As large as the Jewish community in Toronto is, it can be really hard to find a place to go for passover if you are a student living away from home.  Hillel does it’s best to match up students with other students or with families in the area.  If you want to volunteer a place at your seder table, or you are looking for somewhere to go, email hanna.cohen@hilleltoronto.

On the rare days that things are slow at Hillel, all the staff share the random items that they’ve come across on the web over the last couple of weeks.  Here is a small sampling of our favourites.  Send us your recommendations or register as a contributor to the blog to share your faves.

We didn’t love the rap parts, but the rest was cool.

and here is another video…totally unrelated and perhaps inappropriate but we thought is was funny.  Click here to see the Dragonslayerz http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1904976

In the last few weeks, I’ve had a lot of people ask me, “So, what really going on at York,” and “How are students feeling about the situation”  so when I saw this video, I decided to post it.  I think it shows what student are feeling, and the comments on the youtube post give you a sense of the frustration at York and across this city.  Students on campus are also asking what they can do, so I’m encouraging everyone to  forward the video as a first step in raising awareness.  Hillel is working on a bunch of initiatives to help students deal with anti-Israel events on campus, and to help them to feel safe and proud of their Jewish identity.  Also check out www.peaceoncampus.ca

I just came from an amazing performance at Hart House at the University of Toronto.  YONA (Youth Outreach Network of the Arts) invited Neshama Carlebach to perform for an intimate audience.    YONA’s goal is to bring programming on campuses  “from darkness to light – from hatred to harmony” by bringing free unity concerts with amazing performers to campuses across Canada.

There were two moments that stood out for me.  First was Neshama’s performance of the song “Return Again” from her album Journey.  It was moving, and the audience dropped their guard and joined in for an amazing moment.  The second notable moment was when she re-told a story about her father and explained the meaning behind the title of her newest album “one and one”.  I’ll do my best to retell it here, but I hope that you’ll have the opportunity to hear Neshama in concert so you can hear her tell it in her own words.  Check her out on iTunes

Neshama recalls attending a meeting with her father many years ago.  At the end of the meeting a man approached her father, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach and said that he would love to write the story of the famous Rabbi’s life.  Rabbi Carleback responded “Brother, it sounds like a great idea, but let me ask you a question or two to see if we are on the same page”  “Sure”, replied the man.  “What is one plus one” asked the Rabbi?  “Two” the man responded.  Rabbi Carlebach then asked “What is one plus one plus one?”  The man responded with what seemed a reasonable answer “Three.”

“I’m sorry, I just don’t think this will work out” explained Rabbi Carlebach, and the man walked away puzzled.  Neshama explained that at the time, she too was puzzled by her father’s response.  Had the answers not been correct?  Rabbi Carlebach explained to his young daughter, “one plus one is One” and that “one plus one plus one and one, is still One.  When we come together, we are One.  When you and I are united, we are One.”  “What would it be like if today, one and one and one and one were One?” pondered Neshama.  With her hope and blessing for a renewed world where “one and one are still One” she continued in song.

It was amazing!  Kol HaKavod to Marcel Cohen the founder of YONA for bringing this event to campus.  If you want to know more about YONA, and would like to hear about upcoming events, you can email marcel@yonatalent.com.  Keep your eyes out for an upcoming event at York University.

See the original article here

Hillel at Sapir College in Israel sent an aid shipment to people in Gaza. The sign reads: "Hillel of Sapir – Gathering humanitarian equipment for Gaza."

As Israel has disengaged from Gaza, Hillel in Israel expanded its humanitarian work to help collect relief materials for residents of Gaza, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.

Eyal Mazliah, director of the Hillel at Sapir College, located in the rocket-damaged town of Sderot, agreed to help an organization reaching across the Gaza border. His kibbutz, Kfar Aza, serves as the local drop-off point for material despite the fact that mortars recently landed inside Mazliah’s small kibbutz from Gaza.

Sapir College’s Hillel had spent the past month gathering equipment for bomb shelters and running activities for children taking refuge in bomb shelters in Sderot. “When [the Gaza relief group] approached us for help, we already had many blankets and coats collected,” Mazliah said.

What did it feel like to help the population on the other side of the border?

“Look, even when your windows shake at night from the rocket attacks, you can see across the border that Gaza is dark for a month,” he explains. “You feel the humanitarian situation. Most people here say Hamas brought this upon them, but we’re still talking about children who we will have to live with in the future. The people who are closest to this should do the most. It’s a basic humanitarian act.”

From the Canadian Jewish News

At a time when the global media portrays IDF soldiers in a biased, inaccurate light, this article reveals another side of their story, one based on reality.

