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 Kolot Articles
Jewish Voices from Campus
http://www.jewishchronicle.org
Jew-By-Choice learning to sense Judaism like music
By Amanda Ruppenthal
As a music student, I find myself hearing the world differently. I hear melodies in the buzz of everyday life, in the constant rumbling of the city buses that take me to and from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, in the melding of my iPod with my neighbor’s, and in steady rhythms of the coffee shops around the city where I do my homework.
Truly, this heightened sense of music in the world is always with me. My brain is always working out sounds into song and life into music.
Just as I sense and hear the world differently because I am a musician, I find myself more and more each day sensing the world differently because I am a Jew.
My experience is my own. I was not raised Jewish, and I have no Jewish family.
A little over a year-and-a-half ago, I could barely read the Hebrew alphabet and I could not comprehend the concept of fasting on Yom Kippur. Yet, I learned, and I completed my conversion to Judaism eight days before my 24th birthday.
So I am not your average Hillel student or your average Jew. But then again, I’m not sure in this whole process I have met any average Jews — only extraordinary ones.
My first time at Hillel was for a Shabbat service and dinner following a meeting I had had with then Jewish Campus Service Corps fellow, Benji Berlow. I was nervous, confused, and barely knew anything about how the Kabbalat Shabbat service worked.
Living two bus-rides and a mile walk through Kletzsch Park from Congregation Beth Israel where I was doing my conversion study with Rabbi Jacob Herber, I had a happy alternative in Hillel for a service on Friday night. The services there were open to all and continue to be that way two school years later. Students from all backgrounds and observance levels, Jews and non-Jews came together that night and made each other welcome on Shabbat.
As my studies continued, my world began to change, and I began to sense living life as Jew. Melodies for services came easy as the musician in me took over, and I used to find myself humming “Sim Shalom” just as often as the Brahms symphonies.
The smells of Shabbat dinners at Hillel heightened my sense of smell, and the light my first night’s candle for Chanukah is something I will not ever forget. I was experiencing — sensing — the world as a Jew, more and more every day.
I even learned how to taste my life Jewishly when a family invited me to their home one Shabbat afternoon for kosher Chinese take-out they had brought from Chicago. This same family made me feel so welcome at CBI and within the Milwaukee Jewish community that I knew this monumental decision was a right one.
As I write this in the earliest days of 5769, I experience my life as so integrally Jewish that I can barely remember a time when I did not sense it. I credit the Jewish community of Milwaukee for helping me, welcoming me, and teaching me.
I would like to thank Rabbi Herber and the members of Congregation Beth Israel who have and continue to make my Jewish experience one of overwhelming richness and vibrancy.
Additionally, my fondest love and friendship goes out to the supportive staff and my peers at Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee.
I am not an average Jew, but how could I be when I am a part of such an extraordinary Jewish community?
Amanda Ruppenthal is graduate student in clarinet performance and music history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She will be graduating in May 2009. She has been serving as the vice president of Tzedek of Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee since February 2008.
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AIPAC inspires a personal mission
By Jake Velleman
Ask someone about the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and you might get one of two responses:
It is the most important organization affecting America's relationship with Israel.
It is too powerful a lobby and has a monopoly on U.S. foreign policy.
The former, a New York Times editorial quotation found on the AIPAC Web site, accurately illustrates the broad bipartisan support the pro-Israel lobbying organization receives.
Its annual Policy Conference, a blockbuster political event at which congressional attendance is rivaled only by the State of the Union address, attracted more than 6,000 pro-Israel activists last month.
The latter summary, however, summarizes criticism outlined in a scathing article published last year by Professors John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, titled "The Israel Lobby."
While AIPAC draws criticism from various fringe elements in the United States, and certainly Israel's detractors, the scope of its effectiveness and influence in promoting strong US-Israel ties is undeniable.
Israel faces a grave threat today. All Jews and all Americans should take seriously the prospect of nuclear weapons in the hands of Iran's radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. His alarming rhetoric ("Israel must be wiped off the map") suggests that the will for action is there.
The work of AIPAC and pro-Israel activists nationwide is critical to ensuring that the United States and the international community take steps to prevent them from obtaining the means.
Beyond the real and physical threats to Israel, however, a different war is being waged in the area of public opinion, and ground zero for this battle is on America's college campuses.
While the environment here in Milwaukee for pro-Israel campus activism is relatively mild, across Lake Michigan Israeli flags are being burned and Israel is being called an "apartheid state." In California, one hears regularly of anti-Israel events on campus being sponsored by students and faculty.
