navigate the college environment and balance their Jewish commitments with their desire to engage the secular world. Through the work of a young rabbi and his wife – known as Torah Educators -- JLIC provides avenues for spiritual development and exploration to Jewish students from varied backgrounds and presents a positive, sophisticated and welcoming face of Orthodox Judaism on campus. JLIC, now in its tenth year, is found on 15 major campuses, of which one is located west of the Mississippi. That campus is UCLA. Since September 2004, the Torah Educators have been Rabbi Aryeh and Sharona Kaplan, natives of Teaneck, New Jersey.GO WEST YOUNG COUPLE: HOW A YOUNG RABBI AND HIS WIFE MIGRATED FROM NEW YORK TO LA, TOOK OVER A PROGRAM FOR ORTHODOX STUDENTS AT UCLA, AND BUILT A THRIVING CAMPUS COMMUNITY By Rabbi Aryeh and Sharona Kaplan In recognition that the overwhelming majority of Modern Orthodox college students are being educated at secular universities, the Orthodox Union, in partnership with Hillel and with assistance from the Torah Mitzion institute of Jewish study, administers the Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC), a program that helps Orthodox students navigate the college environment and balance their Jewish commitments with their desire to engage the secular world. Through the work of a young rabbi and his wife – known as Torah Educators -- JLIC provides avenues for spiritual development and exploration to Jewish students from varied backgrounds and presents a positive, sophisticated and welcoming face of Orthodox Judaism on campus. JLIC, now in its tenth year, is found on 15 major campuses, of which one is located west of the Mississippi. That campus is UCLA. Since September 2004, the Torah Educators have been Rabbi Aryeh and Sharona Kaplan, natives of Teaneck, New Jersey. This is what their lives have been like since they arrived in Los Angeles. It is amazing to consider how many of the milestones in our personal life are intimately intertwined with equally notable milestones of the Orthodox community at UCLA. We arrived in Los Angeles from New York in 2004, happily settling into a spacious two-bedroom apartment in Westwood near campus, luxuriating in our SUV with an empty back seat and cavernous trunk, while marveling at the personal journey that lay ahead. We quickly made the Hillel at UCLA our home away from home, for JLIC is located there. We hunkered down in the Beit Medrash, the Jewish library, studying the sheet of names that was the complete list of men and women participants in the JLIC community at UCLA that we inherited from Rabbi Uri and Julie Goldstein, who built the program there in its first three years and left us much to work with. Now, almost six years later, we have moved ourselves, and our three Angelino children (ages, 5, 3 and 1), out of our very full apartment, are anticipating the arrival of our new eight-seater SUV which is scheduled to arrive only weeks before our fourth child, and look back astounded on all that has transpired. The Beit Medrash is alive with a steady buzz of learning and daily minyamim-- prayer services; the new bookcases that were installed to accommodate the additional Jewish texts are full beyond capacity; and our Excel spreadsheet cataloging the members of the JLIC community boasts over 450 names. JLIC programming is the pulse of an Orthodox student’s life on campus. With a wide range of study opportunities, including ones specifically tailored to law school students, Iranian students, men’s and women’s learning groups, advanced learning opportunities and classes for those just beginning – not to mention over 40 one-on-one study sessions each week – the calendar of learning is diverse and exciting. With personal classes for brides and grooms; support for newly married couples; classes for young professional alumni delivered at their workplaces and ongoing mentorship; counseling and shared celebrations, the relationships formed through JLIC are often deep and long lasting. Operating out of the Hillel at UCLA creates a seamless portal for the full range of Jewish students – not only the Orthodox -- to become absorbed into the JLIC community. With the ongoing support of the staff, the beautiful state of the art building, a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in the lobby and a kosher meat lunch program on the second floor, it is no wonder that many Orthodox students consider JLIC at UCLA their home away from home. Destination UCLA: The presence of JLIC at UCLA has made the campus the destination for Orthodox college students on the West Coast. Students from many area colleges affiliate with the program, some even choosing to live in Westwood (and commute to their own campuses!) to be situated within the strong Orthodox community at UCLA. Students who live at home, with their families, will often opt to spend Shabbat with a friend on campus, while holiday celebrations and social events draw students