BIRTHRIGHT, Jewnity Shabbat, PURIM Carnival, PURIM IN THE WILD WEST, and more!!

Hi,
A few things I really want to say. You see, I figure that these two lines up here are about the limit of what most people read. So I need to use these to get your attention.
Let me put it plainly:
If you are eligible, SIGN UP NOW for a free trip to Israel with Birthright. You’ve got to be nuts to miss out on this. Almost 30 USC students have already reserved their spaces on our trip with Mayanot, and spaces are going fast. For the best time, the fullest experience, and the chance to hang out with the most awesome Rabbi (that would be me!), http://www.mayanotisrael.com/ today.
Secondly, PURIM IS COMING! That means Purim Carnival (this Monday), Purim Shabbat (next Friday), Purim PARTY (next Saturday), and Purim Feast (next Sunday).
And if all that’s not enough – Jewnity Shabbat tomorrow night.

There, I’ve lost your attention again. If you’re bored, or reading this on your Blackberry in the middle of class, or just really interested – please read on! If not, just pay attention to what’s already been said J

Shabbat Shalom!
Dov and Runya

1) Free Trips to Israel – Registration Closing Soon!
2) Jewnity Shabbat
3) Pre-Purim Carnival – volunteer or pre-order your tickets now
4) Mazal Tov and Sheva Brachot
5) Purim and Sinai Scholars Shabbat
6) THE MAIN EVENT – Purim in the Wild West!!!
7) Catered Family Purim Seudah (Banquet)
8) Weekly Learning Opportunities
9) Thought for the Week


1) Free Trips to Israel – Registration Open NOW!
Yes – that’s FREE trips to Israel this summer with Mayanot Birthright. All you need to be is Jewish, 18-26, and have never been on an organized peer trip to Israel before. Eligible? Register now at http://www.mayanotisrael.com/. Not eligible? If you recruit 15 of your friends, you get a free trip back to Israel! And if you end up with less than that, there are other great prizes. www.mayanotisrael.com/recruit
Registration is now open, and is expected to fill up quickly. We’ve been guaranteed that anybody eligible that signs up and sends in their deposit for our trip within the first week of registration will DEFINITELY get a spot. So don’t delay!
Almost 30 USC students already have reserved their spots. AND, Mayanot provides by far the fullest experience, including Friday night at the Kotel, more activities than any other trip, and ALL meals every day catered and FREE to you. Just do it. Now!!

Rabbi Dov will be leading the trip from USC tentatively scheduled to leave from LA on May 28th.

http://www.mayanotisrael.com/


2) Jewnity Shabbat
Join USC’s entire Jewish community for an amazing joint Jewnity Shabbat at Chabad. Co-sponsored by Chabad, Hillel, and the Sig Delt’s (USCs Jewish sorority).
It’s just once a semester. A reminder that though we have several different options for Jewish life at USC, at heart our community is one.
So whether your Friday nights are usually spent at Chabad, at Hillel, or at locations unspecified – this Friday night join us to let you soul sing and soar.

Friday, February 23
Candle Lighting: 5:26 pm
Services: 6:00 pm
Dinner: 7:30 pm

Saturday, February 24
“Temples, Synagogues, and Sanctuaries – What are they for?”: 9:00 am
Services: 10:00 am
Torah Reading: 11:30 pm – we could use YOUR help with a Minyan
Lunch: 12:45 pm
Havdalah: 6:22 pm


3) Pre-Purim Carnival – Volunteer or pre-order your tickets now!
This Monday, February 26th come and celebrate Purim at our annual pre-Purim Carnival.

We have rides, booths, cotton candy, popcorn, BBQ and hot dogs!

Here's what we got:
-Gladiator Joust
-Human Orbitron
-Pie Throwing at the Rabbi
-Pin the Yarmulka on the Rabbi
-Free Hamentashen Baking
-And Much Much More

All proceeds go to The Friendship Circle, an organization that provides for children with special needs, so it's all for a good cause. (For info on the Friendship Circle, click on http://www.friendshipcircle.com/)

Co-sponsored by USC Hillel and USC Philanthropy Board.

