Our goal was to empower students to be change-makers and to provide them with a toolbox for engaged, open, and civil discourse.
Our strength was in the ability to create safe places in which hard issues can be addressed in collaboration with a wide spectrum of organizational partners.
Thank you to all those who came to our second annual Celebrate Our Growth Open House! We continue to thrive off of your love, support and generosity.
Special thanks to Fresco Cafe, Jack’s Bagles, Trader Joe’s, Gelsons & Von’s for the delicious food. As well, thank you to those who brought and shared decadent baked goods.
Today, June 11, marks what would have been Avi’s 25th birthday. We are constantly reminded of him by the many seeds he planted that grow and inspire us each day. Over the last three years, we have continued Avi’s work where he left off, creating a wold that he would have built for us.
Three years have passed since the pedestrian accident that claimed the life of Avi Schaefer, a former member of the class of 2013, but family, friends and faculty members still remember him vividly as a transformative member of the Brown community.
The newly installed Interfaith Peace Garden is tucked away in a lovely corner of Loyola Marymount University (LMU), a Jesuit institution that lies mere blocks away from Los Angeles International Airport.
The garden is filled with rough-hewn stone pillars and benches, each carved with quotes that, when taken collectively, reference the need for cultural dialogue and peace in the world. One of the more prominent stones is etched with the phrase, “An enemy is someone whose story you have not yet heard.”
An Interfaith Peace Garden created in the memory of Avi Schaefer, son of Loyola Marymount University Professor Arthur Gross-Schaefer and his wife, Laurie, will be dedicated on Thursday, April 25, at 12:15 p.m.
Delivered by: Rabbi/Professor Arthur Gross-Schaefer, April 25, 2013
It says in the Book of Matthew, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”
This garden is a spiritual space. It evokes the presence of all whose words adorn its pillars and benches. And this garden is a blessing to their memories, as we, in turn, are blessed by their words and their deeds.
Every year, on the first night of Passover, millions of Jews worldwide gather together to celebrate our ancestors’ liberation from Pharaoh’s brutal regime. While telling that powerful story, we also remember the Ten Plagues that wreaked havoc on innocent Egyptians. The tradition of removing 10 drops of wine from each of our Kiddush cups is a profound expression of empathy that is deeply embedded in Jewish values that make me proud to call myself a Jew.
We all came out of Egypt. We just happened to end up in different places. But the future of Israel depends on engaging the attention and commitment of Jews around the world, and not pushing away a younger and more critical generation.
If a college student told you that as a child she studied violin with a strict Russian Jewish teacher, would you think that she’s Jewish … or Muslim?
In typical fashion, the Jewish Hillel group Grand Valley State University broke bread together Friday night as they celebrated Shabbat, or the Jewish day of rest. But this bread passed through different hands and had a deeper significance than usual.