not only from UCLA but from Santa Monica College, California State University, Northridge and an array of other area institutions along with students from Yeshiva University and Stern College who are in Los Angeles for vacation. Reflecting upon JLIC, David Bardo UCLA ’08, commented, “I don’t know how I would fit into life at UCLA without it,” as he appreciates that “My closest friends are students I have met through JLIC programs.” Ariel Huntley, a sophomore, echoes his sentiment, declaring, “Without JLIC, I would be unwilling to attend ULCA.” The positive peer pressure, strong social network, regular religious opportunities and the abundance of supplemental study opportunities have created a unique energy that permeates our halls, transforms secular academic experiences and propels students through college in a meaningful, focused and inspired way. Daniel Nomanim, UCLA ’09, testifies that “JLIC was the highlight of my UCLA experience. I found friends, intelligent conversation and a new outlook on religion and life that I will carry with me wherever I go.” It’s not just students who are singing the praises of JLIC! We, the Torah Educators, feel the same way. JLIC offers the best possible professional combination for a rabbi. Participating in life cycle events, fielding constant questions about Jewish law and its applications, providing mentorship and celebrating Shabbat and holidays together, which are filled with opportunities to inspire on a communal level, are exciting parts of the pulpit rabbinate that are very present in the life of a JLIC Educator. Yet, the text-based learning, ongoing skill development, individual attention and curriculum building – all with an interested, intelligent and self-motivated audience – capitalize on the personal rebbe/talmid (teacher/student) relationship that is nurtured within JLIC. The rabbi’s wife is never an appendage, but is an integral part of the program, equal to her husband, functioning as a role model for the young women who look to her for advice on everything from dating to establishing a kosher kitchen, to the laws of family purity, not to mention textual learning. With our family now boasting a 2:1 ratio of those born at UCLA over those originating on the East Coast, we now consider ourselves to be firmly situated in Los Angeles. Annual trips to back to New Jersey each summer, where our children attend camp, provide quality time with our extended families and opportunities to reconnect with friends and mentors on the East Coast. While we once lived in walking distance to Yankee Stadium, we have gladly replaced that distinction with a weekly walk to shul past the famous Pauley Pavilion, with outings to Dodger Stadium. The fire escapes outside our window are no longer, but there are roofless outdoor atriums instead. Snow is a novelty for our kids whenever they visit their grandparents. As for us? We look forward to being an avocado-eating, Dodger-supporting, beach-going Los Angeles family for many years to come! All Campuses, UCLA, Articles, JLIC in the Press 2010-04-08T16:44:11+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/baltimore_jewish_times_a_college_park_shabbat/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/baltimore_jewish_times_a_college_park_shabbat/#When:17:29:58Z February 5, 2010 Naomi Kohl Special to the Jewish Times A major feature of the Orthodox Union’s Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus program—which is found on 15 major campuses in the United States and Canada, including the University of Maryland in College Park—is Friday night Shabbos dinner, in which the young rabbi and his wife who run the program (the Torah Educators, as they are known), invite students to share their table and Shabbat joy with them. This happens week after week, throughout the academic year. At Maryland, Rabbi Eli and Naomi Kohl open their doors to their students. In the following report, Naomi explains how it is done – and what the benefits are, to the students and to the Kohl family. To make a great Shabbos meal you need three cups of energy, a spoonful of spirit, and a teaspoon of love. Monday morning in the Hillel dining hall is when we begin our weekly preparations. Between a chavrusa (a one-on-one student session) and a casual shmooze with a student, I keep a watchful eye as I mentally prepare an invitation list. If I don’t strike quickly an upperclassmen may extend an invitation and it may be months before that particular student may grace our Shabbat table. The University of Maryland is home to more than 400 Orthodox students and we try to have them all over for a meal, at some point during their college experience. February 5, 2010 Naomi Kohl Special to the Jewish Times A major feature of the Orthodox Union’s Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus program—which is found on 15 major campuses in the United States and Canada, including the University of Maryland in College Park—is Friday