Campus Update: York University

By Ashley Isenberg
KOACH Intern
York University

Second semester has flown by, but it has been busier than ever at York University. February was Toronto's annual Israelfest, a week long celebration of Israel which included Birkat haBayit making (house blessings), an Israeli poetry reading at a local café, posters everywhere celebrating the world's technological inventions made in Israel and a KOACH Shabbat kick-off event. Merging York's Israelfest dinner with KOACH Shabbat was a wonderful experience, bringing out so many people who stuck around for the fun KOACH Tish led by JTS rabbinical student, David Goldberg. The intimate KOACH lunch the next day was a mix of the joy of Shabbat with a Tu B'Shevat celebration and some pre-Purim discussion. It was a wonderful experience.

KOACH was delighted to host Conservative Movement Shaliah Itamar Kremer for the Israel festivities. He ran two wonderful programs: a discussion on religious differences in Israel, Canada and the U.S. and a presentation on life in the army. We were sorry that the videoconference with an army unit was cancelled at the last minute, but it really gave us a sense of the unpredictable nature of life in the army, as the unit was called into the field a few hours before we were supposed to converse.

York U also enjoyed a wonderful visit from Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb, Director of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. He lead a thought provoking shiur (class) on "Are the 10 Commandments Jewish?" which some of you KOACH readers may have had the pleasure of participating in at the KOACH Kallah a few days later. While on campus, Rabbi Goldfarb also spoke with the Jewish Education students. All this excitement in February lead up to March's innovative programming.

So three rabbis walk into a bar….ouch! …Ha ha, no, this isn't the beginning of a joke, "3 Rabbis Walk into a Bar" is the name of a city-wide Jewish interdenominational dialogue series supported by Hillel, KOACH, Kesher, and Yavneh-Olami. Just as its title suggests, students gathered at a bar with Hillel's Reform and Orthodox rabbis and our special guest Conservative Rabbi David Eligberg from Beit Rayim Synagogue. This was the first time we held this event and it was a great success. We discussed challenges the movements were facing and some misconceptions students had about the movements. We addressed issues like what makes a practicing Jew and the future of the Jewish people vs. the Jewish religion. We hope to turn it into a monthly program next year.

We're looking forward to our last program of the year: Chocolate Covered Matzah Making!! Yummy!!!

[Posted 03/20/07]