PICNIC IN THE RAIN??

Hi,

First - thank you to those of you who were literally among the hundreds of
students to visit the Hillel table at the Organization Fair.  We are
ordering more giveaways for those who did not get them, because we ran
out.

Today is our "Meet and Greet the New Students Picnic, " and we hope the
new students will come by to be greeted!  The picnic is scheduled from 4-6
PM on the grass right in front on Mundelein Center on the south side right
after the Sheridan Road curve.

However, in case rain that is predicted really comes - we will move the
picnic upstairs to Hillel and the hallway outside of Hillel.  In case you
have not yet visited - Hillel is on the second floor of Mundelein Center.

If you reserved tickets for Cirque Shanghai - we will walk to the Red
Line, take it to Grand Street, and there is a free trolley that goes from
the Grand Street el stop right to Navy Pier.  We plan to leave at 6:30 PM.

We look forward to seeing you today - rain or shine!
_______________________________________________

Parshat Hashavua : Parashas Shoftim

Shalom Uvracha;
  This weeks Parsha reveals to us the importance of reading the simple
signs from HaShem when in the course of life we need directing.

  Be sure to read and enjoy.

  Have a good week and Shabbat full of peace and renewal.


    בס''ד

  Parashas Shoftim

  I.  Following the Road Signs of Halachah
  "You should prepare the way…that every murderer shall flee there.."
(Devarim 19:3)


  It was incumbent upon the Children of Israel to set aside special cities
in Israel for accidental murderers to seek refuge in.  According to the
Torah, the deceased's next of kin are legally permitted to avenge the death
and kill the murderer, unless he reached the safe haven of one of these
cities.  The Torah commands B'nei Yisrael to "prepare the way" (ibid).  This
commandment requires that the beis din – court – makes sure that there
are adequate road signs to direct the murderer to the nearest city of
refuge.  The Talmud (Makkos 10b) quotes Rav Chama bar Chanina:  "If for the
wicked, (Hashem) shows [them the path, to save them from harm], then
certainly for the righteous."  Apparently, Hashem always places "road signs"
to show us the direction we should take in life to save us from harm.  Where
are those road signs and how do we ascertain what they mean?
  The Gemara teaches us that just as Hashem is concerned for the murderer
and wants him to easily find his way, He also supplies us with signs to
point us in the right direction.  The accidental murderer can find his way
to the city of refuge by following the road signs; we can determine what to
do when our lives reach a fork in the road by analyzing what the Torah and
halachah require of us.  If, at almost any given moment, we look into the
Shulchan Aruch, we will find information to help us decide our course of
action.  This can be seen in the famous incident of Yaakov Avinu's dream of
angels ascending and descending a ladder that reached into heaven.  When
Yaakov awoke, he realized that he was on the site of the Holy Temple and he
exclaimed, "If so, Hashem is in this place, and I didn't know" (Bereishis
28:16).  Rashi explains Yaakov's statement, "Had I known, I would not have
slept in such a holy place."
  Had Yaakov known that he was on the Temple site, he would have been faced
with a difficult decision: to temporarily defile the future spot of the Holy
Temple in order to receive an important prophecy, or to move on, find other
lodgings and possibly miss the chance of having his future revealed to him.
Yaakov's statement testifies that he would have made his decision by
examining the halachah and he would not have slept on the Temple site, even
if that meant losing the chance for a special prophecy.
  The force of halachah applies to us, and shows us the proper direction in
life, at all times and in all circumstances.  Yaakov would have forsaken the
prophecy that told him his future rather than do something against halachah.
Our conviction to follow halachah will determine how difficult, or how
easy, it is for us to recognize our own individualized "road signs".  The
greater our storehouse of Torah knowledge and halachah is, the easier it
will be for us to find the proper path through the winding and often
comfusing roads of life.
  The murderer may find it difficult to find his way as he attempts to
elude his pursuers on a strange and unfamiliar road.  Had the city of refuge
been near his hometown the directions would have been easy for him to
follow.  The more we find ourselves at home in Torah, the simpler it will be
for us to chart our course in life.

