Why I Love Being Jewish Part 1

Last week was a blast thanks to all the fabulous events in honor of Israel's 61st Birthday! OSU Hillel set out to find out why students love being Jewish at Hillel's Yom Ha'atzmaut festival.

Celebrity Lookalike at OSU Hillel

Remember the Rugrats?

At OSU Hillel, we're lucky to have our own version of Tommy Pickles.

His name?

Rami "Pickles" Kopans

and he looks forward to seeing you at Shabbat this week! Services start at 6 p.m., and a FREE and very delish Shabbat dinner follows at 7 p.m. 

See you there!

Passover Survival Guide

So we are all many days deep into Passover 2009 and I have one thing to say: I'm really hungry! I don't know what changed between last year's passover and now but I must eat a lot more carbs because losing all of them from my diet has left me starving. In light of my growling belly, I wanted to put a few words to how I plan to survive the end of this Passover season.

1. Matzah Recipes
I am sure no one is surprised that I am suggesting that you use Matzah in replace of bread but I still want to point out three of my favorite Matzah recipes. First, Matzah Pizza! As you can see, this pizza pie looks very appetizing and it even has a website.

Second, Peanut Butter and Matzah! Basically you take your favorite peanut butter and jelly and smear it between two giant cardboard crackers. Watch out for salmonella though!!

Third, Matzah and hummus! This really is the most normal thing on the entire list. Especially when you consider my daily intake of hummus during the non-passover parts of the year.

2. Vegetables

Not all surprisingly these are good for passover and will be making up 90% of what I eat for the next four days. This is not great cause I get sick of veggies quick. If anyone has suggestions please let me know.

3. Coffee

Although this sounds really bad, drink enough coffee and you won't be as hungry. Disclaimer: I am not suggesting that anyone do this I am just saying I will be doing this!

4. Matzah Ball Soup

A classic Jew dish. If it didn't make my list what kind of Jew would I be? Besides Mommy Bowen sent me home with enough matzah ball soup goodness to get me though the long Passover season. Yummmm!

5. Rice (optional?)

I just found out that some people don't eat rice for Passover. This boggles my mind so I am going to eat rice anyway. Besides, this way I can still get Chipotle and be good with the Big Guy.

Do you have any time-tested Passover Survival Tips? Let us know in the comments below.

Shalom,

Kevin

It's a Pesach Party!

Keeping K4P (Kosher for Passover) and don't know where to go? Tired of your standard meal of matzo and ..... matzo? Than head on over to OSU Hillel for the remainder of your Passover meals!

Lunch is served in the cafe from 11 am to 1 pm, Dinner is from 5pm to 7pm.

All you need to do is register by clicking here.

While we're on the subject of Pesach, here are some pictures from last week's fantastic seders at Hillel!

What is Twitter?

Recently, I feel like one question comes up over and over again: "What is this Twitter?"

For my first post here at Hillel OSU, I thought I would go ahead and take a stab at answering that question. First off I want to set some things straight: Twitter is NOT the same as your Facebook status!!! Twitter is designed for a completely different purpose than Facebook and those of you who really love Facebook probably will have a hard time finding a use for Twitter.

According to Twitter, Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets", to your friends, or "followers." See Twitter is really focused on making all of your thoughts into 140 characters and is focused on being used on your cell phone using SMS (text messaging).

In practice, Twitter users utilize the tweat format to send what they are thinking, reading, or doing in a way that is interactive to their followers. For example, say you were walking home from class and wanted to catch lunch with a friend (who is following you on Twitter). You could tweat: "on my way home from class and wanna get chipotle. anyone up for a burrito?" Persuamably one of your friends who has twitter updates sent to their phones could see this and give you a call. So Twitter could get you a lunch date!

Twitter is also useful if you want information on the go that is relatively short in nature. For example, I am on campus and really wanna know box scores to MLB games as they happen. Well, I can search for MLB scores as a user on Twitter (a good one is mlb_scores) and begin to follow that user. As games are final, this user updates us with the score as well as the teams records. These records can be sent to your cell phone assuming that you have let Twitter know what your number is. All you have to do is text 40404 the following "ON mlb_scores". That way you will know that final score to games the minute that they happen. This user is also really cool because they let you know if a game was postponed. Pretty cool huh? You could also do this with the New York Times and be really up on the news throughout the day. **A word to the wise: Twitter does not charge you for the SMS service but your CELL PHONE PROVIDER may. Check with them if you are on a restricted messaging plan**

The real power to Twitter is that it is so portable and is a great way to get what you are thinking out to your friends so that they can either join or be made aware. Let's say that you were walking on campus earlier this week and saw the abortion people's pictures. As a concerned friend, you may want to send out a tweak saying: "abortion pictures next to arps. if you are feeling queesy probably should find another way to class" In this way Twitter becomes a public service. Or if you were at a great Hillel event (there is the shout out for LeighAnn) you could tweat: "at hillel for the Israeli speaker this guy is fascinating you should stop by" And you friends who are without an amazing Israeli speaker can come join you at Hillel.

