MEOR

MEOR at MetLife Stadium 2013

ozzie — Sun, 19 May 2013 14:03:28 +0000

Dinner Multimedia Presentations

Experience MEOR at MetLife Stadium through the presentations delivered by video at MEOR’s gala event on Sunday, May 12th:

MEOR JInternship: Jewish Learning + Career Advancement

admin — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 03:55:03 +0000

In today’s difficult economy, most college and graduate students feel a ton of pressure to stay career-focused throughout the year, and spend their summers in professional settings so as to add experience to their resumes. Still, many Jewish students also desire some spiritual, intellectual, and practical depth through Torah study and Jewish connection in Israel, and wish they could spend time on programs like MEOR that cater to those goals. These two priorities have always seemed somewhat mutually exclusive, and unfortunately, the pressure to get a summer job is often too great to allow for a several-week trip to Israel. Until now.

For the first time, MEOR is offering an innovative and unique approach to Jewish learning and career preparation: Why not do both at once?

Six Weeks of Study & Career Focus

Students in the MEOR JInternship program are spending 6 weeks in Jerusalem together – June 10^th – July 22^nd – learning Torah in the mornings and working in personalized internships at top Israeli companies and organizations in the afternoons. 12 students from 9 different universities across the country signed up for this summer, and so far it has been a huge success. Rabbis Shlomo Gershenfeld and Aharon Grossman, two favorite MEOR staff members, are running this year’s program.

“We are trying to give these guys a focus on deep ideas and values and hopefully inspire them to continue their learning on campus and back in Israel. Most of them just don’t have the time to do that unless they can work at the same time. So we give them both,” said Rabbi Shlomo Gershenfeld.

High-Level Torah Study Curriculum

The Torah study in the mornings is facilitated by MEOR Rabbis and premier educators at the Machon Yaakov Yeshiva in Har Nof, Jerusalem, which is also where the students dorm for the summer. Topics being covered include Talmud study, Jewish values, basics in Jewish thought, and more. Guest speakers are brought in occasionally to teach about various other stimulating and thought-provoking topics such as personal inclinations, the depth of the Hebrew alphabet, and reasons behind the mitzvot. Students are also encouraged to delve into topics of their own choosing in a one-on-one setting, and many of them have taken advantage of this opportunity, researching areas such as Jewish history and in-depth text studies.

Competitive Internships at Top Companies and Organizations

In the afternoons, students head off to their various workplaces – this year, the fields vary tremendously, from medicine, to politics, to journalism, finance, social activism, and beyond. Some of the current placements include:

Management assistant at The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development
Accountant at The Siebenberg House, an Israeli museum
Interactive development for Moville Finance mortgage firm
Neurobiology research intern at Hadassah Medical School
Parliamentary assistant in the Knesset
Writer/researcher for the Jerusalem Institute of Justice
Medical internship in the Cancer Research Center at Hadassah Hospital
Programming developer for ViryaNet, a management software company.

…The list of possible placements goes on and on.

A Chance to Relax

Nights are mostly free, with some social activities and programming such as barbecues and outings around Jerusalem. For the most part, everyone is exhausted from such long and productive days. As for Shabbat – three are spent together in various locations around Jerusalem, and three are free; students have taken advantage of these times to visit family in Israel, or another city.

At the end of the program, in true MEOR fashion, the students will come together for a final Banquet at which they will share their experiences with one another, and consider what comes next in every aspect of their lives.

MEOR Light Unto the Nation Experience: Summer 2012

admin — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 20:08:35 +0000

This summer, MEOR history was made. On May 31^st 2012, Over 200 students and staff from campuses across the country all came together for a magical evening in Jerusalem: the first annual Cross-MEOR Israel Experience!

Beyond The Classroom

“Light Unto the Nation” was an event like no other, meant to offer an experience beyond classroom learning. The intention was to feel the “renaissance” of Judaism spreading throughout the country. The evening’s festivities included a delicious BBQ dinner, group discussions that fostered inter-campus connections, and on the main stage: Shlomo Katz!