  II.  Chesed – The Power to Save a Life
  "…And they shall speak and say:  "Our hands have not shed this
blood…" (Devarim 21:7)
  When the body of a murder victim is found between two cities, the Elders
of the closest city must perform the eglah arufah ceremony.  (In this
ceremony, the neck of a calf is broken.  This acts as an atonement for the
death (Rashi) and raises public awareness of the death so that witnesses
will come forward to testify [Sefer HaChinuch].)   The Elders must then say
that they did not kill this man.  Rashi points out that we, obviously, do
not suspect the Elders of murdering him.  The declaration is that they did
not see the victim or allow him to leave without food or escort out of the
city.
  It is apparent from Rashi that the Torah is equating negligence in
feeding or escorting a guest with murder.  We can understand how failure to
provide the proper sustenance to a traveler can be the indirect cause of his
meeting an untimely death on his voyage.  But how could the Elders be
responsible for his demise, even in the slightest way, if all they neglected
was escorting him out of town?
  Escorting someone as he leaves your home does not physically aid him –
it shows sensitivity for your guest and underscores the fact that you care
for his well-being.  The Torah, with this mitzvah of eglah arufah, is
teaching us that merely giving moral support and displaying concern for a
friend's welfare is as important as feeding him and taking care of his
physical requirements.  Had the Elders not escorted their guest it would
have been, literally a "life and death" issue.
  We can now comprehend the awesome responsibility and tremendous power
inherent in the mitzvah of chesed – kindness.  If the Elders of the town
had not fed the wayfarer, the Torah would have considered it tantamount to
murder.  On the other hand, merely walking a block with the traveler would
have instilled within him the courage – the home court advantage – to
meet and beat any challenge waiting for him on his way.
  Hashem implanted within each of us an amazing power – chesed.  This
power gives us the strength to save a life with merely a smile.  Showing
warmth and kindness to any Jew, certainly our friends and family, is much
more than a common decency – it is a responsibility.

