The Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel (CHAI) hosted its annual Israel Fair this past Thursday in the Mattin Center courtyard. This year’s event celebrated the 67th anniversary of the formation of the State of Israel.
The event was designed to celebrate and educate students about Israeli culture and featured traditional Israeli food, including falafel, pita and hummus.
“Food is a big part of Israeli culture,” freshman and CHAI intern Daphna Varadi said.
She explained that Israel Fair is designed to showcase the cultural and fun aspect of Israel, demonstrating that the idea of Israel does not always have to be political.
Senior Co-President Ariel Goldschlag said that Israel Fair reflected CHAI’s mission.
“The purpose of CHAI is to broaden the discussion about Israel. Unfortunately, most of the news and information we get about the state is centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Our club does not have a political stance but seeks to show different parts of Israel. We see Israel Fair as an opportunity to do exactly that,” Goldschlag wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
“We go out on campus and take the opportunity to show people, purely from the point of view of fellow Hopkins students, what Israel means to us, while still having fun. And we feel that events like... [writer] Etgar Keret or [musician] Idan Raichel are especially important, as so many of the events run by students here on Hopkins campus narrow the discussion to the conflict, and there is so much more to Israel than that,” Goldshlag wrote.
In addition to Israeli cuisine, CHAI also had a “smoothie bike” at the event, since fruit juice is a staple of Israeli markets. The blender is attached to a bicycle and powered by pedaling.
“The first I have ever heard of one was when they had it last year. We used to rent a smoothie bike, then we decided to buy our own smoothie bike kit,” sophomore and CHAI secretary Gaby Mizrahi said.
Israel Fair was also celebrated through educational elements. There were posters about different cities in Israel. A new feature of Israel Fair this year was postcards featuring different cities in Israel. Freshman and CHAI intern Sarah Rosenberg came up with the idea to make these postcards.
“It was a nice way to exemplify the different cities in Israel,” Rosenberg said. “Even though the country is so small, they’re very distinct.”
Rosenberg also explained that their quick accessibility made the postcards an easy way to learn about Israel.
Along with the food, posters and postcards, the event featured other giveaways, including Israel Fair sunglasses and rubber Israel Fair iPhone speakers.
In the theme of education, the club made sure that the CHAI members were available to make attendees feel welcome and talk with them about Israel.
Mizrahi explained that CHAI encountered logistical difficulties in booking a space for the event.
“We had some logistical difficulties because of the proximity to Spring Fair, but we were luckily able to still get a location,” Mizrahi said. “Spring Fair had all outdoor spaces booked since Thursday. We basically got a favor from Spring Fair.”
CHAI estimates that approximately 250 people attended the fair. Overall, members of CHAI and fair attendees believed the event went well.
“It’s nice to bring something that we really care about to this campus,” Varadi said.
Amanda Edwards, a sophomore who is CHAI’s visual media manager, also enjoyed the event.
“It’s a great experience — so much enthusiasm. It’s nice to be able to show our passion,” Edwards said.
Sophomore Raquel Serruya was impressed by the number of attendees.
“It was a great time. It was nice to see all the students come together to celebrate, even if they were just stopping by on the way to class!” Serruya wrote in an e-mail to The News-Letter.
Mizrahi thought the event was a success.
“I’m really happy with how Israel Fair turned out,” she said. “It coincided with Israel Independence Day, and I’m really happy that we got to inform so many Hopkins students about what was going on and make them have a positive taste of Israel and come away having a fun time.”
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