Hey Everyone!

I hope you are excited for the upcoming holiday celebrations at Hillel. I am! Sukkot starts tonight at sundown and Simchat Torah is next week. Please read the information below for important details about the two holidays.

Also, please note that the application deadline for the Alternative Spring Break to New Orleans is THIS WEDNESDAY, October 15th! If you are interested please apply online as soon as possible - more information is below.

Have a festive Sukkot!

Marnina Cherkin

Program Coordinator

IN THIS ISSUE:

Highlights:

1) Sukkot Begins Tonight!

2) LAST CHANCE: Alternative Spring Break 2009 New Orleans!

3) Simchat Torah on Campus!

4) Hillel's LASERTAG EXTRAVAGANZA Committee

5) Friday Night Hangouts are kicking off next week!

6) A RED, WHITE, and BLUE Study Break!

7) Alternative Spring Break to Guatemala

8) Ancient and Alive: A Comparative Discussion of the Religious Texts in CC

Calendar:

See this week's events!

1) Sukkot Begins Tonight

Sukkot begins tonight at sundown. We have lots of fabulous meals and programs planned for the holiday. Please visit the Hillel website for more detailed information. http://www.hillel.columbia.edu/template.php?name=sukkot.

The Kraft Center and its sukkah (3rd floor) are open for your Sukkot holiday pleasure!  There are a few times in the next week when the sukkah is NOT available for community usage because of program reservation.  At other times, the sukkah is available.  The building is open for its usual hours (Monday-Friday 8:00am-midnight, Saturday 8:30am-9:30pm, Sunday 8:30am-midnight).  **The sukkah is open until 10:45pm every night except Saturday/Motzei Shabbat when it is open only until 9:00pm.  Please be sensitive to the fact that our sukkah faces living rooms and bedrooms of our neighbors on 114th Street, so please keep the noise down to a dull roar!

Please see the Sukkot Schedule to view all the exciting programs that will be happening this holiday and the times when the sukkah is already reserved. http://www.hillel.columbia.edu/template.php?name=sukkah

2) LAST CHANCE: Alternative Spring Break 2009 New Orleans!

The CC/SEAS Office of Multicultural Affairs & Columbia/Barnard Hillel present:

Do you want to:

Go to New Orleans over Spring Break?

Become involved in efforts to re-build and stabilize New Orleans?

Travel with a diverse pool of CU/BC students?

Explore questions of social justice and activism from within People of Color and Jewish traditions and communities?

If you do, go to this link: http://www.hillel.columbia.edu/asbnola2008.doc

Application deadline: this Wednesday, October 15th, Questions: cd2303@columbia.edu

3) Simchat Torah on Campus!

Every year, Hillel has major blow-out event on Simchat Torah attracting hundreds of students from the greater Columbia/Barnard/JTS community and beyond.  This year's event will be on OCTOBER 21st at 9PM in Roone Arledge Auditorium.  There will be "hakafot" or circuits with the Torah, dancing, singing, and revelry.  Anyone with CUID can attend the Simchat Torah event.  All non-CUID holders must be a guest of a student here. All guests will need a wristband in order to get in and must submit housing information for security purposes. Visit the Hillel website for more information: http://www.hillel.columbia.edu/template.php?name=simchattorah

4) Hillel's LASERTAG EXTRAVAGANZA Committee

In November Hillel will be hosting a LASERTAG EXTRAVAGANZA! Interested in planning it for November 20? Join the planning committee! Contact Marit at social@hillel.columbia.edu

5) Friday Night Hangouts are kicking off next week!

Friday Night Hangouts are kicking off next week. Get ready for some FUN SCHMOOZING and FREE DESSERT next Friday night October 24 at 8pm at Cafe Nana at the Kraft Center (606 W115th St btwn Broadway and Riverside, across from Schapiro)

6) A RED, WHITE, and BLUE Study Break!

Getting excited for the election?  Get ready for a RED, WHITE and BLUE study break in two weeks! Whether voting for Obama, McCain, or Tina Fey, come at 10pm on October 28 to the 3rd floor of Hillel (606 W115th St btwn Broadway and Riverside, across from Schapiro)

7) Alternative Spring Break to Guatemala

Want to have a meaningful Spring break? Join Hillel and the American Jewish World Service for an alternative break to Guatemala. Application deadline is November Friday, November 21st at 5pm. Please go to: http://www.hillel.columbia.edu/template.php?name=asb  for more information. Have questions: email Marnina marnina@hillel.columbia.edu

8) Ancient and Alive: A Comparative Discussion of the Religious Texts in CC

The Center for the Core Curriculum presents the Contemporary Civilization Coursewide Lecture. This year's lecture will feature an exciting panel discussion with three scholars of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim tradition to discuss overarching core-related themes as they are presented in the religious texts and understood in the context of their traditions, examining the application of these themes in modern times.  All Columbia University students invited!

When: This Friday, October 17 @ 1pm

Where: Roone Arledge Auditorium (Lerner Hall)

FREE AND OPEN TO THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY

10/13/2008

Time and place	Title	Sponsoring group
8:30 PM-10:30 PM Cafe Nana (2nd Floor)	Sukkot- Hangout	Religious Life Va'ad

10/14/2008

No public events scheduled

10/15/2008

No public events scheduled

10/16/2008

Time and place	Title	Sponsoring group
8:00 PM-9:00 PM Kent	GlobeMed Information Session	Tzedek/Social Action Va'ad
7:00 PM-9:00 PM Gottlieb Terrace	Pizza in the Hut!	FYSH (First Year Students at Hillel)

10/17/2008

Time and place	Title	Sponsoring group
7:00 PM-9:00 PM 5th Floor Auditorium Lobby	Israeli History Seminar	Israel Alliance

10/18/2008

No public events scheduled

10/19/2008

Time and place	Title	Sponsoring group
11:00 AM-12:15 PM 3rd Floor	Brunch for Israel in the Sukkah	LionPAC
7:00 PM-8:30 PM Gottlieb Terrace	Cider, Cupcakes and Hookah in the Sukkah	Gayava

Save the date:

Additional information:

Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies Upcoming Events!

Topic: Landmarks in the Israeli Supreme Court: Public Life in the Legal Arena

Thursday, October 16, 2008 at 8:00 p.m. in 614 Schermerhorn Hall

Daphne Barak-Erez is the Stewart & Judy Colton Professor of Law and Security Faculty of Law, Tel-Aviv University and Visiting Professor of Law, Columbia Law School

Topic: "Stand still, O sun" (Joshua 10:10-15): Literary Archaeology and the Unearthing of Prebiblical Traditions

Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 8:00 p.m Yair Zakovitch in the Rotunda, Low Memorial Library

Yair Zakovitch is The Father Iakeji Otsuki Professor of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Krueger Family Visiting Professor, Columbia University

RSVPs to either are appreciated to IIJS@columbia.edu

See http://iijs.columbia.edu/events/index.html for more information.