They arrived in Akko early that spring morning, an elite IDF paratrooper unit, exploring the narrow stone streets of this ancient seaside city. As part of their rigorous training, they had already learned how to navigate out in the field; now they had to run and navigate in an urban environment. So they found themselves in Akko, a city in which Arabs, Jews and Christians all manage to reside together. The old city walls that surround the port are remnants from the Crusader period. Centuries ago, Akko was the capital of the Latinate Kingdom of Palestine as it was then called. Ships from far-away Genoa, Pisa and Venice sailed into its harbor. Today the port is home only to small, simple fishing boats.

Divided up into groups, the paratroopers started glancing around to get their bearings. Though alike in their olive-green uniforms, with their M16’s casually dangling down their backs, one soldier stood out from the rest of his comrades. His name was Dov, which means ‘bear’ in Hebrew and for him, a most appropriate name. A huge bear of a young man, six foot four without his army boots, his wide shoulders and bulging muscles strained against the fabric of his extra-large uniform. Yet Dov was always cheerful, kind-hearted and popular with his fellow soldiers.

Just then a group of young Arab schoolchildren hurried past, chattering rapidly to one another.

“I wonder what they’re saying?” Yair, one of the soldiers, commented.

“They said if they’re late for school, they will be in trouble,” Dov replied.

“Since when do you know Arabic?” Tali laughed.

“I learned it in school, just like you did,” Dov told him.

“Okay, if you know Arabic so well, go talk to one of those school kids,” Yair challenged, “and we’ll listen into your conversation.”

“Sure,” Dov agreed amiably.

He noticed one tiny girl trailing slightly behind the rest of the schoolchildren. She must have been about five but small for her age, with olive skin and short black hair. A fragile little sparrow of a girl, yet she was spunky too. When this enormous Israeli soldier, whose M16 was almost the same size as she, suddenly squatted down in front of her, she seemed unperturbed. Her dark-bright eyes looked directly into his hazel ones.

“Hello, cutie, how are you today? My name is Dov. What’s your name?” he asked in fluent Arabic, using a soft, friendly tone.

The child smiled but did not reply.

“Let me guess your name then. Is it Fatima?”

The little girl shook her head.

“Could it be maybe, Hanan?”

She giggled. “No.”

“Mm, let me think then…is it Yasmin?”

“That’s my big sister’s name,” the child replied.

Dov’s knowledge of female Arabic names was exhausted. “I give up!” he exclaimed.

“My name is Cinderella,” the child announced proudly.

Dov laughed. “You’re joking! Is your name really Cinderella?”

“Yes,” she insisted. “That’s really my name.”

“Well, Cinderella, it was nice talking to you. Have a good day at school.”

Dov unfolded himself back to his towering height. The child scampered off, down the narrow stone street.

“Well, what do you have to say?” Dov turned to his friends with a smug smile.

“Now do you believe I can speak Arabic?”

“I guess you do,” Yair reluctantly admitted.

“Yeah, but you spoke only to a little kid. How hard was that?” Tali challenged.

But Dov was still following Cinderella with his eyes. Perhaps she sensed he was watching her for suddenly she turned, gave a quick grin and a wave of her small hand, whirled round again and smashed her head into a stone wall. She cried out in pain and in an instant Dov was beside her. He scooped her up, examined the bump on her forehead, gently wiped away her tears with his huge hand.

“Cinderella, don’t cry,” he murmured comfortingly. “It’s a big bump but it will feel better soon. I wish I had some ice to put on it. That’s what my mom did for my bumps when I was a little kid.”

Cinderella sniffed. “You bumped your head too?” she asked wonderingly.

Dov laughed. “Sure, my head may be big but I still get my share of bumps. We all do.

Tell me, would a candy help your head feel a bit better?” he asked, fishing inside his uniform pocket and offering her the sweet.

She nodded, blinking away her tears, and popped the candy into her mouth.

“Now tell me where your school is, Cinderella, and I’ll take you there.”

She pointed with a tiny finger. “Down that street.”

So Dov, the huge Israeli soldier with the M16 on his back and compassion in his eyes, gently carried his new little friend right to the gate of her school. Both were unaware how incongruous they looked. But to them at that moment it did not matter that he was an Israeli soldier and she was an Arab child, that their peoples were bitter enemies, at war with each other for the same piece of land. Cinderella’s uncle may admire suicide bombers, viewing them as holy martyrs. In her school, she might be taught to hate the man who had so tenderly carried her there. And yet perhaps she would remember him with fondness, as he no doubt would remember her…

The media was totally unaware of this event. CNN was not there to record it, British reporters did not witness the sight, the Peace Now movement was nowhere near. However, this story did come from a very reliable source – my own soldier son, who was there in the narrow streets of ancient Akko early that spring morning.

If you wish to express your support for IDF soldiers like Dov, whose lives are still on the line, email menucha@connectionsisrael.com

Another unbelievable young artist. Check out all the youtube clips.  If you have time you should check out the songs “Samson” “On the Radio” “Us” and “The Ghost of Corporate Future”  Really good!

Who knew Klezmer could be funky? Seriously! I think the dude needs to come to Toronto.