National Blog

by: Mordechai and Nisa Harris This weekend we spent shabbas as the JLIC fellows in SUNY Albany. The weekend was good and we were able to spend the weekend with a small group of students on campus. There was a North East Chabad on Campus retreat weekend to SUNY Binghamton that pulled a lot of students, as well as poor weather, and Midterms. However, our weekend was very productive. In the absence of the Chabad Rabbi, we really ran the show the whole weekend. We ran davening and gave Divrei Torah, prepared an Oneg Friday night, lead services Shabbos Day, arranged a lunch and learn, had a Seudah Shlishit with Biblio-Drama, and enjoyed a musical Havdalah. We capped the night with a trip to "Where The Wild Things Are" at the local IMAX with Students who were interested in the impromptu trip. All in all, being a smaller shabbas, we were able to enjoy a much more personalized and intense weekend with the students on campus.

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.

Dvar Torah from Rabbi Menachem Schrader, founding director of JLIC. One of the surprising features of the Six Days of Creation is that Man and land animals share a day of mutual formation. Our own human sense of pride almost begs; don't we deserve a day of our own? Couldn't God have included the land animals with the sea and bird life of the fifth day? Could not things have been divided to provide Man with his one day of creation glory to bask in? Rabenu Nisim of Gerona asks this question, and gives the following answer: The distinction between Man and Animal is not going to be something God will divinely decree. It is a distinction that will have to be made by Man himself. Man does have the spiritual capacity to be on acompletely different plane than his animal neighbors. He also has the potential to ignore that capacity and fit right in with the animal kingdom. Whether Man will be spiritually distinct or not will be decided by his actions. God does not artificially separate Man from the animals. God grants Man the option of distinguishing himself. It is his freedom to decide. The jury on this one is still out.

Dear JLIC community, Rav Chayim Balter, an outstanding talmid chacham and baal midos, and founding donor of JLIC, has been hospitalized at the cardiac unit of Shaarei Tzedek hospital in Jerusalem. Please add him to your prayers for a speedy recovery, Chaim Shlomo ben Rachel.

by: Darren Levin and Shlomit Cohen After a long week replete with anticipation and excitement, we finally embarked on our first visit to Washington University in St. Louis. After a few plane rides, we entered the Hillel on campus, and had the opportunity to spend time with some of the students in the student lounge, followed by a meaningful Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv. After a delectable dinner with approximately 100 students who are involved with Hillel on campus, we enjoyed an Oneg, including singing, stories, and Divrei Torah. Sam Zakai, a freshman from NYC who has quickly become involved in Jewish leadership on campus, gave us a tour of the aesthetic campus of Wash U. and Martin Schaefer, an upperclassman from Germany who is currently studying Biophysics and has been instrumental with improving the quality of Kosher food on campus, assisted us in our return to our accommodations. One of the highlights of Shabbat was Seudah Shlishit. Prior to our visit, Paula Sass, one of the leaders of the Jewish Student Union, along with Sam, organized a Minyan for Mincha, followed by a fun-filled meal, featuring home-made pasta, tuna fish salad, cake, and other treats. The spirit, student Dvar-Torah, and exciting Havdalah left us with a great impression of Washington University’s warm, close-knit Jewish community. During our Sunday morning informal breakfast meeting with some of the students, we discussed our Simchat Torah plans and other exciting projects for the year. We can’t wait until our next visit to St. Louis!!

On September 15th, 2009 the Co-Director of JLIC at Harvard, Rabbanit Sharon, made history by becoming the first Orthodox Jewish female chaplain in the history of Harvard University. Please consider supporting our work by voting for Sharon as a Jewish Community Hero by going to: http://www.jewishcommunityheroes.org/nominees/profile/sharon-weiss-greenberg/ and clicking "Vote Here". You can do so daily, every twelve hours through the duration of the contest. Thank you and congratulations!

Yachad, an organization that provides integrated programs for youth and adults with special needs, is in need of advisors for the upcoming year. Their advisors are typically University students who are motivated to help others and bring meaningful Jewish experiences to those with special needs. They provide one program per month and two shabbatons per year, however, do not need a commitment to attend all programs. Anyone interested is promised a great time, a warm and fun atmosphere, lasting friendships and a great volunteer experience. Examples of their programs include: apple picking, bowling, holiday parties with Ulpana and Or Chaim Students, folk dancing, and much more. Please contact Shauna Rosenberg (Elmaleh) for more info: Assistant Coordinator of Yachad Canada