If you go to Twitter.com, the registration is really simple and it is pretty easy to add a mobile phone to your account. I am going to work on another post about how to use Twitter like a champ but for now I encourage to get on and explore what Twitter has to offer. My Twitter username is kbowen327 and I promise that I will follow anyone who asks to follow me (that way you can 'exist' in the Twitter world).

Shabbat Shalom

Kevin Bowen

Here is a really good beginner's guide to Twitter from one of my favorite blogs (The New York Times)

Purim Purim Purim

Hillel had their amazing Purim party this week.

Students got to dance, devour kosher WHITE CASTLE, sing like crazy, and blow off some steam pre-finals.

It was a fabulous time had by all!

Don't believe me?

See for yourself:

Candy Carnival

Who knew a bounce house could fit in Hillel's auditorium?

Who knew a clown hung out at Hillel?

Who knew you could get a pie in the face,

cotton candy,
A Shuga-serenade,

and a painted face
all at Hillel?

I'll tell you who knew: Starfish and The Boys and Girls Club who had a blast last night at OSU Hillel's Candy Carnival!

“The true harvest of my life is intangible - a little star dust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched”--Thoreau

Have you ever seen a rainbow?


This one was over Columbus yesterday.

Jewish tradition teaches us that, upon seeing a rainbow, we recite a bracha:
ברוך אתה יהוה עלוהינו מלך העולם, זוכר הברית ונאמן בבריתו, וקים במאמר.וֹ

Blessed are you, Adonai, our G-D, ruler of the Universe, who remembers his covenant, is trustworthy in his covenant, and fulfills his word.

We recite this blessing as a reminder of the first rainbow that appeared after Noah's flood.

Celeb look alike of the week

Look!!!!!
It's OSU Hillel Staff Member Seth Preminger!!

Wait a sec..that's not him! That's Adrian Pasdar from Heroes.

Here's Seth:



Whadd'ya think, were these handsome dudes separated at birth?

This week's celeb look a like was brought to you by Rabbi LeighAnn. Have you found a celebrity double walking on OSU campus?
If so, contact Blair Stanley (stanley.189@osu.edu) immediately!!

Big Mensch on Campus

Announcing this week's
Big

Mensch

on Campus...

President Gordon Gee!

Happy Birthday, President Gee.
And thanks for the snow day. <3

"Gordon Gee is truly a mensch because he makes a sincere effort to get to know every group on campus, from the fraternities to the clubs to the athletes. He makes everyone feel like they are an important part of the university and that adults can be cool too."
~Sarah Greenberg

Celeb Look-a-Like of the Week

There are celebrities at Ohio State!

Well..not really, but some really do look like famous people. Take Rabbi LeighAnn for example:

Doesn't she look like Lauren Ambrose (actress from TV's Six Feet Under and Can't Hardly Wait)?

Any people you know who remind you of a celebrity. Email Blair at stanley.189@osu.edu and give them their 15 minutes of fame.

Do-gooders with puppies

We have a name for do-gooders here are Hillel.

It's "Starfish."
Starfish is our very own student-inspired and run community service group.
Starfish allows you to enhance the community around you while helping your own life flourish.
Sound awesome? (because it is)
To get involved, contact Samantha at bloom.85
And, for your viewing pleasure, some photos of Starfish helping puppies and kittens.
(Yes, that's right. Helping puppies. and kittens. How could you not want to participate?)

Big Mensch on Campus

Introducing our Big Mensch on Campus* for the week of January 26, 2009....

(drumroll, please....)

MAX DAVIS!!!

Max is the very embodiment of menschlikeit. Read what his friends and family have to say about what makes him such a big mensch:

He surprised his beautiful (but injured) girlfriend, Vicki, by coming to Shabbat! he made her day brighter, and it was one of the cutest Shabbat moments to happen at Hillel this year. ~Elle Muhlbaum

I am very proud of my title as Max's cousin. He has always ALWAYS been there for me. Why is Max Davis a mesch? He is a Davis. He can lead one kick-ass Passover Seder and make the most boring services entertaining. I couldn't be more proud of him. ~Marla "Cuz" Davis


Max is a great guy because he always greets you with a big hello and a smile. ~Seth "Grand Poombaa" Preminger

Max is one of the kindest people I know, which makes it so easy to admire him. He's the most reliable, sweetest, and funniest person, which is why so many people think he's a great big mensch! ~Vicki "the girlfriend" Zavin

I have know Max since sophomore year and can only sum him up in a comment he made in class inquiring why we were bothering to learn accounting since we would probably be replaced by robots eventually anyway? ~Kevin Bowen

__
*Nominate your mensch to Rabbi Leigh Ann at kopans.4

Meet the Meshuganotes!