night Shabbos dinner, in which the young rabbi and his wife who run the program (the Torah Educators, as they are known), invite students to share their table and Shabbat joy with them. This happens week after week, throughout the academic year. At Maryland, Rabbi Eli and Naomi Kohl open their doors to their students. In the following report, Naomi explains how it is done – and what the benefits are, to the students and to the Kohl family. To make a great Shabbos meal you need three cups of energy, a spoonful of spirit, and a teaspoon of love. Monday morning in the Hillel dining hall is when we begin our weekly preparations. Between a chavrusa (a one-on-one student session) and a casual shmooze with a student, I keep a watchful eye as I mentally prepare an invitation list. If I don’t strike quickly an upperclassmen may extend an invitation and it may be months before that particular student may grace our Shabbat table. The University of Maryland is home to more than 400 Orthodox students and we try to have them all over for a meal, at some point during their college experience. Friday is when the games begin. I hustle twenty minutes to Silver Spring, drop my two-year-old son, Yisrael, off at school and then proceed to the kosher establishments in town, to procure my ingredients. After purchasing these goodies I hurry back to College Park to begin cooking. My husband watches our six-month-old baby girl, Shira, while I slice, dice and mash the ingredients, occasionally with the assistance of a helpful student. Many Fridays it seems like I won’t beat the clock, but I always end up finishing just before the buzzer sounds. I breathe a sigh a of relief when I light the Shabbos candles, as my husband goes off to shul for four hours for davening, learning and the famed Hillel social hour. The Magic Number: Eli returns home with 12-15 students, the magic number. This ensures that our group is small enough to fit around our table and that we can all participate in one conversation. There are always one or two more students than originally expected, due to my husband’s over-inviting disorder, which Hakodosh Baruch Hu (the Holy One, Blessed Be He) matched nicely, with my over-cooking disorder. The avirah (atmosphere) is a very homey experience—that is what the students smell, taste and feel when they come over. They are greeted from outside by our son, who is patiently waiting by the window for his “friends” to come over. Many students are looking for a home away from home and we feel privileged to help provide that during their college years. During these years students are making many crucial life decisions. They are asking themselves, “Who will I marry and how will that shape my future; what will my home look like; what will my Shabbat and religious experiences be when I am an adult?” Perhaps this is why we view the Shabbat experience with students as the most important interaction we will have with them. By modeling a Jewish home that has a mezuzah, Shabbos candles and Jewish books, filling our Shabbos table with song, soup, and spirituality, we hope to inspire students to continue to strive towards a lifestyle infused with Torah values and meanings. We feel responsible to model a Jewish family for students, as we may be a reference point for future relationships they may have. To foster a sense of family we invite groups of students who are friendly with each other. If they are comfortable with each other, they will feel more at ease in our home. As friends they may already know each other well, yet we feel it is important to have our trademark parsha-themed ice breakers. They serve as a way of infusing the table with Torah, in a non- threatening way, and give the students an opportunity to say what’s on their minds. Students are always afraid that when they go to their “rabbi’s house” they will be grilled on the parsha and their lives. Our approach is a way to break down those barriers and to connect the Torah to their lives. For example: on Parshat Miketz with Yosef’s dreams, we would ask, what’s a crazy dream you once had, or what are your dreams and aspirations; on Lech Lecha, their trials and tribulations. While fish, soup and salad satiate some, there is not a hungry soul at the table when the meat, chicken and deli roll are done. The conversations vary as do the crowds—some want to talk about pop culture, social networks, high school stories or Israel adventures; others like to hear the rabbi’s philosophical views on a slew of geopolitical issues and old war stories from his childhood in Brooklyn; while others like to read our children their favorite stories on the couch. Many students offer their help to serve the food; what I most enjoy is the opportunity it provides to have one-on-one conversations with students I rarely have the time for during the week. It’s Oneg Time! As the meal seems to be winding down, we hear a knock at the door and are greeted with a burst of energy. Once a