This Week at Hillel

In this issue... Visit Us on Campus Columbia College Meeting DePaul Back to School Bagels IIT Hillel Meeting Heeb Storytelling Chicago DePaul Hillel Grand Opening Time to PARTY! Save the Dates Get Paid to Learn Interfaith Youth Core Project Check These Out... DePaul Hillel High Holiday Services Rosh Hashanah Sept. 22nd&23rd Yom Kippur Oct. 1st&2nd. 2250 N. Sheffield Ave Room 120B (Kol Nidre will be held at 800 W. Belden Ave. at 6:30p.m. on Oct. 1st) Evening Services: 6:30p.m. Morning Services: 10:00a.m. Services are free and open to the public RSVP to Emily FREE TRIP TO ISRAEL Taglit birthright-israel Registration Opens September 12th Pre-Register This Week at Hillel Check it Out... August 2006 Shalom! Welcome to Hillels Around Chicago's E-Newsletter. We'll have all the information you need for upcoming events and exciting things happening on campus and off. We're looking forward to an exciting year ahead with many great adventures planned! See you on campus. HAC has a new staff member! David Chack will be working with our downtown schools: Roosevelt, the Art Institute and Columbia to bring exciting arts based programming to campus. Please feel free to e- mail David at DavidChack@juf.org or call him at 312- 673-2350 and say SHALOM! David Y. Chack has been doing Jewish culture and creating performing arts for over twenty years. His passion is in exploring culture and how it impacts/intersects with all the arts � film, writing, performance, graphic and fine arts, virtual, and more. Recently he has been with the Melton Schools of North America - project of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival; and the JCC of Louisville. Along with doing Special Projects for Hillels Around Chicago with arts colleges in the Loop, he is doing Project Development for the Israeli based global website All About Jewish Theatre www.jewish- theatre.com He studied at the University of Maryland, New York University, Circle-in-the-Square Theatre on Broadway, Tufts University, and Boston University and continues to see his mentor, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel. His many teaching credits in Jewish Culture and Performing Arts include: Emerson College, Tufts University, Boston University, The University of Virginia, Louisville Melton School, and the Morasha Program in Northbrook, IL. -Emily Visit Us on Campus Student Organization Fairs Stop by and see Emily, Misha or David at the organization fairs. Oakton: (DP) Aug. 29th (Skokie) Aug. 30th IIT: Aug. 30th & Sept. 6th Columbia: August 31st SAIC: Sept. 5th DePaul:(LPC) Sept. 10th (Loop) Sept. 13th Roosevelt: Sept. 20th Check your student activities websites for times and locations. For more info on NEIU, Oakton, or DePaul contact Emily at ebriskma@depaul. edu or 773-325-8650. For more info on Columbia, SAIC or Roosevelt please contact David at davidchack@juf.org or 312-673-2350. For more information on IIT or Russian Hillel please contact Misha at mishazilbermint @juf.org or 312-673-2359. Columbia College Meeting What's Happening? We'll be meeting right before Convocation to talk about our awesome year we have coming up. Come by to say hello and give us any brilliant ideas you had over the summer! Thursday Aug. 31st 10:30a.m. Contact Debbie for location E-mail Debbie DePaul Back to School Bagels COME SEE OUR NEW SPACE There's nothing like a bagel to cure the back to school blues. Stop by Hillel to grab a bagel and schmooze with new friends and old. Tell us all about your summer and we'll hook you up with some awesome shmear! Wednesday Sept. 6th DePaul Hillel: Student Center Room 340 (2250 N. Sheffield) 11-3 Contact Emily for more info IIT Hillel Meeting Come hang out Stop by, say hello, and hang out while we discuss the upcoming year and plan some awesome events. Never been to Hillel before? Just come check us out and see what it's all about. Thursday Sept. 7th 12:40p.m. Blue Room in MCC E-mail Misha for more info Heeb Storytelling Chicago Heeb's traveling road show hits Chicago, featuring Ray Hanania (journalist, humorist), Kevin Coval (author, Slingshots: A Hip Hop Poetica), Triplette (sketch group, triplette.net), Idris Goodwin (MC, playwright), Amy Krouse Rosenthal (author, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life), Rebecca Wiener (editor, Heeb Magazine) and Aaron Freeman (humorist, NPR, HuffingtonPost, 52sabbaths.blospot.org). Wednesday Sept. 13th 8:00p.m. The Second City etc Theatre 1608 N. Wells St. (Pipers Alley) $5 Suggested Donation RSVP to David DePaul Hillel Grand Opening Celebrate DePaul Hillel is celebrating the opening of our beautiful space for this academic year. Please commemorate this occasion with us, Father Holtschneider (DePaul's President),University administration, and members of the Jewish community. Wednesday Sept. 13th 4-6p.m. Student Lounge Room 120 (next to Brownstones) 2250 N. Sheffield Ave. RSVP to Emily Time to PARTY! Welcome Back HAC Got the back to school blues? We can solve that! It's time to break out those bowling shoes and take them for a spin at Seven Ten with HAC. Over 21? We've got unlimited wells and beer for just the cost of entry. Thursday Sept. 14th Seven Ten Lounge 2747 N. Lincoln Ave. 6:30-9:30p.m. Under 21-$12 Over 21- $15 RSVP to Emily Save the Dates Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema: Sept. 7- 17th www.ChicagoFestivalofIsraeliCinema.org DePaul Hillel Welcome Back Picnic: Sept. 18th NEIU Open House Meeting: Sept. 19th Dishing: Sept. 20th Get Paid to Learn Mini-Maimonides at DePaul The goal of the Maimonides Leaders Fellowship is to empower Jewish university students with the wisdom, knowledge and understanding of their rich heritage, establishing well educated leaders on campus and in their future communities. Participants will enjoy entriguing discussion led by Rabbi Zev Kahn, presentations by knowledgeable communal leaders, as well as exciting field trips exploring the highlights of the Chicago Jewish community. Beginning Mondays Sept. 18th DePaul Hillel Room 340 Contact Rabbi Zev Kahn at zevkhan@jeteam. com for more information. Click Here to Apply Interfaith Youth Core Project plan interfaith service projects The Interfaith Youth Core runs a Chicago-based program called the Chicago Youth Council. This is a small group of high school students and college student mentors who spend the school year planning interfaith service projects for the common good in the city of Chicago. This is the first year we are opening this program to university students outside DePaul University (where the program participants meet on a weekly basis). We have chosen to do this because of the nature of the Chicago Youth Council in the 2006-2007 school year. Each year the CYC designs and plans its own service experience and creates a highly innovative piece of media around this project (i.e children�s book, CD, DVD, Art on film, etc.) But this coming year we have added a twist . . . This coming year the CYC is Going Global! We have partnered with a group of students in Amman, Jordan and will be using all the fabulous technology we have at our finger tips to build a relationship with them as we both run interfaith projects in our respective cities. The hope is to travel to each others� countries next summer to see the results of our projects. Also, the IFYC will be making a feature length documentary about the CYC and their project! So, if you are interested in being a part of this group and can make the commitment I urge you to apply. I have attached the application to this email and we will be accepting them until the end of August. The program begins in September. This is a competitive application process as we are only taking 10 students this year so please take care in filling out your application. I look forward to hearing from you all soon. Contact Mariah Neuroth, IFYC Senior Program Director at mariah@ifyc.org for more info. Click Here to Apply Quick Links Hillels Around Chicago JUF/Federation Hillel International About Us Hillels Around Chicago: Multi-Campus Center, a partner in serving our community is supported by The Hillels of Illinois, the Jewish United Fund/ Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life email: hac@juf.org phone: 312-673-2352 web: http://www.hillelsaroundchicago.org