For the full flyer, click www.chabadusc.com/carnival.pdf
To RSVP click http://usc.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2245297962&ref=nf

WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS TO HELP OUT AT THE CARNIVAL! Please volunteer now by emailing michalco@usc.edu

Also, tickets at the carnival will be for sale for $1 a piece. (1 ticket for popcorn and cotton candy, 2 tickets for rides, 3 tickets for hot dog and drink.) However, if you have a group that wants to get involved in supporting the event, you can pre-order 100 tickets for just $60.00, a 40% discount!!
So whether it’s your fraternity, sorority, floor, club, or whatever, contact us now for this amazing discount at chabad@usc.edu


4) Mazal Tov and Sheva Brachot
Please join us in sharing our best wishes with our dear alumnus Dassy (Sabrina) Mansfield on her marriage this Sunday to Max
May you build together an everlasting Jewish home built on the strong foundations of Torah and Mitzvot, and may your entire lives together be filled with joy and happiness.

Please join us for a Sheva Brachot celebration honoring Dassy and Max at the Chabad House on Monday evening, Feb. 26, at 6:00 pm. RSVP runya@usc.edu


5) Purim and Sinai Scholars Shabbat
The fun never ends. And next weekend, the celebration really doesn’t have to.

It’s Purim Shabbat. That means that the house will already be halfway decorated for the Purim party, and the Purim spirit will be in full force.
And it’s also Sinai Scholars Shabbat, honoring the Sinai Scholars past and present.
There’s no pre-party like this party!

Don’t miss it. Friday, March 2. 6:00 pm.


6) THE MAIN EVENT: Purim in the Wild West!!
Get ready for the biggest Jewish party of the year, WILD WEST style!

(Last time there were almost 1,000 people. We're aiming for 1200 this year!)

Saturday night, March 3.
1st Megillah reading at 8:30 pm.
Party: 9:00 pm – 3:00 am

Live DJ! www.djabesera.com
Masquerade!
Hookahs!
Amazing Free Food!
Raffles!
Full Bar!
Just a dollar a drink all night with valid ID.
Staged duels every hour.

Every themed costume gets a prize.
Every costume gets a free raffle ticket.

It’s all happening at the Chabad Jewish Student Center – 2713 Severance St., just steps off “the Row”.
See the stunning flyer at www.chabadusc.com/purim07.pdf
See pictures of previous Purim bashes at http://www.jewsc.com/
RSVP for the event at http://usc.facebook.com/event.php?eid=2245087547&ref=nf

Most important of all – Be there! With all your friends! And some of your enemies?


7) Catered Family Purim Seudah (Banquet)
This year, we add a new feature to our Purim celebrations. On Sunday, March 4 (the day after the big Party) is Purim itself. It is customary to hear the Megillah again, as well as to partake in a Purim feast.

Join students and their families, alumni, young professionals, and graduate students from USC, UCLA, and CSUN for a festive Purim feast.
Authentic Persian cuisine catered by Sharon's, door prizes, masquerade, and unbelievable fun.

4:30pm Megilla reading.
5:00pm The feast begins

Fee:
Advance Reservations: $36 per person. $54 per couple.
$5- more per person at the door.

Payments can be made using the evite, or by credit card, paypal, or check at the Chabad @ USC website, http://www.chabadusc.com/. Just write Purim meal in the note.
For more info, call 213-748-5884

(Note: This isn't the annual Purim Bash at USC itself. That'll be the night before, Saturday March 3, at Chabad @ USC. This year's theme is Purim in the Wild West. This is a new additional event in the Pico-Robertson area the next evening.)