month, 60 or more additional students battle the elements to get a taste of our Friday night cholent and desserts as well as an unbeatable dose of spirituality which carries into the week. Students come from all across the country to be a part of the incredible community that exists at Maryland. Many are from Baltimore and Silver Spring but just as many come from New York, New Jersey, Florida, Chicago, California, Atlanta and more. Our onegs often begin as hip hop music is blaring from the fraternity house next door. As many as 100 Jewish souls may combat those tunes with niggunim of our own, and the fragrant scent of Oneg Shabbos suppresses the aromatic fragrances that are often found on a college campus. For many students, we are able to provide this oasis that they crave and reawaken a slumbering spirit that may have become stagnant from the mounds of school work. Our onegs are sprinkled with inspiring stories and thoughts as many of our students are eager to share their thoughts with each other, and to encourage their peers to continue striving towards goals they may have set for themselves as they were leaving for their year in Israel. We try to pause these moments to remind ourselves why exactly we moved to the middle of a college campus, but as we embrace the last of our students close to 1:00 am and receive our final thank you, we are sure there is no place we would rather be than at the University of Maryland! Naomi Kohl, and her husband, Rabbi Eli Kohl, run the Orthodox Union’s Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus program at the University of Maryland-College Park. All Campuses, University of Maryland, JLIC in the Press 2010-02-05T17:29:58+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/cornell_sun_orthodox_jewish_community_builds_ehruv_on_campus/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/cornell_sun_orthodox_jewish_community_builds_ehruv_on_campus/#When:16:21:48Z January 29, 2010 - 2:27am By Elizabeth Krevsky Observant Jews in the Cornell community can finally enjoy extended freedom during the Sabbath, thanks to the official establishment of the Rabbi Morris Goldfarb Memorial Ehruv. An ehruv — a physical structure enclosing a larger area into a single domain — enables Jews to carry items such as food, books, medicines and coats without violating the Sabbath. According to Aaron Sarna ’11, president of the Center for Jewish Living, it is forbidden in the Jewish tradition to physically carry anything between a public and private domain during the Sabbath, which begins every Friday at sundown and ends after sundown every Sunday.For the original article in the Cornell Daily Sun, Click here. January 29, 2010 - 2:27am By Elizabeth Krevsky Observant Jews in the Cornell community can finally enjoy extended freedom during the Sabbath, thanks to the official establishment of the Rabbi Morris Goldfarb Memorial Ehruv. An ehruv — a physical structure enclosing a larger area into a single domain — enables Jews to carry items such as food, books, medicines and coats without violating the Sabbath. According to Aaron Sarna ’11, president of the Center for Jewish Living, it is forbidden in the Jewish tradition to physically carry anything between a public and private domain during the Sabbath, which begins every Friday at sundown and ends after sundown every Sunday. The religious ruling that necessitates the use of the ehruv is a rabbinical interpretation of a Biblical verse, according to Rabbi Jason Leib, Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus director, O.U. and rabbinic supervisor of the ehruv. Dean Robinson, grad and leader of the Cornell Ehruv Committee, estimated that more than 70 Jewish community members benefit from the ehruv. Sarna explained the positive impact the ehruv has had on the Jewish community. “[The ehruv] means that I can carry my books if I want to go study in the library,” he said. “I can go have a football game on the Arts Quad or bring water with me if I want to go on a walk in The Plantations. [The ehruv] makes things more mobile and simplifies things.” Before the construction of the ehruv, Robinson said, “I could’ve worn a coat, but I couldn’t have taken it off.” Leib, father of three young children, said, “My life has benefited tremendously. [The ehruv] means that we can push a stroller.” “It makes [the Sabbath] more festive,” he added. The new ehruv is essentially a long boundary consisting of pre-existing utility poles connected by wires, Sarna explained. The Cornell ehruv website states that the ehruv encloses the entire Cornell campus, the majority of Collegetown and significant portions of downtown Ithaca and Cayuga Heights. To construct the ehruv, Leib said that the Ithaca community contracted a utility company to put the requisite ehruv moldings on existing utility poles. The Cornell Ehruv Committee sought civil permission for the ehruv which was ultimately granted by the sheriff of Tompkins County. Local