Meor at Yale

After barely any sleep, a week of outrageously fun and intense outdoor challenges, powerfully deep concepts, real character building, incredible bonding with incredible people, and outstanding meals – we were more than satisfied.

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Don’t miss Saul’s debut at The Vaad on October 22nd! Click here to apply.

Topic: Judaism as a springboard for a successful Hollywood career

Shmooze and Q&A

Saul has worked on many hit Disney films, including Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Mulan, Tarzan, Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo and the hilarious Kronk’s New Groove, as well as the action-adventure series Spy Groove for MTV.

For a taste of how participants feel and reflect upon their Meor Israel experience, here is an article, originally published in The Jewish Voice & Herald, by one of our friends from last summer’s (2011) trip, when we partnered with Brown University. (This May we’re going for an all-Yale Israel trip which promises to be sublime in all its custom-made-for-Yale glory! Click here for more.)  Below is the original text of the article and a link to the original as well. Enjoy!

Click here to go to the original article

Rediscovering my Jewish identity
By Nava Winkler
Tuesday, 20 September 2011 02:48
Israel program reinforces desire for Jewish connections

This past summer, I was given the opportunity to take part in an amazing program in Israel called MEOR, which is Hebrew for “light.” My initial reasoning for participating in MEOR was its attractive cost ($500 for the entire program including roundtrip airfare), but by the end of the first week, I was thoroughly impressed.

For two-and-one-half weeks we were based in a four-star hotel in Jerusalem, only a 10-minute walk from the Old City. In the mornings, we heard lectures on different Jewish topics; in the afternoons, we traveled to different sites in Israel. Our speakers came from a variety of backgrounds and provided an atmosphere of open discussion. I was fortunate to be part of a group of bright students from Brown, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale and Northwestern universities. Although most of us were non-observant Jews, we all shared a sense of relief at having an outlet to discuss all of our deepest questions about Judaism.

Two years ago, I was 20 and exhausted; I had finished my military service in Israel and was eager to start a new chapter of my civilian life. Although I had just gone through a challenging period, I realized that I was as clueless about my identity as any other fresh face on campus. The question, “but who am I really?!” was the dominant theme of my first two years of college, and this struggle led me to courses with cliché titles, such as “On Being Human” and “Existentialism,” which I tackled with such urgency you’d think I was on death row. The feeling only increased after a friend of mine died. He had also been a former IDF soldier who moved to Rhode Island to study at Brown University. His tragic death caused me to reevaluate my life and what was truly important to me.

I focused my attention during this period on many different aspects of my identity, but there was one in particular that I had trouble figuring out on my own: my relationship to Judaism.

While growing up in Rhode Island, I would have called Judaism my most cherished association. It had characterized my set of values, provided me with a supportive community and gave me an outlet for my spirituality. But sometime during my travels, Judaism had lost its hold on me. For a while, I reveled in the relief of aimlessness, but by the time I returned to Providence from my military service in Israel, I had grown tired of feeling rootless. I felt less like a “free bird” and more like a “free balloon.”

During the MEOR trip, I was able to express this deep-seated urge to redefine what Judaism meant to me because there was a supportive atmosphere to ask all the questions for which I needed answers. Not only did MEOR successfully juggle Jewish learning with sightseeing, it was so carefully designed that it managed to hold the attention of 24 cynical students from several of America’s most prestigious universities. My fellow students impressed me; although we had diverse personalities and backgrounds, everyone was deeply curious and engaged in discussions of their Jewish identities. Some, like me, were already thinking about these issues before the program began, but for most, these concerns were newly revealed during the trip.

My desire to learn more about my Judaism stayed with me, even as I traveled back to Rhode Island. I plan to continue my Jewish learning throughout this fall semester and stay in touch with the friends I have made on the trip.

I am thankful to those individuals who designed the MEOR program and to the generous donors who make such a highly valuable trip affordable. I also owe much to the kind and supportive staff and to an amazing group of people who shared their insights and stories with me. Although I am still grappling with questions of identity, I am thankful to at least have Judaism back on the radar.

Nava Winkler, a junior at Brown University, is a resident of Pawtucket.

Contact her at nava_winkler@brown.edu.

Meor at Yale and Yale Hillel partnered to bring Matisyahu for a Q&A before his show at Toad’s – it was lots of fun getting to know Matis a bit, especially after the Q&A where a few select Meor and Hillel members and friends joined Matisyahu for an informal vegan feast. Enjoy the pics. . .

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Meor at Yale and Yale Hillel bring an exclusive Q&A to the Yale community! 4pm, Sunday, Sept 4 at Slifka – see you there!

Well, the Giants never showed up and we never found out why. We’re pretty confident though that it was just raw fear, cold feet ya know. So we had fun without them anyway just playing around on the field, kicking field goals, noshing on sushi, and listening to the Maccabeats live over a candlelit dinner. . .too bad for those Giants.

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The following is an excerpt from an article called “Concerning the Jews” that Mark Twain wrote in Harper’s Monthly in 1899 – very poignant and relevant over 100 years later:

“If the statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one per cent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of star-dust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way. Properly the Jew ought hardly to be heard of; but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvellous fight in this world, in all the ages; and has done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it. The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendour, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other peoples have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal to the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?”

Expressly for grad students and professionals, we’ll be kicking off the Grad Circle’s 1st official semester with a 6-part series entitled “Intimacy: With Others and With Ourselves.”

We look forward to our first gathering on Thursday evening, February 10.

Dinner and discussion with Rabbi H and Josh Kohl.

Questions or to RSVP: Please contact Rabbi H