A Sad Day In Jerusalem

The Center On Campus, KOACH's program in Israel, provides outreach to Conservative Movement overseas students spending a semester or a year of study at Israeli universities. Center On Campus began offering programs in 1985. Much has taken place during these years. However nothing prepared us for the bomb that went off in the cafeteria of the Hebrew University the day before the opening of the August Ulpan.

Terrorism is not new to Israel. But this time terrorism crossed a new line. There are Jews, Moslems, Christians, Israeli and foreign students on the Hebrew University campus, a multicultural academic island in the Middle East. Apparently evil knows no bounds.

The first 24 hours were spent tracking people down and seeing how to help. We waited anxiously for news of the casualties and if any overseas students were involved. We felt a personal loss to discover that among the 9 dead were five Americans including Marla Bennett, a Center On Campus student activist during her Junior Year abroad at the Hebrew University who later returned to Israel as a graduate student at Pardes. I still picture her as an undergraduate studying at our Learning Community Hevruta once a week at Beit Hillel.

Those who came to Israel to study at this time knew that it would not be an easy year. The events of the past few weeks have brought them even closer together. Our new students are strongly committed to Judaism and to Israel. We feel like family. I look forward to sharing with them our love of Israel and our Center on Campus enrichment programs. I want to take this opportunity to fondly remember students from previous years and wish all of us a Good, Sweet and Peaceful New Year. I invite you to be in touch with me at romm@uscj.org.

[Posted 8/20/02]