rabbinical supervision for the ehruv is provided by Rabbi Leib as well as by the Rav HaMachshir Rabbi Barry Freundel. Sarna said that Freundel inspected the construction and granted his approval in December. Last week Leib performed the ceremony establishing the Rabbi Morris Goldfarb Memorial Ehruv as an ehruv and, “not a bunch of wires and poles,” Sarna said. Last weekend was the first Sabbath that the ehruv was usable. “Going forward,” Sarna explained, “[the ehruv] still has to be checked every week to make sure that the structure is intact.” Robinson said that the Cornell Ehruv Committee is currently in the process of organizing a rotation of students to drive around the entire 8.5-mile route every week to make sure that nothing has been knocked down. This process requires several hours every week. However, these efforts are well worth it for many in the Ithaca Jewish community. “The whole point [of the ehruv] is that it makes observance of the Sabbath more pleasant and easier,” Robinson said. “I’m looking forward to making use of it.” According to the Cornell Ehruv website, the ehruv project was made possible through donations from Robert and Sarah Steinberg ’78, the Welsbach Electric Corp. and others. All Campuses, Cornell University, JLIC in the Press 2010-02-01T16:21:48+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/the_canadian_jewish_news_orthodox_students_have_support_on_campus_panel_say/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/the_canadian_jewish_news_orthodox_students_have_support_on_campus_panel_say/#When:15:52:44Z By SHERI SHEFA, Staff Reporter Thursday, 10 December 2009 TORONTO — Jewish student group leaders, rabbis and Orthodox Jewish students held a panel discussion last week to let concerned community members know that there are many opportunities available for Orthodox Jewish students on secular campuses. Toronto’s JLIC director Rabbi Aaron Greenberg, left, and Hillel of Greater Toronto executive director Zac Kaye were two of six panelists talking last week about Orthodox Jewish students attending secular universities. The Orthodox Union’s Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC), a North American program that helps Orthodox students balance their Jewish upbringing with living in a secular world, in conjunction with Hillel of Greater Toronto, invited parents and university-bound students to Bnei Akiva’s Yeshivat Or Chaim for a lecture titled “Observant Jewish Life on the Secular College Campus.”By SHERI SHEFA, Staff Reporter Thursday, 10 December 2009 TORONTO — Jewish student group leaders, rabbis and Orthodox Jewish students held a panel discussion last week to let concerned community members know that there are many opportunities available for Orthodox Jewish students on secular campuses. Toronto’s JLIC director Rabbi Aaron Greenberg, left, and Hillel of Greater Toronto executive director Zac Kaye were two of six panelists talking last week about Orthodox Jewish students attending secular universities. The Orthodox Union’s Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC), a North American program that helps Orthodox students balance their Jewish upbringing with living in a secular world, in conjunction with Hillel of Greater Toronto, invited parents and university-bound students to Bnei Akiva’s Yeshivat Or Chaim for a lecture titled “Observant Jewish Life on the Secular College Campus.” As a York University graduate, Toronto’s JLIC program director Rabbi Aaron Greenberg – who, with his wife Miriam, organizes weekly lectures, daily services, and peer-to-peer learning opportunities at York University and the University of Toronto – said he “has a pretty good handle on what life is like on campus.” He said he most often gets questions from parents about what life will be like there for kids who have grown up in the Jewish day school system. “What we try to do at the JLIC and Hillel is provide them with a safe environment – safe in terms of a religious perspective, a Jewish perspective, and safe in terms of having a safe place to be with friends.” For example, he said that earlier that day, there were three minyanim at the York campus – one for Shacharit, one for Minchah and one for Ma’ariv. But Rabbi Scot Berman, headmaster of Toronto’s Bnei Akiva Schools, said that both parents and students need to evaluate some of the “dangers” that await Jewish students on secular campuses. “I don’t want to present this as the outside world being the boogeyman. There are many wonderful things that campus life has to offer our students.” But, Rabbi Berman added, if he could convince all his students to continue their Jewish education by going to Jewish post-secondary institutions, he would. “Realistically speaking, that is not going to be the choice for many of our students, and they will be going to campuses… [where] there are real dangers that our kids are exposed to for the first time intellectually as things come out at them.” He said many parents