 

"CIRQUE" IS AUGUST 31!

Sorry for the confusion.

The Hillel Meet 'n Greet New Students Picnic from 4-6 PM and

"Cirque Shanghai" at 8 PM at the Skyline Stage at Navy Pier

are on

THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006.

ONE MORE TIME - THE CORRECT DATE IS THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2006.


SORRY, AGAIN FOR ANY CONFUSION.
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"Cirque Shanghai with Hillel!" AND FOOD!

Shalom,

As we prepare to start school tomorrow, we want to welcome the new
students as well as the returning students.  Hillel has planned a great
week of fun and food to start the year!


DO YOU WANT TO RESERVE A TICKET TO "CIRQUE SHANGHAI?"

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 2006

4-6 PM on the grass in front of Mundelein Center is a picnic in honor of
the new Loyola students.  Kosher Fried Chicken and all the trimmings!

8 PM at Navy Pier - Hit show "Cirque Shanghai" - a dazzling display of
balance!  Hillel is subsidizing tickets to the show to celebrate the new
school year.  (We will meet at Hillel at 6:30 PM to take the Red Line to
Navy Pier for the show.)

IF YOU ARE A NEW STUDENT - TICKETS ARE FREE!

IF YOU ARE NOT A NEW STUDENT - TICKETS ARE ONLY $10!

However, we need to know if you are coming to make sure we have enough
tickets.

Either sign-up in the Hillel office or email Patti Ray at pray@luc.edu.
Indicate if you are a new student.

We will distribute the tickets at Navy Pier; we are picking them up at the
Box Office.


NOW FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK!

Bagels for Breakfast all week at Hillel!  Fresh-made cream cheeses,
cereal, etc.  Breakfast will last all day!  MONDAY-FRIDAY

TUESDAY - PIZZA AND FALAFEL - What a combo!

WEDNESDAY - Organization Fair on Halas - 1-4 PM - Find Hillel's table and
get this year's Hillel giveaway!

THURSDAY - MAKE YOUR OWN KOSHER NACHOS for lunch!
"PICNIC TO MEET AND GREET NEW STUDENTS" 4-6 PM on Mundelein Lawn
"CIRQUE SHANGHAI" at NAVY PIER - 8 PM.



HIGHLIGHTS FOR NEXT WEEK - LOOKING AHEAD!

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 - "ISRAELI MOVIE/FONDUE NIGHT" - 5 PM - HILLEL
Award-winning Israeli comedy/drama "The Syrian Bride" - great fondue!

FRIDAY NIGHT, SEPTEMBER 8 - FIRST HILLEL SHABBAT DINNER - 6 PM - COFFEY
HALL, MCCORMICK LOUNGE (Shabbat and holiay dinners are free.)  After
dinner, some students will be walking to Emanuel Congregation for
services.  The Reform temple is only 3 blocks away.


WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THIS WEEK!
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