Chinese Shabbat, Birthright Registration, and PURIM!

Hi,
As you’ll see below – there’s lots of stuff going on. We’d love to see you this Friday night for Chinese Shabbat, and please read on about how you can get involved in the exciting Purim festivals and much more.

1) Pizza and Parsha
2) Challahs of Love
3) Chinese Shabbat
4) Join a PAC: Purim Action Committee
5) Learning Opportunities
6) Free Trips to Israel – Registration opening soon
7) Save the dates: Persian Shabbat, Jewnity Shabbat, and Purim Extravaganzas
8) Announcements: Nishmat Rabbi lecture, and David Olesker speaks on Israel advocacy
9) Thought for the Week

1) Pizza and Parsha
You’re on campus. You’re breaking for lunch. What better way could there be to spend the time then join us for some great free Kosher pizza and an inspiring discussion about the day-to-day relevance of the weekly Torah portion?
This Thursday and every Thursday, 12:15 – 1:30 pm. On the grass behind the Chabad table on Trousdale.

2) Challahs of Love
Here’s Challah baking with a new twist. Bake two Challahs – one you enjoy at Shabbat dinner, while the other is donated to a needy family in our LA Jewish community.
So that’s the deal: Spend a delightful couple of hours with Runya, get a delicious treat, and do a Mitzvah – all at the same time!
This Thursday, Feb. 8. 7:30 pm. At the Chabad House.

3) Chinese Shabbat
Jews and Chinese food. I don’t know what it is about those two things that goes together so well, but it’s a historical fact.
Get your fill of delicious Chinese cuisine at this week’s Chinese Shabbat at Chabad House. All the usual favorites of our delicious home-cooked five-course Shabbat dinner, but plenty of catered Chinese to boot.

Friday, February 9
Candle Lighting: 5:13 pm
Services: 6:00 pm
Dinner: 7:00 pm

Saturday, February 10
“Understanding the Ten Commandments” : 9:00 am
Services: 10:00 am
Torah Reading of the Ten Commandments: 11:30 pm – we need a Minyan for this one, so don’t miss it
Lunch: 12:45 pm
Havdalah: 6:10 pm

4) Join a PAC: Purim Action Committee
Purim is just around the corner. Along with Purim come some really exciting events – the biggest Jewish party of the year (last time our crowd was estimated at over 1,000!!), and a huge pre-Purim carnival on campus benefiting “the Friendship Circle”.
We need your ideas and your energy. As with all of our events, how these turn out will depend on our student volunteers. YOU can make it happen. A lot of preliminary work has already been done – now we need your help in bringing it to the next level.
This Sunday, the Purim Action Committees will be meeting to plan and distribute volunteer jobs. Please join us and make your voice heard.

Sunday, Feb. 11
3:00 – 4:00 pm. Meeting for Pre-Purim Carnival Committee. The Pre-Purim Carnival will be co-sponsored this year by USC Hillel and (hopefully) by USC Philanthropy Board. The proceeds benefit “The Friendship Circle” – an organization benefiting families of children with special needs.
4:00 – 5:00 pm. Meeting for Purim Party Committee. The Purim Party – this year “Purim in the Wild West” – will be held on Saturday, March 3.

Both meetings at the Chabad House. Refreshments will be served.

5) 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

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

6) Free Trips to Israel – Registration Opening Soon
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? Pre-register now at http://www.mayanotisrael.com/. Not eligible? If you recruit 15 of your friends, you can go again as a staff member. And if you end up with less than that, there are other great prizes. www.mayanotisrael.com/recruit
Registration opens Feb. 15, 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!

Rabbi Dov will be leading the trip from USC tentatively scheduled to leave from LA on May 27th.

http://www.mayanotisrael.com/

7) Save the Dates: Persian Shabbat, Jewnity Shabbat, and Purim Extravaganzas
Schedule these on your calendar now:

Friday, February 16
Persian Shabbat
Once a year in honor of the approaching Purim holiday we pull out the Persian food. Kabob, ghormo sabzi, Persian rice, and much much more. You don’t want to miss this one.

Friday, February 23
Jewnity Shabbat at Chabad
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).

Monday, February 26
Pre-Purim Carnival
Everybody loves a carnival! Joust, ride the orbitron, bake-a-hamantash, throw a pie at the Rabbi, or much more at the annual pre-Purim Carnival benefiting the Friendship Circle. In Alumni Park.

