More than 275 students attended the Israel Club's inaugural event, which was held on September 10th on Yeshiva's uptown campus. The event, which featured a briefing from the chairman of a local pro-Israel political action committee as well as a letter-writing campaign aimed at the United States Congress, was intended to introduce the Israel Club to the student body.
It seems that the massive attendance was largely expected. The event was originally scheduled to take place in the Rubin shul, but event planners realized well in advance that the crowd would likely be larger than anything that could be accommodated in Rubin Hall, and consequently reserved Weissberg Commons for the event. Israel Club co-President Yehuda Shmidman explained, "In light of the ongoing crisis in Israel, we knew the student body would appropriately respond enthusiastically to an Israel-related eventand besides, you don't get a second chance to make a first impression; our first Israel Club event of the year had to be huge."
The event itself was publicized under the heading of "Piece for Peace," referring to the exchange of pieces of pizza for signatures on letters urging Congress to support measures aimed at ending the current wave of terrorism in Israel. Specifically, the letters, which were addressed to various Congressional leaders, urged support of the Middle East Peace Commitments Act ("MEPCA"). MEPCA, which was introduced in the Senate by Senators McConnell and Feinstein, and in the House by Representatives Gilman and Ackerman, requires that sanctions be imposed on the PLO and the Palestinian Authority if the President cannot certify that they are meeting their stated commitments to fight terrorism.
To complement the letter-writing campaign, David Schlussel, Chairman of the North Jersey and Riverdale Political Action Committee (NORPAC), spoke about the importance of political action on behalf of Israel. Personal anecdotes of lobbying success and basic information regarding political activism served as Schlussel's basis for his argument that American Jews should make an effort to support a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. He finished his talk with an open invitation to the Yeshiva University community to join him and NORPAC on October 31 in lobbying Washington, D.C.
The political component, however, was just one part of the multi-faceted program. "The goal of the event was two-fold," Shmidman clarified. "First, we tried to successfully introduce political activism with concrete action. Our second goal was to formally introduce and invite the student body to the dozens of projects currently being led by the Israel Club."
To this end, Israel Club co-President Yael Zemelman formally described various facets of the Israel Club after Schussel's remarks. Before a captivated audience, Zemelman first retold a personal story to stress the importance of activism and then detailed various ways in which students can assist Israel from America.
Among the options presented, she unveiled the new "Dine & Donate" program, which is designed to raise money for Hatzolah-Yesha. By simply presenting one's Yeshiva University identification card at Dougies, Lavana, Mr. Broadway, Viva's Natural Pizza, or The Village Crown on any Thursday night, students' are entitled to ask the restaurants to donate 5% of the bill to needy beneficiaries in Israel.
Other projects promoted included missions to Washington, rallies on behalf of Israeli MIAs, and Israel Club Shabbatonim.
Dubbed by Shmidman as "the most active and important club on campus," the Israel Club began the school year with, as one observer called it, "an impressive introduction to the student body." Shmidman concluded, "We're here to facilitate everyone's engagement with Israel and we will continue to seek 100% student body involvement in our efforts to be effective supporters of Medinat Yisrael."