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Reflections on my time at HU

By Matthew Beattie, Toronto

I received the Persiko Family’s merit student scholarship from CFHU in 2013 and went off to Israel that summer to attend the Rothberg International school and take a summer course called the History of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

By far, the most memorable experience that I had during my time studying at Hebrew U was on the night of Tisha B’Av. Several students that I was studying with invited me to attend a service at the Great Synagogue and then come into the Old City with them to experience the evening. I was taken onto the roof of a Yeshiva in the Old City where we could look out over the Western Wall Plaza where thousands of people had gathered to commemorate the day. Some of those studying at the Yeshiva were from Toronto and they explained the history and meaning of this date in the Jewish calendar and all that the people gathered were remembering.

As a person of the Christian faith, I felt privileged to experience this evening with my Jewish friends and be given a view into the history and suffering of their people.  It was also Ramadan at this time and so the Temple Mount, just beyond the Wall was absolutely packed with those celebrating. It was an incredibly moving experience for me, to witness these two people groups whose conflict I was studying, both gathered in such large numbers, with only the Wall between them. This is the memory that stands out most vividly when I recall my time studying at Hebrew U.

Spending the summer studying at Hebrew University was the highlight of my undergraduate education. It was an educational experience that greatly expanded my worldview and I consider it to be some of the most valuable education I have ever received. I also had the opportunity while there to meet and connect with a number of Osgoode Law Students who were studying at Hebrew U. Several of these individuals later became mentors to me and we still often speak of our time spent together in Israel.

  • Matthew is currently in his final year of a four-year JD/MBA degree at Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business. Upon graduating in the Spring of 2018 he returned to BMO Capital Markets as an Investment Banking Associate, where he spent the previous summer.