and students are concerned about how “general knowledge will come into conflict for the first time and challenge for the first time some of their core beliefs. “When someone, for 13 or 14 years, is in a cocoon, a warm and comforting cocoon, that we support and recommend and promote all through their day school years, they finally break out into a much broader community and there are those dangers,” Rabbi Berman said. “There is the need to continue to be very, very vigilant in taking advantage of all the services that exist today that never existed before.” He said that if students stop studying and socializing with “like-minded people, we can begin to lessen our commitment [to Judaism] before we even realize it.” Rabbi Josh Ross, JLIC’s associate director, said that he doesn’t believe that students pull away from their Jewish upbringing or do poorly in school because of a secular education or environment, but because universities lack the kind of structure that students grew accustomed to in the Jewish school system. But Zac Kaye, Hillel of Greater Toronto’s executive director, said that the changes on campus over the past few years help to provide Orthodox students with the sense of structure and community they grew up with. Kaye said that there are about 18,000 Jewish students in Toronto-area universities, and about 95 per cent of those students are commuters and live at home. “Our goal, from the very beginning, when we set up Hillel, was that we would try to reach out to different denominational groups on campus. One thing that Hillel realized… was that Hillel alone couldn’t do the job that it said it could do in the previous 30 or 40 years of its existence – that it be all things to all people – and [realized] that we would have to seek partnerships.” Kaye said that with the emphasis on engaging Jews who were at risk for assimilating, Orthodox students on campus “were being left behind… we didn’t really have to worry about them.” Hillel did what it could to create programming aimed at Orthodox students, but, “what we were hearing from the students is that they were looking more for the educational component,” Kaye added. He said that the partnership between Hillel and JLIC makes that kind of programming possible, and it’s “something really very special and it is something the Orthodox community should really value.” Micha Gasner, a first-year York student who studied at Eitz Chaim Day School, Ulpanat Orot Girls School and then for a year in Israel after she graduated from high school, said that she was nervous about what a secular institution would have in store for her. “I was a little shocked in the beginning to have 500 people in a chemistry lesson, instead of 10 really good friends in my Chumash class or in my chemistry class, where my teacher knows me and I know him and I can ask him questions and for extra help,” Gasner said. She said that she had to make an effort to incorporate Jewish learning experiences into her day between classes. “Part of my schedule on Monday is that… I have a shiur for parshah and that is part of my schedule. I go from my chemistry class and I go to the shiur and there are always like, 10 or 12 girls there. Today I was able to go to a Minchah, and it’s nice that there is a minyan and I can go to a Minchah when I want to,” Gasner said. David Elmaleh, an Or Chaim graduate and currently an Osgoode Hall law school student at York, said Jewish life on campus has evolved over the last five years. He said that when he first arrived on campus, there were a lot of religious Jews, but they weren’t “organized and mobilized.” “We now have an infrastructure in place that encourages us to attend certain events.” He said that while he appreciated the efforts made by Hillel to create programming to attract the frum community on campus, its partnership with JLIC gives them many more options and opportunities to stay involved. “Before, a lot of the classes had to be more general and broad because there was such a wide array of students, whereas now we have beginner classes, we have advanced classes… so really, you can find a shiur, a class, that works for you and fits in with your needs,” Elmaleh said. He added that he is grateful for the opportunity to forge a relationship with a rabbi and have access to someone who can respond to his halachic and religious questions and concerns, but he’s also grateful for more opportunities for shidduchim. “I know it may not be on the parents’ minds, but from the student perspective, there are a lot of opportunities to meet people at the different events… Because of the JLIC and the central role they play in bringing students of similar backgrounds together, it really enhances the social aspect of university life, which is also very important.” Elmaleh spoke briefly about the issue of anti-Semitism on campus and said that although there may be incidents of anti-Semitism on secular campuses, “there is a tremendous support system