Given that the typical college student isn't likely to be well-versed in Middle East affairs and the unique, historical, and symbiotic nature of the US-Israel alliance, it is important for pro-Israel students to take an active role in defining the debate, reaching out through retail engagement, and emphasizing the overwhelming support for Israel from the American people and the U.S. Congress.
AIPAC is at the heart of this effort, and its award-winning Leadership Development program drew me in last May as I participated on the Capital-to-Capital birthright israel trip.
From that experience, I have not only embarked on a personal mission to reconnect with my Jewish faith, but I've also pledged to do all that is in my power to promote the US-Israel relationship.
From joining a student-run pro-Israel lobbying effort here in Wisconsin to advocating for Israel within the College Democrats, I have found a unique outlet that allows me to remain active in politics, while supporting a cause that is at the core of what I value and believe.
I feel that I have found my niche in the exigent world of American politics, and it is my sincere hope that all Americans will find their reason to support the oldest democracy in the Middle East.
Jake Velleman is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, majoring in political science; an active member of the Campus Organization for Israel and Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee; and a national appointed officer of the College Democrats of America. He will spend this summer interning at AIPAC in Washington, D.C., as well as traveling in Israel.
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To design for co-existence, student visits West Bank
By Jodie Mendelson
When I went skydiving my freshman year in college, I waited until afterward to inform my parents. This strategy proved effective again when I afterward revealed to them my risk-taking one-day visit to the West Bank.
Why would a 25-year-old, Jewish American woman want to go to the Palestinian territory Israel captured in the 1967 war?
I am enrolled in the master’s degree program in architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I went to Jerusalem to find a site for my thesis design project, an Israeli-Palestinian academic conference center.
I was raised in a Zionist, Conservative household, and had visited Israel twice before. I feel a tremendous spiritual and physical connection to the country. But I knew very little about the daily life of the Arab “Other”.
Several professors who had heard about my project mentioned Layla, a Palestinian woman who received her master’s degree in architecture from UWM two years ago.
She is now living in Ramallah and teaching at Birzeit University. She had a Facebook profile, so I sent a message introducing myself and telling her my story.
Layla replied promptly and offered to show me her hometown. She also assured me it was safe for foreigners. With a little hesitation, I accepted.
Would Ramallah be an impoverished ghetto? Could Palestinians smell me from a mile away and would they lynch me like the Israeli soldiers during the second Intifada?
As I researched the logistics of getting there, my strongest concern became crossing the border. I was prepared to take private taxis the whole way if my safety required it, and perhaps to avoid the Qalandiya checkpoint in north Jerusalem.
Arriving early
On the day of our appointment, I woke at 6 a.m. and departed my gracious hosts’ home in Betar Illit, an Orthodox Jewish settlement west of Bethlehem. I chose not to tell them about my trip before or afterwards.
I entered the back of an Illit bus and sat on the right side where during the first half of the 45-minute ride I could watch the security wall winding through the landscape.
I took a taxi from the Central Bus Station to Damascus gate. Just north of the gate I boarded a servees, a private, 15-person minivan patronized solely by Arabs, and headed to Ramallah.
Twenty minutes later, the van approached the Qalandiya checkpoint. To my surprise, the van drove through without slowing or stopping.
On the West Bank side, graffiti covers the security wall, clearly a popular form of non-violent resistance. A little girl with pigtails held a balloon in one stencil, and another showed a woman wearing a headscarf and shouting, “I’M NOT A TERRORIST.”
As we drove along apartment towers under construction, my expectation of a ghetto vanished. Ten minutes later, I debarked at Al-Manara, Ramallah’s bustling downtown. I had been prepared for two-and-a-half-hours of travel time, so I arrived an hour early.
Layla picked me up in her blue Toyota and whisked me off to a thoroughly modern café. She proved an excellent guide.
Her mother is a professor at UWM. Layla had attended elementary school in Milwaukee from third to sixth grade.
Surprisingly, the city was very small and we walked from one end to the other in 20 minutes. Most women we saw wore headscarves, but no one made any comments to either of us even when I took pictures.
New stone buildings under construction stood next to dilapidated ones. The predominant façade material, local stone, dotted the landscape in a familiar fashion to Jerusalem, a mere nine miles away.
Layla pointed out where she goes to the gym (yes, it was co-ed) and guided me through the shuk (open air marketplace).
Next Layla drove me to her grandparents’ house south of Al-Manara for lunch. It became clear that she belonged to a wealthy family. The houses in the neighborhood were large, detached single-family buildings in impeccable condition.