Food, Conversation, & Socializing

The program began with an abundant Israeli BBQ dinner: salads, meats, pita, and of course lots of hummus. Meanwhile, discussion groups were led by MEOR staff and the groups were intentionally composed of mixtures of students from various campuses. Up until this point, the individual MEOR Israel trips had only really had the opportunity to meet students from within their own schools and programs. At “Light Unto the Nation,” students formed new friendships, and experienced first-hand the vast effect MEOR has had on hundreds of others just like them. This was the “intellectual” component of the experience, as everyone shared ideas and insights into the state of Jewish learning on college campuses and the collective and individual responsibilities to the Jewish people. And of course, the “physical” was well-attended to with that scrumptious dinner.

A Concert Like No Other

As the discussions died down, students became more comfortable introducing themselves to one another and bonding. By the time the music began, arms were quickly thrown about shoulders and waists, and the feeling of unity was tremendous. Shlomo Katz played his heart out, and no one wanted him to leave the stage when he had completed his set. He and his talented band performed while MEOR students sang and danced to the inspiring and uplifting music. The outdoor venue was perfect – as the sun set over Jerusalem, the sounds of young energetic Jewish voices singing along to tunes they had only just learned could be heard for what seemed like miles away. This addressed the third component of self – “emotional” – and everyone could feel the intensity and connection. The MEOR family had been formed, and its voice continued to ring out, even after the instruments had stopped playing.

Ryan Roslyn, a student at University of Virginia School of Law and an NYU Film graduate, described the experience as, “not merely a celebration like how a graduation might celebrate an academic achievement, a happy hour might celebrate a promotion or even how gefilte fish at Shabbos dinner might celebrate a successful week. Rather, it was an all-encompassing xanadu celebrating our burgeoning spiritual identities with all our newfound friends and spiritual leaders.”

“We wanted them to palpably feel that they are part of something bigger, a movement of future leaders of Judaism connecting to the relevance and passion of their tradition,” said Rabbi Yehoshua Styne, Educational Director for MEOR.

There’s Only More to Come

This was only the first of what we hope to be many “MEOR Experiences” over the years, as the number of MEOR campuses increases, and Jewish light and learning spreads to hundreds more students across the nation. If “Light Unto the Nation” was any indication, there’s no end in sight to the power and excitement of the MEOR family!

Featured Campus: MEOR Northwestern

admin — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:42:26 +0000

MEOR Northwestern is an incredibly warm, social, and active campus.

Led by the dynamic duo families of the Livingstones and the Luries, they have truly made their own unique mark on the Jewish scene at Northwestern.

Rabbi Josh and Tamar Livingstone came to Northwestern in 2006. They hoped to “create a home away from home on campus,” says Tamar. Six years later, they have clearly been a huge success, and only continue to grow and improve year by year. Rabbi Yitzchak and Julie Lurie arrived at the beginning of the 2011-2012 academic year, after having run MEOR at Brown University for four years.

Innovative Programming

Aside from the regular exciting MEOR programming such as Maimonides I & II, weekly Shabbat meals on campus, one-on-one learning, and women’s programming, MEOR Northwestern has also introduced a few innovative programs and events throughout the past year. This past April, the first annual “MEOR Noshfest: A Celebration of Jewish Cuisine” was held in the Norris Student Center. The evening featured various Jewish-themed foods such as “Jews at Bubbes House,” “Jews on Shabbat,” “Jews in Morocco,” “Jews on Passover,” “Jews in Israel,” and even “Jews on Christmas” (Chinese food, of course). Over the course of the event, more than 150 students showed up to enjoy the food, enter a raffle for prizes, and socialize with the rest of their MEOR friends and teachers.

Another original program this year was “MEOR-Tag”. On a random evening of the week, any MEOR Northwestern student might come back to their dorm room with a surprise waiting for them: a basket full of delicious home-baked goodies like brownies, challah and cookies, and other fun prizes. A note on the basket announces “You’ve been M-Tagged By your Friends at MEOR Northwestern!” and photos of the tagged room are posted in the next week’s e-newsletter. Upon receiving his M-Tag surprise, one student quickly posted on the MEOR Northwestern Facebook page: “Meor just made my day infinitely better!! Come visit me if you want a lot of delicious kosher food.”