in place. “We have people to talk to, who tell us what to do and who to confront. I know at Hillel there is a system in place if you want to file a complaint with the university, they help us go through it.” Kaye, responding to concerns about anti-Semitism and anti-Israel sentiments both from students and faculty, said that he believes Jewish day schools should do more to prepare students for the challenges they will face on campus. All Campuses, York/University of Toronto, JLIC in the Press, News 2009-12-10T15:52:44+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/asking_the_right_question_about_secular_college/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/asking_the_right_question_about_secular_college/#When:16:14:09Z Jewish Learning Initiative turns 10 By Michael Orbach Issue of December 4, 2009/ 17 Kislev 5770 To go or not to go is no longer the question. “75 percent of the graduating population of the Modern Orthodox day-schools are not going to YU or Touro,” asserted Rabbi Ilan Haber, director of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus. “The issue is not should or shouldn’t they go to secular university — they are going. The issue for us is how to help them make educated decisions to choose a college environment amenable to their growth and how to best serve their needs once they’re in the college environment.” The Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus was founded in 2000. Rabbi Menachem Schrader, then a rebbe at Yeshivat Torat Yosef-Hamivtar in Efrat, realized that yeshivas in Israel were helping students in Israel but students in secular universities back in America had only a limited support system. “It became clear that we were taking students from campuses all over the world, teaching them Torah and then sending them back after a year or two and there was a deep sense I had that we were sending them back to nothing,” said Rabbi Schrader, who is now the director for Nishmat. “Why shouldn’t we try to create a reference of Torah Studies for them to go back to?” In response, Rabbi Schrader came up an idea that he hoped would allow students to continue their Jewish studies. A partnership between the Orthodox Union and the Hillel campus organization placed Orthodox couples on college campuses to supplement Hillel programming. To read the original article of The Jewish Star, click here Jewish Learning Initiative turns 10 By Michael Orbach Issue of December 4, 2009/ 17 Kislev 5770 To go or not to go is no longer the question. “75 percent of the graduating population of the Modern Orthodox day-schools are not going to YU or Touro,” asserted Rabbi Ilan Haber, director of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus. “The issue is not should or shouldn’t they go to secular university — they are going. The issue for us is how to help them make educated decisions to choose a college environment amenable to their growth and how to best serve their needs once they’re in the college environment.” The Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus was founded in 2000. Rabbi Menachem Schrader, then a rebbe at Yeshivat Torat Yosef-Hamivtar in Efrat, realized that yeshivas in Israel were helping students in Israel but students in secular universities back in America had only a limited support system. “It became clear that we were taking students from campuses all over the world, teaching them Torah and then sending them back after a year or two and there was a deep sense I had that we were sending them back to nothing,” said Rabbi Schrader, who is now the director for Nishmat. “Why shouldn’t we try to create a reference of Torah Studies for them to go back to?” In response, Rabbi Schrader came up an idea that he hoped would allow students to continue their Jewish studies. A partnership between the Orthodox Union and the Hillel campus organization placed Orthodox couples on college campuses to supplement Hillel programming. “Many Orthodox students were going to campuses and there was no real infrastructure of Orthodox life for them and if there was it wasn’t as strong,” Rabbi Schrader explained. “Torah Judaism was not being represented in the most modern of places by Modern Orthodox.” The first couples were sent to Yale and Brandeis. There are presently fifteen Jewish Learning Initiative couples on fifteen campuses including New York University, Rutgers, Princeton and Brooklyn College.Husband and wife fill multi-faceted roles on campus, from rabbi to friend to family. The program stresses five goals, according to Rabbi Haber. In order to be “able to develop relationships where they’re seen as a resource,” the couples need to be a part of the community inside the college. Jewish learning and meeting the educational needs of the students are emphasized. Most couples in the program have earned advanced degrees in both Jewish and secular subjects. The program also focuses on developing community infrastructure inside the university such