Beach Hillel » CSULB http://beachhillel.org Positively Jewish! Mon, 03 Jun 2013 17:26:42 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Torah on Tap Discussion on the Afterlife http://beachhillel.org/2013/05/22/tatafterlife/ http://beachhillel.org/2013/05/22/tatafterlife/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 19:32:55 +0000 Rabbi Drew http://beachhillel.org/?p=1996 More >]]> Two weeks ago, Rabbi Drew led a discussion on the afterlife in the Jewish tradition. Held on CSULB’s campus at The Nugget, this Torah on Tap event featured the discussion that focused on the various statements about עולם הבא (“the world to come”) in the Talmud (and in other elements of rabbinic literature), Rabbi Drew led a discussion on the topic.

“At first glance, it may be strange that young adults are curious about the afterlife, since they seemingly have a lot of life yet to live; and furthermore curious that Jews are interested in this matter,” said Rabbi Drew. “However, at last year’s Ask the Rabbi event, I was surprised to receive several questions about the messiah and the afterlife, two topics that are not common discussion pieces amongst Jews. Nevertheless, I figured this semester-ending event would be an opportune moment to consider this topic.”

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2013/05/22/tatafterlife/feed/ 0 Israel Week 2013 http://beachhillel.org/2013/04/12/israel-week-2013/ http://beachhillel.org/2013/04/12/israel-week-2013/#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 18:18:50 +0000 Irene http://beachhillel.org/?p=1980 More >]]> Israel week begins next week. We will be celebrating Israel all week in honor of its 65th birthday. Each day, we will take a look into different parts of Israeli life.

April 15-18, 2013

 

11-2 @ The psych quad

4/15- Humanitarian Aid

Visit our table to learn about the emergency, agricultural, medical,and  educational assistance Israel provides for the world community.

4/16- Celebrate Israel’s 65th Birthday

Stop by and have some cake to celebrate Israel’s birthday

4/17- Innovations and Environment

Discover Israel’s innovation in the fields of biotechnology, communications, computing, as well as its efforts to protect the environment.

4/18- Diversity

Check out the diverse population that reside within Israel.

 

Off-campus

Yogurtland – 7th and Bellflower

6:30-7:30 Yom Ha’zikaron

In honor of Israel’s memorial day, we will be having a special conversation with our very own Nitzan Harel. Join us to hear her amazing story and experience.

 

 

Birthday on the Beach!

6:00-8:00

Belmont Shore, Granada entrance

We’re going to continue celebrating Israel’s birthday with some beach fun! There will be some music, snacks, and games.

 

Taglit-Birthright Israel night at Sababa

6:30pm 6527 E. Pacific Coast Highway Long Beach CA. 90803

Calling Taglit-Birthright Israel alumni! Join Beach Hillel at Sababa Lounge in Long Beach to meet up with old friends, make some new ones, and share stories of your Israel experience.

 

“Noodle”

845 Kallin Ave, Long Beach CA 90815

7pm-9pm

Come join Beach Hillel for an Israeli movie night. Enjoy this Israeli award-winning film and see the diversity of Israel while eating delicious Chinese food.

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2013/04/12/israel-week-2013/feed/ 0 How I Became Jewlicious http://beachhillel.org/2013/04/08/how-i-became-jewlicious/ http://beachhillel.org/2013/04/08/how-i-became-jewlicious/#comments Mon, 08 Apr 2013 18:11:55 +0000 Chelsea http://beachhillel.org/?p=1976 More >]]> As told by: Chelsea Ferguson

Festivals and crowds of people I don’t know have never really been my ‘thing’. On top of that, people kept telling me the Queen Mary is haunted – which is also not really my ‘thing’. However, after going to my second Jewlicious Festival, I find myself wondering how much it would cost to fly back to Long Beach and attend next year’s Jewlicious Festival.  And this only a little bit has to do with the fact that I did not encounter any ghosts while staying aboard the beautiful and not at all haunted Queen Mary.

As a senior at Cal State Long Beach, I have long been aware that there was an infamous gathering of Jewish youth and professionals that happened annually in our city. I’ve heard stories upon stories of amazing and sometimes unreal-sounding experiences that range from getting zero sleep for three days-straight to having a life-changing epiphany while in a heated discussion with a Rabbi at 2am (I’m sure you’re seeing a pattern here…). Now, as I mentioned before, I was never really interested in not sleeping and getting in arguments with Rabbis and so I stayed away for a few years, which is something I now mildly regret.