Celebrations Abound

MEOR Northwestern has also had an exceptionally joyous summer, with two different alumni weddings happening on the very same weekend. Former students Michelle Jacobs ’11 and Andrew Penn ’09 met while they were undergrads, and just tied the knot on June 24^th. Jeff Cohen ‘10, another MEOR Northwestern alum, got married on the very next night: all in all, an extremely eventful weekend for the Northwestern family.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

With everything that’s going on at MEOR Northwestern, the student community is clearly a very lively, energetic, and tight-knit bunch. Shabbat meals are typically attended by 50+ students, both Maimonides I & II get rave reviews – this year the president of Northwestern, Morton Schapiro, was one of the speakers – and everyone feels incredibly welcome and happy to be a part of the MEOR family in Chicago.

Read President Morton Schapiro's Remarks

For contact information for MEOR Northwestern, click here. To check out their local website, click here.

On Jewish Leadership

sgalston — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:28:26 +0000

Remarks by President Morton Schapiro of Northwestern University

On February 27, 2012, MEOR Northwestern became the first MEOR campus to welcome their own University President – Morty Schapiro – to its weekly Maimonides Leaders Fellowship class as a guest speaker. President Schapiro has led Northwestern University since 2009. In his talk he shared his thoughts on Jewish leadership and his personal experiences in an hour-long conversation with MEOR students.

President Schapiro focused his address on what he considers to be the three main characteristics of leadership: empathy, humility and integrity. He described vivid examples from his own professional and personal life, with emphasis placed on the influence of his Jewish upbringing and values. Students were particularly impressed by his kind-hearted nature and attentiveness to the smallest details of their experiences both on campus and at home. They also noted the significant impact of his Jewish background on his decisions and leadership style.

MEOR Northwestern is extremely honored to have had President Schapiro as one of their Maimonides Leaders Fellowship speakers, and looks forward to welcoming him again in the future to motivate the next generation’s Jewish leaders.

Below are excerpts from his remarks during this inspiring evening.

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEADERSHIP

There are things that separate successful from unsuccessful university presidents and some are related to the Jewish faith.”

Life’s complicated, but you don’t leave your values at the door when you walk into the office. I’m very honest about being a Jew and I don’t pretend it doesn’t affect who I am. It is what defines me. It’s not being an economist, it’s not being a professor, it’s being a Jew.”

Empathy is really important. I meet with a lot of students and try to put myself in their place. At 58, it’s a long time since I was 21 or 22. I surround myself with students and I think they get the point when I say, ‘Tell me about your life and what I can do to make it better.’ I need to hear the truth about how we can make things better. That’s empathy and that’s a Jewish trait.”

Another one is humility. I’ve learned as much or more from working with bad mentors as with good ones. Some of them were pretty taken with themselves. That really gets in the way of real leadership. Some people think humility means lack of confidence. It’s not that at all. It takes humility to know you are seldom the expert in the room and that’s a Jewish characteristic.”

JEWISH PRACTICE

I go to services on Friday night and that’s an incredibly important part of my life. When I’m in shul, I’m very humble. I’m humble before God and I’m humble because I can’t daven as well as the person in the next row and because my Hebrew is so bad.”

There was a line in the Jewish news, ‘Shabbat is only six days away, baby!’ and it’s true! So you lose the game, or whatever else is happening on campus. They can’t touch me in shul!”

There’s a moment in the service on Friday night in the last verse of Lecha Dodi—‘bo-ee kallah’ and we welcome the Sabbath bride. You bow, and presidents should bow more! It reminds you that while you’re trying your best, you’re no big deal. I get tremendous humility out of going to services every week. That’s a Jewish thing and for me, it works.”

When I go into shul and I put on my yarmulke, it’s a whole different world for me.”

RELIGION ON CAMPUS

Something about academia that drives me crazy is that everyone wants to enhance critical thinking, but when you talk about religion, it’s always questioned. I’ve butted my head against the secular at times in my career. What secular means is that you don’t privilege one religion over another. It does not mean there is no religion. I think faith-based communities are incredibly important. It’s understanding why that makes life more fulfilling.”

People have certain kinds of expectations. If you’re very strongly identified with religion, you have different challenges. One of my nicknames was ‘that religious nut case,’ but I’m not that sensitive.”

ACTING WITH INTEGRITY

I’m supposed to protect the integrity of the institution—not do the easy thing. I should be the moral conscience of the institution. I make sure that the values we discuss are the values we in fact live. Freedom of speech is important, but so is civility. I try to make the right call. The standard of integrity is the most important standard the Trustees should hold me to and I’m very much out there.”