as building an eruv, offering classes on married life to brides and grooms, as well as empowering students to become leaders in their own right. Finally, the couple’s are to be role models on campus. “Students are in a four year window in age and they don’t really interact with families and children,” said Rabbi Haber, “so our educators remind them of the notion of Jewish families. They provide an example in that regard; they model for students how to get along with people who are very different than you, but being confident in who you are and what you believe.” The program works in tandem with Hillel, which is non-denominational, sharing facilities and office space. “It’s one of the crown jewels of the Hillel, how well the program works,” explained Wayne Firestone, president of Hillel. “Often in the Jewish world people feel they need to make their own Shabbat if they grew up with a different niggun or tradition. What the JLIC has proven is that there is not only an opportunity to bring Jews of different backgrounds together, there are really some great benefits for that happening.” “What drew me to this work is the desire to teach students at a time in their lives where they are determining their life’s goals and finding themselves, in a really formative period of their lives,” Yehuda said. While the couple initially believed they would only be there for two or three years, seven years later they live in Greenwich Village with their four children. “We intended to be here for 1-2 years, but it’s such an amazing opportunity and such meaningul work — the longer we stay the more passionalte we become about what we do and the harder it is to leave,” said Michelle, who is originally from Woodmere and is currently pursuing her PHD in clinical developmental psychology in Fordham University.They both said that more than the actual teaching, they provide something much more imporant to the students.“They’re looking for something that reminds them of home… People’s experiences of being in a rabbi’s home is something they find very beneficial, when they’re thinking, even subconsciously, about what kind of home they eventually want to establish. “ David Rittberg, acting executive director of the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU, credited the couple with “changing the landscape at NYU” “In many ways the community exists because of the JLIC couple. We’ve seen an incredible increase in orthodox students at NYU and it can be directly related to the success of Yehuda and Michelle Sarna.” Questions or comments? Contact Michael Orbach at morbach@thejewishstar.com All Campuses, New York University, JLIC in the Press, News 2009-12-04T16:14:09+00:00 http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/harvard_jlic_rabbi_publishes_first_ever_book_combining_judaism_and_twitter/ http://www.jliconline.org/index.php/blog_entry/harvard_jlic_rabbi_publishes_first_ever_book_combining_judaism_and_twitter/#When:13:56:25Z Press Release of Twitter Torah Twitter Torah brings the profundity of the Torah to you in 140 character messages based around the weekly Torah portions. The book shares insights from seven unique and thoughtful people. The contributors to this book all come from different places in the Jewish community: traditional and non-traditional, men and women, Jewish professionals and lay members. Press Release of Twitter Torah Twitter Torah brings the profundity of the Torah to you in 140 character messages based around the weekly Torah portions. The book shares insights from seven unique and thoughtful people. The contributors to this book all come from different places in the Jewish community: traditional and non-traditional, men and women, Jewish professionals and lay members. Cambridge, MA, October 15, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Rabbi Ben Greenberg has brought Judaism and Twitter together in book form by collaborating with six other writers on the publication of "Twitter Torah." Rabbi Greenberg as a campus rabbi of Harvard University and Director of The Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at Harvard, has extensive experience working with people in "Generation-Y" and recognized that Twitter represented a new way of communication for the next generation. He knew that the thought of the Hebrew Bible needed to find a way to condense itself to 140 characters or less and he took on the challenge of doing so. By dividing his book around the weekly portions of the Hebrew Bible read in synagogues he has made it easily accessible for any reader, both Jewish and non-Jewish. Each thought is condensed to a bullet point of 140 characters or less thereby making each thought qualify to be the shortest sermon in the history of western religion. The book, Twitter Torah, is available for purchase on Lulu.com. To see the original article, please go to http://www.pr.com/press-release/185744 Rutgers University, JLIC in the Press, News 2009-10-19T13:56:25+00:00