Going To The Mat Against Bigotry

Hundreds of Penn students gather Monday in front of Steinhardt Hall, the university Hillel, to counter Westboro Baptist Church protesters and celebrate diversity. Rabbi Joel Nickerson

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

In its battle against members of the anti-gay and anti-Jewish Westboro Baptist Church, who were demonstrating this week on the heavily Jewish University of Pennsylvania campus, the school’s Hillel appealed for a little muscle.

Literally.

It so happens that Hillel’s next-door neighbor on frat row is the school’s wrestling team fraternity. When approached by the Jewish students, the grapplers were more than welcome to help throttle the protesters, so to speak. They lugged out the grill, threw on some burgers and helped organize an “Acceptance BBQ” in conjunction with Hillel to drown out the Westboro demonstrators.

“The idea is to have our event overshadow theirs in every way. We want to have so many people with such a positive energy that it completely drowns out the hate and negativity going on 30 feet to the North,” wrote fraternity Vice President Marty Borowsky on the event’s Facebook page. Borowsky said the barbecue drew about 800 Penn students for free burgers, veggie burgers and hot dogs.

Borowsky said he is one of three Jewish brothers in the predominantly Christian fraternity, Alpha Tau Omega, and that he worked with his friend Greg Barber, from the predominantly Jewish Tau Epsilon Pi fraternity, to organize the event.

“We barbecue all the time and we’re right next to [Hillel] so I figured, why not?” he told The Jewish Week.  Continue reading…

Soles With Soul

Well heeled: Designer couture and vintage shoes on display for auction at a benefit for TheJewishWoman.org. Sharon Udasin

by Sharon Udasin
Staff Writer

Sandwiched between the sparkly Christmas windows of Bergdorf Goodman and the high-end Under Armour sportswear store, 75 or so modestly, yet trendily, clad women sipped organic kosher wines, enjoyed cheese hors d’oeuvres and tested their luck with various Christian Louboutin wedges, Gucci boots and Marc Jacobs slingbacks.

Their elaborate headbands perfectly placed on impeccably styled sheitels, the women had gathered at Chabad of the Plaza District for a couture and vintage shoe auction, where proceeds would benefit TheJewishWoman.org, a new Jewish women’s educational offshoot of Chabad.org, the Orthodox outreach organization’s Web site. Spearheading the event was Shterni Seligson, 28, who has established a group called Rebeccah, which raises money for Jewish women’s causes in memory of Rivkah Holtzberg, the Chabad emissary killed in the terror attacks that gripped Mumbai, India, a year ago.

“I was brainstorming on how to get women involved,” Seligson said. “Every woman loves a great pair of shoes.”

“I got fabulous response,” she continued, crediting social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter for her sizeable turnout.

Not a professional businesswoman herself, Seligson is actually working part-time for Chabad.org while studying for her master’s degree in medical assistantship and volunteering at Mount Sinai Hospital. Yet by reaching out to friends, friends of friends and even perfect strangers, Seligson ended up collecting 60 pairs of like-new designer shoe donations, with brands ranging from Prada to Salvatore Ferragamo to Kate Spade.  Continue reading…