Her grandmother was waiting with smiles and a delicious meal. For dessert, Layla picked a peach in her grandfather’s garden for me.
We drove around for the rest of the afternoon, passing by Birzeit and some outlying towns. We finished at another café with a refreshing glass of mint lemonade.
After she dropped me off just before the Qalandiya checkpoint, Layla and I hugged goodbye and agreed to meet again in Milwaukee. Again, my beliefs about checkpoint security were unfounded; I reentered Israel with as much ease as I had left it.
Regardless of the politics and bloodshed between our people, I consider my experience in Ramallah with Layla to be valuable. Almost all my preconceived notions about the physical environment and people were untrue.
Now I can begin to design for co-existence, better knowing and understanding a Palestinian woman, whose hopes and needs are not so different from mine.
Jodie Mendelson is a graduate student in architecture at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
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‘Shabbat 180’ reinforces message of conference on ‘Global Judaism’
By Avraham Pittleman
The following is from the d’var Torah he gave at the Shabbat 180 on Jan. 26 at Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee.
I recently returned from Israel on a Hillel: The Foundation for Campus Jewish Life leadership trip about “Global Judaism: Peoplehood and Pluralism.”
Of the 90 students from around the world who participated, half came from North America and half came from countries as far away as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Italy, Ukraine, Moldova and Russia.
The purpose of the trip was to engage in dialogue regarding the challenges facing the global Jewish community.
What I found most fascinating about the trip was the opportunity to speak with Jews from all over the globe and to discuss issues such as, what it’s like to live as a Jew in Ukraine and how the Jewish community in Buenos Aires has fared since the recent economic depression there.
A keynote speaker during the trip, Gidi Grienstien, stated that Hillel is one of the foremost leaders in Jewish community-building around the world.
Building, preserving, and improving our Jewish community is why we are all present here at “Shabbat 180.” Tonight, we have students, faculty, families, and friends all celebrating Shabbat together.
Each and everyone one of us are unique individuals who have talents and passions that can be used to improve and strengthen the local and global communities.
What a blessing it is for each and every one of us to be able to sit and dine together, to meet new acquaintances, and to solidify relationships. How beautiful it is to be unified on this Shabbat eve!
Jeremiah the prophet states in this week’s Haftarah (46:13-28) that the enemies of the Jews will be vanquished and that the Jews, his chosen people, will survive. They should not fear, for God will keep his covenant with them — with us.
We live in a time where there are great challenges facing global Jewry. Less than a century after the Shoah, there are leaders who deny the Holocaust and who call for the destruction of the Jewish state.
These challenges highlight the importance of Jewish unity. We are, in fact, not only a nation, but a family.
And while there are always various conflicts in a family, it is the love that resides within that familial space which ensures its survival.
On such a beautiful night I pray for a blessing for all of us. May we all leave this Shabbat dinner with renewed strength to unify as a people, and to decrease the denominationalism that hinders our unity.
And, in doing so, we can be contributing members of the sacred Jewish family and be partners with God in continually creating the world around us into a kinder, more welcoming world for ourselves and for our children.
Avraham Pittleman is a graduate student in education at Cardinal Stritch University.
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What is a Liberal Zionist to do?
By Benji Berlow
It seems that many political issues have become so polarized in this country that once someone is labeled a liberal or conservative, they are automatically placed into a pigeon hole on a whole range of issues, from the war in Iraq to global warming to abortion to gun control to GLBTQ rights and many others.
News programs tend to polarize the issues even more by reporting the views from the Left and the Right in the hope of trying to be fair and balanced.
While the “us vs. them” debate makes for entertaining TV, it tends to narrow opinions even more. The result is two sides that spin each story to fit their point of view, neither 100 percent right, but also neither 100 percent wrong.
In the fall of 2004, the host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Jon Stewart, pointed out the problem with this format on CNN’s “Crossfire,” a television show where Left and Right pundits argued every issue in the news.
Stewart said, “It’s not so much that it’s bad, as it’s hurting America.” He then begged CNN officials to “stop, stop, stop, stop hurting America.”
With thousands of viewers and even more on the Internet, Stewart’s criticism of the show directly led to CNN canceling “Crossfire” a few months later.
Just as Stewart was upset with the pundits on “Crossfire” polarizing every issue, I am very concerned that there is little space in public discourse to talk about Israel in a way that is not polarizing.
I feel discouraged at many liberal gatherings where anti-Israeli rhetoric is used even when Israel is not the main focus. Similarly, I get frustrated at Israel programs where some people say the only solution is to bomb every Palestinian.
