I was a student studying abroad at Hebrew University and I do not think my time abroad would have been even half of what it was without Jeff Seidel, the student center, and his staff. Jeff planned countless Shabbaton’s that I attended and I not only made friends but had the time of my life. Within his staff I made lifelong friends that I still talk to today and their generosity as well as Jeff’s is truly touching. I recently returned to Israel and even though I was not a student anymore Jeff and his staff were there if I needed anything. Their programming truly allows students and tourists to experience Israel in ways that they never thought possible and allowing them to explore their religious identity. The work they do is truly amazing and I cannot even begin to describe all I learned about myself and Judaism thanks to them.
Ariel Brotman – Heb U Fall 2012/UC Santa Barbara
17
Jun
Jun
George Deek is an Arab-Israeli diplomat. In 2018, Deek was appointed Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan. He is the first Israeli Arab Christian to become an ambassador. Deek grew up in an Eastern Orthodox Christian family in the Ajami neighborhood of Jaffa, in a building where the other tenants included Muslims, Catholics, Jews and a Catholic priest of Jewish ancestry.[2][3] His father, who worked as a tax advisor,[3] was one of the leaders of the Christian community in Jaffa who served as chairman of the Orthodox Association, and was considered a well-known and popular figure in the city until in 2015 a square was inaugurated in his memory in Jaffa in the presence of Mayor Ron Huldai.[4] According to Deek, his grandparents fled to Lebanon for safety when the 1947–1949 Palestine war, having been told that the Jews would slaughter them if they remained in their homes, but expecting to return home once Arab armies defeated the Jews.[3] According to Deek, when the war ended, his grandparents felt that they had been “deceived”, and decided to return illegally to their home in Jaffa rather than remaining in Lebanon as refugees. Since reentering the country was illegal, Deek’s grandfather, an electrician, was arrested and jailed.