Saturday, March 3
Purim in the Wild West
Watch as the Chabad House is transformed to a saloon straight out of the Wild West as the Purim festivities get under way. One thing’s certain: This is THE party of the year!!

8) Announcements: Nishmat Rabbi lecture, and David Olesker speaks on Israel advocacy
TONIGHT: Hear Rabbi Tzvi Leshem of Nishmat Institute in Jerusalem talk about “Moshe’s kiss and Miriam’s well: Models of Masculine and Feminine Divine Service”. It’s happening tonight – Wednesday, February 7 – at Hillel at 6:45 pm. Desserts will be served. This is definitely worth your time.

Next Week: Hear David Olesker talk about “Five Basic Skills for Effective Israel Advocacy”. Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 6:00 pm. It’s happening at USC Hillel, as a joint project of Caravan for Demcoracy, SC Students for Israel, Chabad, Hillel, and the Trojan Israel Public Affairs Committee.


9) Thought for the Week
The Torah portion of Yitro contains what is probably the most momentous and defining moment in the history of the Jewish people to date: The Giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

It's got all the makings of a major spiritual event. The sound effects were there--"there was thunder and lightning, a heavy cloud on the mountain, and an extremely loud blast of the ram's horn." The visual effects have yet to be outdone by Hollywood--"The whole of Mount Sinai was in smoke because G-d had descended upon it in Fire. Its smoke rose up like the smoke of a lime kiln..." There were even a couple of special "reality" effects thrown in--"the entire mountain quaked violently."

You've got the sounds and sights, you've got Divine revelation, you've everything a spiritualist could possibly want.

But what does G-d actually speak about?

The people are witnessing all of the Divine levels and degrees that the mystics can only study about and ponder. Are they told the mystical secrets of creation? Does G-d impart the ingredients for successful meditation, or the path to inner peace?

"I am the L-rd your G-d...Remember the Sabbath Day...Do not murder...Do not steal..." etc.

Simple, practical--one might even argue obvious--statements.

The mystical was seen and felt tangibly. But G-d chose to impart a lesson. Judaism is about doing what G-d wants us to do. It may sometimes not feel so spiritual; there may be times when it doesn't "turn us on." And, on the other hand, there may be times when we consider these things to make sense for purely rationalistic reasoning--no need for any Divine element at all.

At the Giving of the Torah G-d chose to remind us of two important factors:

a) Moral rights and wrongs without a Divine element or consciousness are completely unreliable--to the point of being almost meaningless. If we choose to refrain from murder because that's what makes sense to our moral sensitivities, what guarantee do we have that we will not stray--that our moral sensitivities will not come to accept that which we once thought repugnant. Look through any century in the history of mankind, and you will find acceptance of that which was once rejected and rejection of that which was once considered acceptable. Look at Nazi Germany: A nation that prided itself on its scientific and ethical standards, that chose to consider mass murder of any race but their own an ethical and moral imperative. It is only when we are conscious of the objective right and wrong, of the Divine element and commandment behind our actions, that we can hope to be sure of being morally grounded.

b) It is doing what G-d wants that counts. We are finite human beings. If we try to connect spiritually based on our own emotional sway, we are severely limited in our ability for connection. But when we follow G-d's commandments, even those that don't seem spiritually uplifting or exciting at any given moment, we are not attempting to connect on our terms, but rather on His, infinite and unlimited as only He can be.

One more short--but powerfully important--message:

As the preparation for the Giving of the Torah, the Jewish people arrived at Mount Sinai six days earlier. Says the Torah: Israel encamped there facing the mountain. The word used for encamped--vayichan--is used in the singular, prompting our Sages to explain: "They encamped there as one man with one heart. Every other encampment included the natural petty jealousies or arguments, but in this one instance, the entire Jewish people was truly united."

Again, the preparation was not primarily focused on mystical and spiritual purifications or incantations. It was peace. "The entire Torah was given," says Maimonides, "to make peace in this world." That is the nature of Torah. It creates peace and love between G-d, His people, and His world. And ultimately, it is also the tool through which all of the Jewish people--and ultimately all of mankind--can unite once more as one, ushering in a better world for all eternity.

Shabbat Shalom,

Dov, Runya, Mushky, Menachem, Shneur, and Moshe