Goldman Essay Contest 2012

| July 11th, 2012 | No Comments »

Winning essay by Allie Schechter

 

I initially enrolled in Kulanu for the very typical reason of continuing my Jewish

education. It was my intent to expand my knowledge of Judaism through classes on

Jewish thought, traditions, and history and to stay abreast of current events in the Jewish

world through classes on Israel and Jewish culture. Therefore, you can imagine my slight

uncertainty when I signed up for a course dedicated to learning about a different religion

altogether. Going into Kulanu, I never thought I would take an Islam class. However this

class, which was during my sophomore year and was taught my Nahum Daniels, turned

out to be one of the most enlightening and eye-opening of all the courses I have had the

opportunity to take.

Since most of us in the class knew next to nothing about Islam, Mr. Daniels

started with the basics. We discussed Muhammad and the origins of the religion, we

talked about the history of the Muslim people, and we learned about the five pillars of

Islam-acceptance of Muhammad as a prophet, praying 5 times a day, giving charity,

fasting during Ramadan, and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Once we had established a

solid foundation, we began to delve a bit deeper by looking at selected passages from the

Koran and analyzing their content. By the end of the semester, I truly felt that much of

the confusion and ignorance that I previously felt regarding Islam had been replaced by a

greater understanding of the religion.

While that was very nice, increased knowledge of Islam was also exactly what I

had expected to gain from an Islam class. On the other hand, what I did not anticipate at

all was the effect this class had on my Jewish knowledge. First, I learned just how much

Judaism and Islam have in common. Not only are many of the broader themes shared—

charity, faith, prayer—but some of the fine details have an uncanny resemblance to each

other as well. For instance, many words in Hebrew are remarkably similar to their Arabic

counterparts. I remember clearly my astonishment when I learned that the word for

charity in Arabic is ‘Zakat’, which is very close to the Hebrew ‘Tzedakah.’ Furthermore,

going over the parallels between the two religions helped me make better sense of some

of the current conflicts that exist between Muslims and Jews. Take the issue of

Jerusalem, for example. Now I know that the conflict over Jerusalem is not simply

because both groups want to be stubborn and fight each other, but rather because we both

acknowledge the holiness of the city—Jews because it housed the Beit Hamikdash and

Muslims because it is the site where Muhammad ascended to heaven. New knowledge

such as this has made me feel more comfortable discussing Judaism and Israel with

others who are not Jewish, as in this class I was able to take a step back and see Judaism

from an outside perspective.

Most importantly though, I believe that from this class I learned Jewish values. I

absorbed the importance of learning about people unlike ourselves, and how essential it

is to respect everyone’s beliefs. In all the discussion of Islamic ideas that occurred in our

class, never was there any word spoken with a condescending or dismissive attitude, even

though none of us subscribe to Islamic beliefs. Furthermore, just the fact that Kulanu

even offered a class about Islam taught me a lesson—that we should be open-minded and

accepting of others, not isolated and exclusive.

So now, as I prepare to graduate after four years at Kulanu, I can look back on my

time here and see that I did indeed manage to accomplish the goal of continuing my

Jewish education—by taking a class about Islam. Who would have guessed?

 

Congratulations to our other winners:

2nd Place- Ross Alter

3rd Place- Emile Pollack

Kulanu Scrip Program: A Way to Help Defray the Cost of Kulanu Programs

| October 10th, 2011 | No Comments »

Kulanu is pleased to be participating in the Fairway (Scrip)Gift Card Program. Students will be allowed to purchase Fairway Gift Cards at Kulanu in $50 or $100 increments.  Kulanu will receive a 5% of the purchase. This amount can be placed in a student account to help underwrite the cost of March of the Living, an overnight Kulanu event, or defray the cost of Kulanu for an individual family. If the money is not for a specific student or family the monies will be donated to help with Kulanu scholarships. To sign up, download the gift card form here, and return it to the Kulanu office attention Kulanu Fairway Program along with a check.  Cards will be available for pick up within a week either at the Kulanu office or at Kulanu on Wednesday night.

Kulanu 2.0 Goes Live Tonight, 7pm at Temple Sinai.

| September 14th, 2011 | No Comments »

Join us for the opening evening of Kulanu.  If you haven’t registered for your classes, you will have an opportunity tonight.  Students will also have an opportunity to learn about each of the classes.  Door Prizes will be awarded.

Parent Open House, Gift of Kulanu, Try It Refund Policy

| September 9th, 2011 | No Comments »

Thanks to all of you who came out to one of our Kulanu open houses or joined us for ice cream. It was a pleasure to meet all of you and get to tell you about Kulanu 2.0. We look forward to meeting more of you this Wednesday September 14th at Temple Sinai for our first official night of Kulanu. On Wednesday, students will have the opportunity to hear about the classes being offered this trimester from the teachers teaching them and to register if they haven’t done so already on-line.

  • Since a number of parents have asked for a “Parent Open House”, we will be holding a Kulanu Koffee: Parent Open House -Tuesday morning September 13 at 8:15am in the UJF Boardroom on the second floor of the JCC

We want to thank those parents who have shared their ideas and have given us feedback regarding tuition.  To that end, we would like to remind everyone of the Gift of Kulanu and let everyone know about or Try-It Refund Policy.  As always, please feel free to connect directly with us at elise@ujf.org or dalexander@ujf.org.

1) Gift of Kulanu:

  • Any student who is new to Kulanu, and attending all three trimesters will receive a $100 tuition refund which is payable March 30th.

2) Try-It Refund Policy:

  • If student or a parent notify Kulanu to withdraw by October 7th, (after 3 classes) family will receive a full refund less $75.
  • If student or a parent notify Kulanu to withdraw between Oct. 8 – Dec. 31st, family will receive a $450 refund.

There will be no penalty for registration prior to September 15th

There is a sibling discount of $30 for the 2nd and 3rd student concurrently enrolled from the same family.

 

Kulanu 2.0 Open Houses August 24 th, August 31st and September 7th

| August 24th, 2011 | No Comments »

Come find out about Kulanu 2.0.  Meet the new director and assistant director, learn about the new developments. This is not the same old Kulanu. First Open House is August 24th 7pm in the UJF Boardroom. The second is August 31st at Temple Beth El, and the third is September 7th at Temple Sinai. New classes are on the website and registration is now open. To meet the new director’s or to get involved on making Kulanu 2.0 great, contact elise@ujf.org or dalexander@ujf.org

Page 1 of 512345