Laura Dean, University of Pennsylvania

shelley — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:25:46 +0000

Class of 2012

Architecture Major

Planning extended studies in Israel following graduation

I was raised in a Conservative family, went to Solomon Schecter for elementary school and then public high school. I also went to Camp Ramah from ages 9 -16 and grew up knowing how to read and write Hebrew.

I did not have many Jewish friends because our town in Connecticut was not very Jewish.

One of my brothers went to Penn and did the Maimonides program. He became very close with Rabbi Lynn, so I knew who he was years before I went there too. MEOR at Penn has been going for seven years and they have really made a name for themselves.

Rabbi Lynn is unlike anyone I’ve ever met. Not only is he brilliant and charismatic, which make him a good educator in general, but what he teaches is central to who he is as a person and what he strives to be every day. He is so passionate and it comes out clearly.

MEOR is unique in that it is extremely tailored to what the students need. Especially at Penn, the classes are very intellectual. MEOR knows who they are talking to and addresses deep issues in a very intellectual way. That’s what students want to hear. The Maimonides program starts almost like a philosophy course.

Most students don’t really know about Judaism. Whatever they were raised with and don’t like, that’s what they think it is. It’s like having a six-year-old’s appreciation, instead of understanding something that really brilliant people have lived their lives by for generations.

I went on a MEOR Israel trip after freshman year and it blew me away. I saw so clearly that this is what I want. Later, however, I was confused. I was inspired, but I was not ready to have a debate with anyone. It was more like a feeling in my gut than something I could verbalize.

I felt I had to figure this out on my own. At one point, Rabbi Lynn emailed me the perfect response. “However I can help in your journey – its always a pleasure and privilege,” he wrote. “For the time being, let’s take it slow and we’ll have the chance to speak regularly over the year, if you like. I’m happy to make the time!”

Since junior year, I’ve been right where I want to be. I’d like to get better at reading and translating Hebrew. If I’m not fully literate in the language, I don’t think I would ever be where I want to be in terms of the depth of the things I could learn. There’s a difference between sitting and listening to ideas, vs. being able to delve into the ideas. I would like to be able to do both.

Kevin Weiss, George Washington University

shelley — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 00:17:14 +0000

Class of 2014

Business, Economics and Public Policy Major

I grew up in a Reform congregation, where my family’s connection was more with the rabbi than with the temple. When he retired, we lost our connection to a certain extent. When I entered GW and found Rabbi Edelstein and Maimonides, I reconnected much more deeply than I ever had before.

My sister had participated in an in-depth Jewish learning program that focused on one commandment per week. She loved it and told me I should look for something in my freshman year. The Hillel rabbi at GW put me in touch with Rabbi E. and the MEOR Maimonides program turned out to be a perfect fit.

It was very different from the start because I was choosing to do this. It was more of a self-directed move than being told to study for bar mitzvah. I had expressed interest to Rabbi E. in personal growth and business development books and he quickly drew the link between so much of the content in these books with Judaism and Torah. There was a larger intellectual component that I hadn’t experienced before.

I had just moved to DC and I thought the public policy and economic issues that were talked about there were some of the most important questions. That was quickly dwarfed, however, when you realize you are talking about the meaning of life. It’s a much bigger question.

The other MEOR students were definitely talented intellectually and had a variety of backgrounds. It made for some really great discussions.

It was incredibly different from anything else. At first, I was thinking there was no way I could make the extra two-hour a week time commitment, but once I realized how valuable it was, it helped bring everything else I was doing together. It helped me question why I was doing certain things. Everything I was doing was tailored to learning about something and this was learning also, but about much bigger questions.

I remember one guest speaker who talked about shwarma—how great tasting and juicy it is—as an analogy to how wonderful life is and that we should appreciate it every day. That level of gratitude carried over into the rest of my week. It gave me an appreciation of why I was at school and what I was doing.

I can’t express the level of gratitude that I have for MEOR. It’s an amazing thing to be able to explore something like that with someone like Rabbi E. to answer our questions. I’m very appreciative that the program happened to be where I was. They welcomed me despite my lack of Judaic background and I am very grateful for that.