This past weekend was my first time back at Jewlicious Festival  in a few years and certainly my first time attending on the Queen Mary. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t absolutely nervous and even stressed about it. Who will I meet? Will my friends be there? Are people going to be nice? Are they just trying to convert me and get me to be more religious? What If I don’t want to pray all the time? As I checked into my room on Friday, these and many other questions were running through my head. The biggest, though, was ‘What in the world did I just get myself into?’. Lucky for me though, I had gotten myself into something very good indeed.

Not only is everyone a little nervous on Friday, as it turns out, but everyone wants to make a friend, too. So as I wandered around the boat, hopelessly lost and still pretty sure I may see a ghost, people reached out and talked to me. I ended up looking for rooms and going to talks with new friend after new friend and absolutely everyone I passed in the hallways said “Hello.” Just like that, a community of Jewlicious Festival-goers had been built. And we hadn’t even had dinner yet.

As a camp counselor, I couldn’t help but think Jewlicious Festival is like camp for young adults. Other than the fact that we are fed and entertained all day, camp is the only other place I have ever been with a community this intense in this short of a time. It doesn’t matter what we had been doing with our lives up until this point, because simply by arriving we all had something huge in common and to bond over.

Every Jewlicious Festival event, crowd and experience is different. The talks you attend and the activities you do will change every year and be different for every person. But there are a few things I feel happen at every Jewlicious Festival regardless of who you are and what you’re doing.  First, is that food will be provided every hour of every day.  Second, is that Rockstar will be provided every hour of every day. Third, you will walk away with a new friend, whether or not you are trying to make new friends. Going through an eye-opening and new experience is one of the strongest bonds humans can have and, just by being on that boat for the weekend, you automatically have things in common with people around you. Fourth, you will learn something new. I learned about myself and my comfort levels in making new friends, but others shared with me their life lessons that included things like their future job career and new hobbies. Fifth, and finally, you will do something new. And that, is not an opportunity that comes around very often.

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2013/04/08/how-i-became-jewlicious/feed/ 0 Pizza fit for Passover! http://beachhillel.org/2013/03/29/pizza-fit-for-passover/ http://beachhillel.org/2013/03/29/pizza-fit-for-passover/#comments Fri, 29 Mar 2013 17:20:32 +0000 Chelsea http://beachhillel.org/?p=1956 More >]]> Beach Hillel hosted a wonderful Kosher for Passover lunch yesterday: matzah pizza! We all got together in the Multicultural Center at CSULB to talk about the story of Passover and how it still relates to us today and, of course, eat some pizza!

Rabbi Drew speaking about slavery


As each of us got down to making our own matzah pizzas, Rabbi Drew began a discussion of slavery and manumission, or the lack thereof, in today’s society. It was fascinating, to be sure! It’s not often we plunge into topics that seem so in the past, but turn out to be impacting us even today. We even had some visitors from Project Nur come speak to us about getting involved and creating equality for everyone. It was a very eye-opening – and delicious – lunch!

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2013/03/29/pizza-fit-for-passover/feed/ 0 Legacy of Leadership Gala http://beachhillel.org/2013/02/02/legacy-of-leadership-gala/ http://beachhillel.org/2013/02/02/legacy-of-leadership-gala/#comments Sun, 03 Feb 2013 00:37:26 +0000 Chelsea http://beachhillel.org/?p=1951 More >]]> Beach Hillel students got dressed to the nines to represent our wonderful program last Sunday at the Legacy of Leadership Gala hosted by the Long Beach Jewish Community Partnership. Students were able to mingle with Long Beach’s finest to share their own experiences in Hillel and hear about the amazing experiences their predecessors had in the Jewish world. Students got to learn from wonderful speakers and even got a laugh from a comedian throughout the dinner. Everyone had a wonderful time, to be sure!

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2013/02/02/legacy-of-leadership-gala/feed/ 0 Kicken’ it with Hillel! http://beachhillel.org/2012/09/12/kicken-it-with-hillel/ http://beachhillel.org/2012/09/12/kicken-it-with-hillel/#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2012 00:55:48 +0000 Chelsea http://beachhillel.org/?p=1894 More >]]>

On Sunday a HUGE group of us met up at Whaley park to kick off our year right- with some kick-ball! It was an intense game full of home run kicks and amazing catches but in the true spirit of bonding everyone won! We all paused to eat some delicious hot dogs and hamburgers grilled by our very own Rachel Kaplan and it wasn’t long before a new game began- except it wasn’t kick-ball. Ultimate frisbee became the new highlight of the night and it was played up until the sun went down. It was a great way to start off the new school year and end the year (according to the Hebrew calendar). We’d love to see this much enthusiasm at every one of our events so keep coming out and showing your Hillel spirit!

