Hillel celebrates with Jeopardy

"I'll take People, Places and Things…Oi Voy! for 200."

This was one of the many statements made at yesterday afternoon's Multicultural Jeopardy event in the Student Union South Lounge. The event was co-sponsored by the University of Toledo's Office of Multicultural Student Services and Hillel, an international Jewish student organization with an office at UT.

The event featured a Jeopardy-style interactive question board on a projector. Categories covered such topics as Jewish events, holidays and customs, as well as a category labeled "Who's That Lady?" which paid homage to March also being Women's History Month.

Any student present in the Student Union South Lounge was able to participate – Jews and gentiles alike.

Typically, Jewish Heritage Month is celebrated in May; however, most students will be leaving campus during May. The celebration was moved forward, and UT Hillel is sponsoring a series of events during the second half of March, including a Purim celebration yesterday and Israeli themed street fair on Centennial Mall on March 27.

During the Jeopardy match, the majority of the questions were hard for the participants, though many of the answers were informative and sparked discussion among the participants and viewers.

Max Gold, a junior majoring in philosophy and the current president of UT Hillel, was one of the question presenters during the event.

"My goal for the event was to help educate people in Jewish culture, heritage and religion in an interactive manner," Gold said.

Gold, and fellow UT Hillel members Marina Stepanski, Laura Nederezov, Jeff Moss and Naomi Fetterman are responsible for planning and scheduling the event.

"My hope was that after the event, people would have an understanding of Judaism. There were a lot of things people did not know [about Judaism] that they found out about today," Gold said.

Gold also believed that as a result of events put on by UT Hillel, such as Multicultural Jeopardy, people will understand what Judaism truly is and begin to embrace it.

"I just hope everything we do has some inspiration on someone," he said. "When people say that they know something, it closes up your window to learn. However, when you say ‘I don't know,' it allows you to be open to trying and learning new things. And I hope that this month, people will embrace these new things."

UT Student Government president Matt Rubin believes that months such as Jewish Heritage Month are important for diversity amongst the students at UT.

"Jewish Heritage Month is important to highlight the University of Toledo, since we have a very diverse community," Rubin, who is also of the Jewish faith, say "Anything that we can do [as a Jewish community] to open up to UT, that would be great. Diversity is not about liking everyone, but being open and respectful to the differences."

Rubin and Gold both expressed dissatisfaction concerning the recent "anti-Israeli" weeks and months at various universities across the nation, most notably at the University of California Los Angeles.

Recent anti-Israel events, dubbed "Israel Apartheid Week" and "Palestine Awareness Week" by others have been characterized by students gathering to protest, burn the Israeli flag, and listen to anti-Semitic speeches by prominent figures within the movement.

Though events have not been specifically sanctioned by the universities that have been the sights for public demonstration, many organizations have publically condemned the gatherings. The David Horovitz Freedom Center recently published a newsletter, urging students to come forward to them, as they could "help you to expose the hatred and lies fueling these demonstrations."

Jewish organizations across the country, as well as those who specialize in interfaith cooperation, have been working to prevent these events from gaining strength on a national scale.

"As a Jewish student, I would feel as uncomfortable as if I were a multicultural student," Rubin said. "The silent majority can't be silent. They can't just sit and watch events such as this occur and not do anything. It takes the help of others to take action."

When asked if there were any words of inspiration he could give to Jewish students attending universities where these anti-Israeli events are occurring or any multi-cultural student facing adversity at their university, Rubin was straight to the point: "Stand up for your heritage. Be proud of who you are. Don't let anyone tell you that you are wrong."

Students that succeeded in answering any of the questions on the board were awarded coupons to be used at any of UT's Residential Dining halls.

After two rounds of regular Jeopardy, two final Jeopardy questions were answered – though neither category was answered correctly. The answers were former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and 1920, the year women were guaranteed the right to vote in the United States.

Following Jeopardy, UT Hillel invited students to enjoy Israeli tea, as well as snacks in a room near the South Lounge. The next event will be a game night at 7 p.m. in the Ingman Room termed "Schmooze with the Jews."