Michelle Jacobs, Northwestern University

shelley — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 22:46:01 +0000

Class of 2011

Double Major in Psychological Services and Dance

There is something really special going on at MEOR. It can be summed up in one word: community.
I never expected that my Friday nights in college would include a Shabbat dinner, but MEOR is different. For the only time each week, I would sit and talk with my friends. Without cell phones, without a television blaring in the background, we would sit at long tables and, over steaming hot chicken soup, discuss our lives, our dreams and goals. MEOR is a place where I could sit down at any chair in the room and introduce myself to someone new. It is a safe space. It is a community.

Four years ago, because of MEOR, Shabbat became a part of my life. Although I was a regular on Friday nights, I never expected to be interested in whatever Jewish learning they were offering. And I wasn’t until my junior year when I discovered that MEOR was offering a two-week trip to Israel for $600. Despite my lack of interest in learning, the trip was affordable and sounded fun.

I never expected that this Israel trip would end up being one of the most important and influential trips of my life. We toured the Old City, we swam, we even had a boat party. We also learned everyday. I expected it to be boring and irrelevant, but I was wrong. The learning was intense and meaningful. It was the first time I had confronted serious questions with no easy answers: Who am I and what am I doing here? What kind of life do I want to lead? What kind of person do I want to become?

Through this exploration I found depth and meaning in learning about my shared history with the Jewish people. I found meaning in holding values that are not based on societal pressures but what is truly important to me.

When I first stepped foot in the MEOR house, I never expected those initial Friday dinners to become the first step towards an extraordinary and life-changing path of personal growth and discovery—a path that I am continuing through further study in Israel this year.

Julian Gindi, George Washington University

shelley — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 19:20:05 +0000

Class of 2014

Economics Major

A friend who had studied in Israel came back and suggested we do some learning together. She researched Jewish organizations on campus and found MEOR, because they offer one/one learning. I met with Rabbi Edelstein, and it really clicked. I decided to do the MEOR Maimonides program and it was fantastic!

I thought I would be way ahead of the pack because of my previous Jewish education, but every speaker we had was incredibly informative. This type of learning reinvigorated me. I really became attached to MEOR and now whenever they do something, I want to be involved. It feels like home. The fact that there is a weekly Shabbat dinner is out of this world!

My previous experience was not why to love Judaism, but “here is how to be Jewish.” It was tedious and I was becoming disenchanted. When I started learning with MEOR, it was more about the big picture. Where you do fit with Judaism? How do you approach it in the most effective manner? MEOR puts its emphasis on the “why.”

A lot of college students are hesitant to participate in a Jewish learning program because they think a certain mindset is going to be pushed on them. That is not the situation with MEOR. They tell you where they are coming from and make the case for why this could add value to your life.

I would recommend that everyone try it. You may just have a small amount of knowledge going into it, for example about the holidays, but not the deeper essence of it. Once you experience a MEOR shabbaton for the first time, you will want to come back for more!

Adrian Fernandez, Stanford University

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:39:43 +0000

Class of 2013

Biology Major

I went to Hebrew school growing up, but it was not a big thing in my family to practice Jewish customs. It was a bit of a struggle after my mom passed away six years ago. My dad’s not Jewish and although he was very supportive, by the time I was in high school, I had to negotiate my Jewish identity by myself.

When I came to Stanford, I went to High Holiday services, got connected to Hillel and met people who made me feel extremely comfortable in the Jewish community.

I went to freshman Shabbat at the MEOR rabbi’s house and that re-kindled the spark.

Even when I was a little kid, I appreciated being in temple. There was something about it that made me want to stay connected–to spirituality and to God.

Around the anniversary of my mother’s passing, I contacted the MEOR rabbi and asked if I could take him up on his offer to buy me coffee. He has an open invitation to all the Jewish students to take them to coffee and talk about whatever they want. He answered my questions in a way that was fulfilling for an hour, but I was very interested in continuing to learn.

So last fall, I did the Maimonides program and it really snowballed. The rabbi and I have been meeting weekly. We try for one hour, but we usually go two or more, because the subject matter is so interesting and inspiring! We meet on Fridays and it’s a perfect segue into Shabbat. It’s a time to reflect and strive for something a bit deeper than the busy-ness of the week.