RSVP at http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/chabad@usc.edu/purim


8) Weekly Learning Opportunities
Looking to learn something about your Jewish heritage? Wonder what it means to be Jewish, besides bagels and lox and Jewish mothers? Join one of our weekly discussion group/classes. There’s something for everyone:

Monday
Lunch and Learn at the Dental School – 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Discussion over Dinner at the Chabad House – 6:30 – 8:30 pm
“Origins” – a reading and discussion of the stories of Genesis at Tuscany #426 – 9:15 – 11:30 pm

Tuesday
Once-a-month Lunch and Learn at the Law School – 12:30 – 1:20 pm
Talmud and Tanya – 7:30 – 9:00 pm
Hebrew sound like *&^*@ to you? Learn to understand Hebrew with Runya – 7:45 pm

Wednesday
Twice-a-month Lunch and Learn at the Health Sciences Campus – 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Sinai Scholars – 7:30 – 9:30 pm

Thursday
Pizza and Parsha – 12:15 – 1:45 pm
Discussion Group on Jewish philosophy and open forum in Parkside #631 – 9:30 – 11:00 pm


9) Thought for the Week
Sinai or Sanctuary?

By Yossy Goldman

And in the beginning G-d was homeless and so He asked His People to set Him up with some digs. Where does it say that? Well, nowhere actually. But it does say that G-d instructed Moses to tell the people, They shall make for Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

Now the question is, was G-d really homeless? Wasn't He already dwelling with the people? Why it was just the other week that we read of the Revelation at Sinai and the Ten Commandments where G-d came down from heaven to earth? So why suddenly the need for a sanctuary for Him?

The answer is that there is a fundamental difference between Sinai and the Sanctuary. Sinai represents a revelation thrust upon the people from above. G-d initiated and activated that encounter. In this experience the Jewish people were somewhat passive. All the thunder and lightning, physically and spiritually, came at them from On High.

The Sanctuary, however, had to be built by the Jews themselves. They had to take the initiative. From the fundraising campaign to raise and collect the raw materials needed for the sanctuary down to the nuts and bolts of construction, the Mishkan was a man- made edifice.

At Sinai the heavens opened for the greatest sound and light show on earth leaving a nation mesmerized and awe-inspired. But they themselves were passive recipients of this unique, never-to-be-repeated gift from above.

To build a sanctuary took a whole building campaign. Men and women, young and old, everybody rolled up their sleeves. It took weeks, months of hard labor, meaningful contributions by every individual, planning and programming, designing and then actually building a holy house for G-d. We made it happen. And thereby, it was the people who brought G-d down to earth.

Apparently it was important for the Jews to appreciate the value G-d attaches to self-help and to DIY projects of a spiritual nature. It is not good enough to sit around waiting for the extraordinary revelations, those once in a lifetime supernal visits the Good L-rd might bestow upon us. It is necessary for us to create the infrastructure, to take the building blocks in our hands and Make me a Sanctuary.

To put it simply, are we waiting for G-d or is G-d waiting for us? Who makes the next move?

I met a guy not long ago and, as often happens to rabbis, the discussion turned to "Religion." He was pretty blunt about it. "Not for me, rabbi," he said. "If G-d wanted me to be frum, he’d have made sure I was born in Bnei Brak, or at least into a religious family here." I told him he reminded me of the comedian who had a terrible fear of flying and argued that "If G-d intended man to fly, he’d have given him wings - or at least made it easier to get to the airport!" So he says, "If G-d wanted me to be an angel, he'd have given me wings too."

The fact is G-d did give us wings. That's what Sinai was all about. He gave us a dose of revelation, of spiritual shock treatment that has saturated us with an eternal capacity to fly high, to touch the divine. But those were just the tools, now we have to learn to fly. We may have been endowed with the potential to develop our connection to G-dliness, but after Sinai it's up to us to make it happen and to actually bring our innate power to the fore.

True revelation is rare. While there certainly are those special moments when we witness the unmistakable presence of G-d in our lives, we cannot wait for lightning to strike. We need to build our personal sanctuaries for G-d in order to embrace Him and bring Him into our homes and families.

The Rebbe of Kotzk was once asked by his teacher, "Where is G-d?" He answered, "Wherever you let Him in."

Have a great Shabbos!
Dov and Runya


Rabbi Dov Wagner
Chabad Jewish Student Center @ USC
2713 Severance St.
Los Angeles, CA 90007
http://www.chabadusc.com/
Chabad@usc.edu
213-748-5884
310-801-3142 – cell

“Your next act will change the world. Make it a good one!”