 

Some action shots

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2012/09/12/kicken-it-with-hillel/feed/ 0 Matzah Pizza On Campus http://beachhillel.org/2011/05/05/matzah-pizza-on-campus/ http://beachhillel.org/2011/05/05/matzah-pizza-on-campus/#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 00:09:18 +0000 Rabbi Drew http://beachhillel.org/?p=1562 More >]]> In the midst of the Passover holiday, Beach Hillel provided Jewish students with a kosher for Passover lunch to enjoy between classes. Two weeks ago on 21 April, Beach Hillel held a matzah pizza-making opportunity in the Multicultural Center at lunchtime, which was excellently located, as student Nitzan Harel said, “I don’t have to go anywhere: I finish class, I come into here, then I go and do something else; it’s perfect.”
The free lunch was greatly appreciated, especially by those who struggled to observe Passover’s special culinary rules. The event was held in the Multi-Cultural Center, a central and accessible location on campus with great resources for students of all ethnicities and religions. Students enjoyed matzah pizzas while schmoozing with each other and taking a well-deserved break between classes and studying.
For some students, it was their first time having matzah pizza, such as Nitzan, as well as student Audi Fuhr: “I’m happy to have had matzah pizza for the first time. And it’s cool to make it on campus. It was a good break for the day.”
For some students, like second-year student Devora Ebriani, they thought they wouldn’t be able to eat anything during the day, but “Thanks to Hillel, I had a kosher for Passover lunch when I thought I would have to starve today. It was awesome.”
Beach Hillel is fortunate to be able to provide essential holiday programming to students.

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2011/05/05/matzah-pizza-on-campus/feed/ 0 Protesting Neturei Karta at CSULB http://beachhillel.org/2011/05/04/protesting-neturei-karta-at-csulb/ http://beachhillel.org/2011/05/04/protesting-neturei-karta-at-csulb/#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 16:45:17 +0000 Rabbi Drew http://beachhillel.org/?p=1554 More >]]>

Yesterday, Rabbi Drew created and had made up posters protesting Neturei Karta spokesman Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, who spoke at CSULB. Speaking on “Zionism vs. Judaism: The Cause of Mid-East Unrest”, Rabbi Weiss’ talk was held by the MSA. Rabbi Drew was joined by students in sending a message that Neturei Karta’s views on Israel and Zionism are not representative of world Jewry.

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2011/05/04/protesting-neturei-karta-at-csulb/feed/ 1 Kalkidan Performs at CSULB http://beachhillel.org/2011/04/12/kalkidan-performs-at-csulb/ http://beachhillel.org/2011/04/12/kalkidan-performs-at-csulb/#comments Wed, 13 Apr 2011 01:57:11 +0000 Rabbi Drew http://beachhillel.org/?p=1545 Yesterday, Tel Aviv based, Ethiopian-Israeli Reggae Hip-Hop Artist, Kalkidan performed at California State University, Long Beach as part of the Jewlicious Hip-Hop N’ Happening Tour. Beach Hillel along with Jewlicious and the Consulate General of Israel – Los Angeles presented the performance. More pictures from the performance can be seen here.

]]> http://beachhillel.org/2011/04/12/kalkidan-performs-at-csulb/feed/ 0 Beach Hillel Launches Basic Hebrew Class http://beachhillel.org/2011/03/01/beach-hillel-launches-basic-hebrew-class/ http://beachhillel.org/2011/03/01/beach-hillel-launches-basic-hebrew-class/#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:10:50 +0000 Rabbi Drew http://beachhillel.org/?p=1510 More >]]> Starting today, Beach Hillel will be launching a 6-week Basic Hebrew course taught & led by Rabbi Drew along with student Nitzan Harel.  The goal of the class is to prepare students to be able to follow along with the Hebrew in the Passover seder next month. Any students are welcome and need not be Jewish. The class will be taking place on Tuesdays in March and April at 1 PM in the CSULB University Interfaith Center (Brotman Hall 178). No registration is required for the class, nor are there any fees.
The dates of the course are 1, 8, 15, and 22 March and 5 and 12 April.

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