Hey everybody!!!

Have you heard of the Meshuganotes?

We're the only co-ed Jewish a capella group on OSU campus, and

we just got back to Columbus from a performance-packed weekend in Cleveland! We had a great time road-tripping across the winter wonderland that is northern Ohio, and we've returned to Columbus just in time to promote our newest adventure:

The Meshuganotes have entered a contest to be on a SafeAuto commercial!

Starting tomorrow, Monday, January 19th, and continuing until March 20th, you can visit www.dothejingle.com to watch a video of the "Shugs" singing our version of the SafeAuto jingle, and vote for us to be on the commercial! Nothing would be more hilarious (or awesome) than the Meshuganotes being on a paid TV ad for cheap car insurance, so make sure you vote, and tell all your friends to "play it safe!"

Shalom L'Kulam!

שלום לכולם!

Shalom l'kulam (everyone)!

Welcome to the first post of the Israel Dispatch on OSU Hillel's blog! Stay tuned for updates on Hillel's Israel programs, pictures from Israel and around campus from Israel activities, and general updates on everyone's favorite Jewish homeland!

Interested in getting involved in Israel programs? Contact Kasa Bayisin (kasanesh@gmail.com) at Hillel and she'd love to get you started! We also have a great team of interns and involved students, so feel free to ask any of them!

Want to be active with Israel on a weekly basis? Come to Hebrew for Beginners and Advanced Students every week! No matter the purpose - help with homework, learn how to order dinner in Hebrew to impress your Israeli date, or become fluent in conversational Hebrew. (Need another incentive? It's free and we'll have snacks!)

• For beginners, come on TUESDAY nights at 6:30 p.m. (in the Bagel Cafe!)
  
• For more advanced, come on WEDNESDAY nights at 7:00 p.m. (also in the Bagel Cafe!)

And now for the Hebrew Word of the Week!
שלג (she-leg) = snow (something we've had quite a lot of lately!)

Chef Chris

For those of you who don't frequent this Hillel cafe, you are not aware of the AWESOMENESS that is inside. Not only is it a fun place to hang out, get homework done, or stay warm, there is also one more reason to visit.

His name is Chris and he is the Chef and Jack of All Trades at the Hillel Cafe. Chef Chris is now in his fourth year of working at the Hillel cafe and he loves it! His favorite thing about working at the Hillel Cafe is not only the fact that he gets Saturdays off, but also that he can be a friend and mentor to all the students that he sees each day.

He will tell you stories of the restaurant industry, talk about the most recent sporting event (GO BUCKS!), or just talk about life. Anything you want.

All in all, if you have yet to visit the Hillel cafe, you must, for the food, the fun, and of course Chef Chirs! See y'all soon.

P.s The Chocolate Chip Frech Toast is the Best in the Land!

Starfish meeting tonight

This is how you feel today:

This is how you'll feel after tonight's Starfish meeting:

Tonight at 6pm @ Hillel, join Sam Bloom (bloom.85@osu.edu) for the first Starfish meeting of the quarter. You'll learn about how you can help at upcoming community service events including:
A visit to an animal shelter - Jan 25th and February 22nd at Noon
JCC Lead and Read - February 2nd, 16th, and March 2nd at 3:45 pm
And an AIDS Awareness program which will tentatively be on February 19th at 7:30 pm.

ZBT - one of the holiest houses at OSU

Brandon Strull, basking in the glory of his brand new,

totally FREE mezuzah.

But what is a mezuzah?
(I'm glad you asked.)

It's the primary indicator of a Jewish home.
(It doesn't make a home Jewish, but it says that a Jew lives there)
It fulfills a commandment in Deuteronomy 6 to "write [the commandments] on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."
Some Jews believe that it has protective powers.
And you can get one from Hillel.
FOR FREE.
(Contact Rabbi Leigh Ann - 294-4797 kopans.4)

And..we're back

Ahh! So after a much needed rest and relaxation, winter quarter at OSU is about to begin, and with a new quarter brings new events at OSU Hillel.

While you're in the midst of first week stresses, just remember that everyday this week OSU Hillel is open and is hosting fun events all around campus.

Click here to view this month's calendar.

Some highlights of this week include:
Challah baking in the dorms on Wednesday
And..the first Shabbat of the quarter.

Want to receive notive when this blog is updated? Than click here and you'll be all set!