Reflections on My Time at Hebrew University
By Gary Segal, Vancouver
One fateful, rainy Vancouver night in the fall of 1970, feeling the urge for change, I decided to apply for acceptance to second-year studies at Hebrew University. This would be my first trip to Israel and little did I know what a life-changing experience it would be. On the most fundamental level, being immersed in Israeli society over a 14-month period forged an indelible bond with the country and my heritage. But in so many ways, attending HU was a unique, personal growth opportunity for me.
I arrived in Israel at the end of April 1971, right after my UBC first-year final exams ended. Soon after arriving, I proceeded to spend four months working on Kibbutz Usha, mostly in the chicken coops. Those four months of pure physical labour was a rather welcome and cathartic experience after the stress of my first-year exams. However, when it was time to start Hebrew University Ulpan and university courses, I was ready to get back to the academic world. As a result of my successful one-month Ulpan, I ended up studying mostly in Hebrew on the Givat Ram campus instead of on Mount Scopus with my friends, which added an extra challenge to my studies.
Being at a renowned, highly-respected campus in Jerusalem, one of the world’s most beautiful and historic cities, was intellectually and emotionally stimulating. HU afforded me the opportunity and desire to study new and different subjects such as archaeology, international relations and the literature of Agnon with internationally renowned experts. I met and made new friends with interesting people from all over the world. In addition, I developed a certain fluency in Hebrew which I enjoy to this day and which further nurtured and encouraged my continuing interest in learning other languages.
On a more macro level, my HU experience inspired an ongoing awareness and sensitivity to Israel and the Middle East, such an important political region in the world. Moreover, being in Israel was a perfect launching pad for me to embark on interesting and enlightening travel, in both Israel and Europe. After my exams ended in June 1972, on my way home, I had a most exciting and memorable two-month travel adventure in East Africa, including being in Uganda during Idi Amin’s reign of terror. I attribute my subsequent decision to backpack for a year through Asia and the Middle East in 1974–75 to this. All these multi-dimensional experiences created in me a lasting international curiosity and perspective that became a constant in my life.
In summary, attending Hebrew U was a privilege and one of the most unforgettable and formative periods of my life. Without a doubt, with its lasting impact on all aspects of my personal, business, and philanthropic life to this day, I look back at this as being one of the key decisions of my life and one for which I am forever grateful.
- Gary is the executive/principal of Kingswood Capital Corporation and related groups of companies
Vancouver Chapter of CFHU
In 2014, Gary’s philanthropic endeavours brought him to support the Joseph Meyerhoff Youth Centre at Hebrew University. A gala event in Vancouver, in partnership with the JNF, raised funds for a program that connects children’s education in elementary schools to science and ecology.
Travelling to socially, economically and geographically-challenged peripheral areas of Israel, graduate students from Hebrew U plant the seed of scientific curiosity in schoolchildren. Sharing their passion for science and the environment, they inspire groups of future ecologists, environmentalists and scientists.
Gary and Nanci Segal travelled to Israel to see for themselves the program’s impact.
“It captures the students at the right time in their lives – Grades 4 – 7 – when they’re in their formative, impressionable years,” says Gary. “The program inspires them to go on to a better life, opening up their minds to a new world of possibilities.