If I try to defend the other side, I may be accused of spreading anti-Semitic or Islamophobic thought just because my points do not meet the standards of the extreme position.
Extreme speakers
Unfortunately, one place where I am seeing the ugly nature of this polarization explode is on University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus.
Since the end of the fall semester, conservative and liberal student groups have brought extreme speakers to talk about the Middle East from the Right (Walid Shoebat and David Horowitz) and from the Left (Norman Finkelstein).
Although they have the academic right to free speech, I am reminded of Stewart saying “It’s not so much that it’s bad, as it’s hurting America.” These polarizing speakers are demonizing the other, resulting in disgraceful anti-Semitic and Islamaphobic propaganda.
As a liberal Zionist, I believe both Israeli security and Palestinian liberty are important. With an “us vs. them” point of view, these two ideas seem mutually exclusive. How can you support Palestinian liberty when they want to wipe Israel off the map? How can you back Israel’s military when it bulldozes entire villages?
The problem with these approaches is that they make broad generalizations about the other that spin the issues way out of proportion and distract people from acknowledging that there are some truths at both extremes which need to be addressed — truths like “innocent civilians being killed is horrible” and “exclusive historical narratives furiously offend people who are left out.”
We cannot continue to frame issues this way. As great scientist Albert Einstein said, “The problems that we have created by the way that we have lived cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that produced them in the first place.”
It was “us vs. them” thinking that led to an Orthodox Jew assassinating Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 and the fatwah that approved Egyptian President Anwar El-Sadat’s assassination in 1981. The very notion of a peace process under this level of thinking cannot work, because the other can never really be trusted.
How can we get to this next level of thinking? I think the key is to promote and engage in dialogue instead of debate.
Debating tries to prove that one side is right and the other wrong, but dialogue attempts to find common ground and points of intersection. In order to dialogue truly, you must question your own beliefs and see someone else’s point of view.
This is not easy because it requires people with different beliefs to be open to the possibility of being wrong. With more and more people being polarized about issues in the Middle East, very few people are open to take this radical step.
However, if it is done authentically, what emerges is a new understanding with combined truths, not generated by me or by you, but out of us.
My hope is that we will all develop the ability to explore this new level of thinking and the courage to stand up to extremism in all its forms.
Benji Berlow is the Senior Jewish Campus Service Corps fellow at Hillel Foundation-Milwaukee. Originally from Palmerton, Pa., Benji graduated from Lafayette College with a double major in psychology and Jewish studies. Over this summer, he will be traveling to Israel for his fifth trip in three years and moving to California to be the new program director for Silicon Valley Hillel.
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Hillel reaches out to Darfur through books
By Jennifer McNaughton
During the month of April, Hillel Foundation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee helped raise money for refugees from the civil war and genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
We held a bake sale in the UWM Union, with baked goods made and donated by Hillel students and staff. A student artist also offered her services, drawing caricatures of students and university staff in exchange for donated funds.
The focus of these fundraising activities was to spread the mission of the Book Wish Foundation: Reading Relief for People in Crisis. The Book Wish Foundation is a non-profit organization that has organized a project to provide reading relief to Darfur refugees and locals in eastern Chad.
Book Wish is attempting to reach out to major sponsors, including the Oxford University Press, and to anyone who wishes to support the education of Darfur refugees and those in eastern Chad.
As Hillel students, we have an appreciation and understanding of not only how important education is, but also how all students should have access to learning. In order to receive an education, tools are required.
Book Wish has a project wish list that includes English as Second Language materials, reading glasses, textbooks, dictionaries, school supplies, and funding for the building of four libraries. Book Wish seeks to form a community that supports people’s educational and occupational aspirations.
As a student of library science and a major advocate of books and education, I believe it is important that those with resources make them available to those who don’t have them. If students don’t have access to educational materials, how can they learn?
As Hillel is a part of the university setting, we have an opportunity to recognize our wealth of information. We have our own academic library, many outstanding public libraries, a campus life and an exceptional education we are fortunate to receive.
Our bake sale and student artist raised more than $100. We saw an outstanding response in those we talked with about the Book Wish project. Their interest in matters concerning Darfur was strong and attentive. We also exchanged ideas with another student organization to plan a Darfur awareness event for the fall semester.
Hillel’s work on behalf of Darfur and the Book Wish project has been beneficial to local students and the entire campus community. Please contact us if you are interested in donating your time or funds for this worthy cause.
Jennifer McNaughton has worked at Hillel for the past year-and-a-half as an administrative assistant. She is also a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s library and information science program.
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