1 min read
(SOUP) STARTER FOR TEN
With their mental muscles flexed and hands buzzer-ready, four JSocs rolled up in Oxford ready to fight it out in the Jewish version of University Challenge — or “Jewniversity Challenge” as we have come to know and love it. Early rounds proved tense, with Newcastle and Brighton & Sussex conceding to clever clogs Birmingham and Cambridge. But there could only be one winning team — and that honour went to Cambridge, whose line-up of Josh Goodman, Stephanie Posner, Ben Leibowitz and Rafi Dover proved they were know-alls on topics ranging from Shakespeare to SClub7. Jeremy Paxman would have been proud.
LOCKED LIPS
Busy girl, Stephanie Posner. Fresh from her quiz triumph, she has come up with a imaginative response to a video of actors kissing that went viral last week. She decided to re-create the idea on campus using volunteers. “I arranged it on Facebook and then paired people up at random as they arrived,” she said. “At the risk of sounding cheesy, it was really uplifting. Everyone was hugging by the end.”
FREAKY WEEK
Cambridge chaplaincy had something of a Purim-inspired identity crisis last week, as Yisrael and Elisheva Malkiel’s familiar faces were replaced by a barrage of interlopers. Every day, two new students took on the guise of chaplains — complete with fake beard and hair covering — before hitting the streets spreading chocolate and shiurim. Student Eliot Cohen said it was great fun to channel his inner campus rabbi — and he clearly did something right, as he and “wife” Judy Kahan were voted chaplains of the week.
JUNGLE FEVER
For many Jewish students, Brent Cross is their closest thing to a jungle – what with its ferocious shoppers, clammy climate and maze-like hinterland. But Nottingham experienced more tropical temperatures last week with Chabad’s Purim jungle party. More than 140 costumed guests gathered in a giant marquee decorated with life-like models of monkeys, parrots and giraffes. Making a special appearance was an all-too real giant python. But surely, shouldn’t it have been a rattler?
