MEGA EVENT T.O. 2011 HIGHLIGHTS

Nearly 2 weeks ago UJA's Community Connect along with the Magen Boys Entertainment threw what became the BIGGEST Birthright Israel party Ever in Toronto. The Warehouse Event Venue was filled with nearly 800 young Jewish adults. It was an awesome night filled with good times, good music, reunions, and lots of limes being shared ;)

Check out some of these Mega Event T.O. 2011 moments and highlights:

Happy Birthday Charles (It was Mr. Bronfman's 80th Birthday)

"It's that damn Hansel! He's so hot right now!" 

Mega Event was filled with some ridiculously good looking people

  

Marko Bongo, Peter B, DJ Daniel Basta and DJ Skratch Bastid were RIDICULOUS

The Warehouse was PACKED and check out the line-up

700 balloons dropped from the ceiling to celebrate over 

10 Years of Birthright and to announce the two winners of the 

Air Canada round trip flights to Israel!!!

Congrats to our two winners: Laurie Piltz and Edan Twena

This event could not have been possible without our amazing sponsors: 

TWO HOT WOMEN- Friends that Volunteer together, stay together!

By Alana Kayfetz

Over the past 7 years, there has been thousands of young adults coming together in an annual day of social service. These series is known as One HOT Day. Leading the charge of this coming season of volunteering, tikkun Olam and social action are two HOT women! We would like to take this opporunity to introduce the incoming Chairs of HOT ( Hands On Toronto). These two ladies have an amazing friendship. We can see in their dynamic duo volunteering that friends that volunteer together, stay together. Its an enriching and bonding experience to take on a volunteer opportunity along side your BFF. Here are two ladies who know how to pay it forward and give while having fun!

Shelby Draper is an acountant. In her limited free time, Shelby has worked in the past with UJA's Impact Toronto as an influential Telethon chair. Shelby is engaged and is going to be married in the fall. When asked why she volunteers, she responded: "I grew up in a family where charity and philanthropic giving were made a priority. I was fortunate to learn these values at a young age and always knew that I would incorporate them in my life in a meaningful way; being a part of Hands on Toronto will allow me to do this. I am very excited to have this opportunity to see where our dollars are going and who they are helping."

Shelby and Leila

Leila Kohn is a teacher. Leila, along side Shelby has worked as the chair of  UJA's Impact Telethon and is still glowing from her recent marriage. When asked why she volunteers, she responded: "I volunteer because I believe it is important to give back to the community that has provided me with so many meaningful opporunities that have enabled me to strengthen my Jewish identity and connection to Israel."

We hope you feel inspired to grab your closest friend, step up to the plate and volunteer! Its an amazing way to create new shared experiences that will last a lifetime! Take the opportunity at one of our upcoming Hands On Toronto events to give back and make a difference! SAVE THE DATE for One CHILL Day- SUNDAY OCTOBER 23rd, 2011.

Capture Series featuring Lexi Mitz (eye-lek-see)

The JewDo is thrilled to present the photo talents of Lexi Mitz, a budding Toronto-born photographer and executive at Spin Master Ltd.!  Lexi provided us with some great insights into what inspires her, as well as some background on this gallery of photos specific to a personal trip to Jerusalem.  Here is a synopsis of her work from Lexi's keyboard to our blog:

 

"As a photo artist, I take my photograph as the starting point to create the final product. I print and display using different mediums that bring out the feeling within the shot; creating an end result that’s both eye-catching and visually stimulating. I do not use photoshop...everything you see in my gallery represents the subject as I saw it in the moment with only minor enhancements.

Throughout the Jerusalem Perspectives series, you’ll notice my perception is as broad and far stretching as the city of Jerusalem itself. The passion and stereotype throughout the city is glaringly evident; but also as apparent is the enjoyment and happiness had by its citizens." 

 

"To say I have an enormous passion for travel is an understatement. My inspiration for taking pictures comes from observing all forms of life in countries around the world. To me, the joy in taking pictures is related to the ability to freeze time and still a moment that others aren't there to see."

 "There are multiple ways that each photo I take can be construed. Each individual photo is named using only a single word. There is an underlying meaning and back story to almost every photograph I take, and the single word title represents my feeling at the time of capturing the moment. Some are abstract and some are concrete, but all are honest and real."

"Philanthropy is also an extremely important element of my everyday life. ilexi donates numerous pieces to various charitable silent auctions and donated 100% of all sales during the Jerusalem Perspectives exhibit to The Jerusalem Foundation. The exhibit was held for 5 days in October 2010 at the Pikto Gallery in Toronto with all proceeds going directly toward Jerusalem’s youth realize their potential through educational, recreation and career development programs."











    


"Throughout the Jerusalem Perspectives series, you’ll notice my perception is as broad and far stretching as the city of Jerusalem itself. The passion and stereotype throughout the city is glaringly evident; but also as apparent is the enjoyment and happiness had by its citizens."





Lexi certainly is a talent in our young Jewish community and UJA's CoCo loves showcasing the talent of fellow photo artists in our network to share with our blog followers.  Enjoy the rest of 'eye-lek-see' Jerusalem Gallery!

 

"I am proud to share my perspective with you all and I hope you enjoy the series. Additional galleries can be found on my website and for purchase inquiries at www.ilexi.ca " -Lexi Mitz

Basketball player Jon Scheyer Uses Right of Return

By Adam Gurza

Jon Scheyer scored over 2000 points during his career at Duke University along with winning a national championship in 2010.

Scheyer went undrafted in the NBA Draft. He attended the Miami Heat's and LA Clippers' summer camps in back-to-back years before suffering an eye injury.

After letting the eye injury heal, he signed to play on the Houston Rocket's D-League team, an affiliate league for the NBA.

Jon Scheyer then made a monumental decision regarding his career and also his Jewish roots. He decided to sign a contract with Israel's top basketball team and one of Europe's best, Macabbi Tel-Aviv.

As Macabbi Tel-Aviv can only have a certain number of international players on their roster, Jon Scheyer made a life changing decision for his career based on his heritage.Jon Scheyer used his Right of Return to become an Israeli citizen. This meant that he became an Israeli player on the team so that more international players to come over and play on Macabbi Tel-Aviv.


Along with his amazing talent as a basketball player, Jon Scheyer displayed that he is also quite the Mensch, thinking about his team first.