1983-1984 Rothberg Yearbook

Being in Givat Ram after nearly a year had passed,
was like making a pilgrimage; striving for a connection
to the life we’ve made here. On a most pleasant day
of sunrays and green grass, students gathered together
for the OSA event “Hakesher.”
“The main point of ‘Hakesher’ was to put together
a day to bring everyone together,” said Rina Buberoglu,
madricha in the OSA and organizer of the activism
workshop which planned the event. The day was
also designed to teach students how to fight against
Arab propaganda, prepare an Israel-related event,
and promote Israel programs on campus.
“Hakesher” began with a speech by Chaim Herzog,
President of Israel. Throughout his speech the President
stressed the importance of Aliy ah. He also emphasized
the need for Jewish students to support
Israel abroad, and remain active in their communities.
While Herzog spoke of the need for activitivism,
there was a wide array of activism workshops for
students to attend. Students learned about such
things as Soviet Jewry, AIPAC, Arab rights in Israel,
the Lebanon War and Falashan Jewry. Later students
attended various “How-to” workshops, among which
included “Letters to the Editor,” “Making a Flyer,;
and “Guide to Jewish Organizations.” In the early
evening there was a choice of two symposia: “Israel
on the American Campus” and “The Media and Israel.”
The day culminated in a Shlomo Artzi concert,
where students listened to Shlomo Artzi banking his
guitar and whistling familiar tunes into the microphone.
“What was thought-provoking about the day,”
said Elaine Sapiro, one of the coordinators of the
event, “was it made you realize the end is here —
and time is short; that you're trying to do almost
everything now — everything in one day.”
Most people agreed, as they boarded the bus with
sunburnt faces, that it was a connecting experience,
perhaps the last one of the year.
Eleanor Levine
Rutgers
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