So this is my first blog as the new Northern Development Officer for this year. No doubt you read about me in the last blog by the development team, but in case you forgot I’ll do a quick recap! I am Josh Moritz, I apparently look like some bloke from the X factor, and I am responsible for all J-Socs north of Yorkshire.
So far, as I said to a colleague, it feels as if my life is one long train journey. Whether there is some deeper philosophical meaning to that remains to be seen...
This month the UJS Tzevet have been schlepping various mugs, diaries and term planners to all four corners of the country at over 40 different universities freshers fayres. My travels within the last month have taken me to Scotland twice, as well as to fantastic cities within Yorkshire and North Eastern regions.
I thought I would take the time now to share exactly what I have been up to over the last month, with some (hopefully) interesting stories along the way. Quite fittingly, I am writing this blog on a train across the east coast!
After welcoming the Rosh (head) of the Shana (year) I left my house in Leeds to go for my first ever trip across the border to Scotland. Whilst encountering some incomprehensible accents and different money (which is apparently still ‘legal tender’), I found myself doing a three day ‘freshers stall crawl’ at the Universities of Stirling, Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Stirling, my first ever freshers fayre (Shechianu v’kimanu..) was a lot of fun! Stirling have for the first time affiliated to the Student Union in Stirling, and are domestically a politically diverse society. The President Dean is head of the Conservative students, whilst his vice President Lucy head of the Labour students in Stirling. Who said that coalitions are a bad idea?
I then moved on to the vibrant city of Glasgow. I felt a bit nervous being a manc in Glasgow that day, as my beloved football team were playing Rangers in the Champions League that evening. I spent the day at a stall shared with the Quaker society, whose representative spoke of interfaith opportunities. The vibe at Glasgow was definitely positive, and our efforts have paid off with very successful opening events such as BBQs and Friday nights!
Edinburgh J-Soc had a successful two days signing up an unprecedented 30 students at their freshers' fayre! The treasurer Tim, a Belgian hero, showed particular dedication with his two-day commitment to the stall. My only regret is that I wish the freshers fayre, and my trip to Glasgow and Edinburgh had not clashed with the Papal visit (from Edinburgh to Glasgow) on the same day! Getting caught in several Pope Parades in Glasgow high street was definitely not in the job description!
I returned to my English roots after Yom-K to the freshers fayres at Northumbria and Sheffield. Northumbria, a relatively quiet fayre, was brought to life by an hour long performance by the Breakdancing society (who seem to be the leading society at Northumbria)... It did get a bit repetitive after five minutes though!
I was to return to Tyneside the following week to man the worlds smallest freshers stall in Newcastle (who are joint with Northumbria). Their J-Soc have really hit the ground running so far, with the annual ‘Sukkah crawl’ a rousing success!
I have also made a couple of visits to Sheffield this month. I was able to man a fresher’s stall that signed up over 20 members! Being next to a massive amp made conversation difficult though... The new recruits were excited for J-Soc this year and this was reflected at the successful Freshers' drinks that I was able to attend the following Sunday with a great mix of Uni and Hallam students!
Hull was next on the agenda, and by this time the novelty of free Domino’s pizza, ‘awesome club-night flyers’, and free copies of the New Testament seemed to be wearing off! Another dedicated J-Soc committee manned the stall, and despite a minor catastrophe when the neighbouring Greek society spilled a pint of snakebite on all of the sign-up forms (do we have beef with the Greeks?), the forms were not ruined and our membership was preserved for another year!
Last week has seen me travel almost the distance of the country from our Tzevet meeting in London to St Andrews on the Scottish coast! I went via Durham, who, building on last year’s success as Developing J-Soc of the year, were on the ball yet again with their sign-ups! My visit was a good time to start planning the Northern Region Weekend that is happening on the 26th-28th November in Durham! It's open to all Northern J-Socs, and will incorporate the election for the first UJS President! If you fancy coming to a relaxing Shabbaton with great speakers, whilst experiencing some UJS democracy, drop me an e-mail at josh.m@ujs.org.uk.
Lastly but certainly not least was my trip to St Andrews. After being given a tour of the beach and the house from ‘Atonement’ (Keira Knightley?), I made my way to their ‘Shabbat Cafe’ Mediterranean Friday night, followed by Saturday’s ‘Shabbaton’, a learner’s Shacharit and parasha discussion led by two members of the community (one a member of faculty who told me all about her role as an Italian Renaissance lecturer). The J-Soc offer a relaxing and welcoming environment to all its members. It has an international J-Soc committee with the USA composing the majority of the membership! I'm really looking forward to my next trip!
So that’s an idea of what I have been up to for the last month! Next month I am extremely excited for campaigning to start for the UJS Presidential election, as well as my imminent return to Nottingham for JUEFA Cup on the 14th November! I will, no doubt in between those events, be visiting a lot more northerners, and getting a lot more training under my belt. So that’s it for now, your Northern Development Officer, signing off before I next open my diaries!
