Young Israel has got to go

By rebeccablady July 28, 2009

I’ve been thinking a lot about the impending schism in Orthodox Judaism in America. I’ll be perfectly honest and tell you flat out I’m pro-schism: Whether the moguls of the Orthodox world like it or not, it’s coming, and personally, I’d like to help bring it on. Where to start? Easy: the National Council of…

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From East of the Bank

By miriamberger July 28, 2009

As borders and peoples began to settle following the formal creation of Israel, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNWRA) in collaboration with the Jordanian government established in 1952 the Jabal el-Hussien Palestinian refugee camp North West of Amman. Now, over fifty years later, the Jabal el-Hussien refugee camp has significantly grown and become…

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The Clash of Civilizations

By bzalcman July 27, 2009

As a religious student at Bar Ilan university, I’m not exactly what you might call a novelty. Nicknamed “the religious university”, Bar Ilan is known for it’s high academic standards, its pricey cafeteria food and being a major hub for religious students. A better nickname might be “Clash of Civilizations”- often it’s the first hardcore…

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Make My Funk the J Funk

By peil July 24, 2009

Fans of funky music are used to finding Jews behind the scenes. During the 1960s, Jerry Wexler produced hits for Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. During the 1970s and ‘80s, David Geffen signed just about everybody. And in the 1990s, Rick Rubin locked the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in an abandoned Hollywood mansion and voila:…

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An Open Letter to the Money-Grubbing Jews

By Ben Sales July 24, 2009

Thanks, crooked ultra-Orthodox. You, with your flowing white beards, black velvet kippot, black coats and blacker hats, have shown the world that we Jews love laundering money through corrupt charities. You, who present yourself to the world as the platinum standard of our religion and culture, have branded us all with the stereotype we’ve been…

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I Refuse to Title This Post with a Pun about Bees

By thellmann July 23, 2009

For the last couple of years, I have been slowly developing a passion for honey bees, fueled by a combination of delicious varieties of local honey, a passion for sustainable agriculture, and a fascination with the inner workings of bee hives. When I returned to New York City I decided to look for a venue…

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From East of the Bank: Map, Mapa, Charita

By miriamberger July 23, 2009

As a child a tale was told to me of the Halutzim, the pioneers who came from the diaspora to the land of Israel and cultivated the parched, barren earth into the beginnings of a fruitful nation. I did not doubt this tale, or the image drawn for me of the proud pioneers as they…

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American Jews or Jewish Americans?

By rebeccablady July 23, 2009

So there are answers to the “Where is God?” question after all. I’d like to respond to a couple of comments that appeared on my last post that both validated my observation of God’s absence but provided different reasons for it. Benjamin Siegel’s main claim was that “God is nothing more than a very compelling…

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Orthodox Social Justice?

By Ben Sales July 22, 2009

Uri L’Tzedek, a student driven Orthodox social justice group, wants to wed halakha and ethics. Its latest project, Tav HaYosher, aims to certify kosher eating establishments for fair labor practices.

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Scammed by a Jew during the Three Weeks

By Ben Sales July 21, 2009

An Israeli stole $300 from me yesterday. Said Israeli, whose name–I have since learned–is not Avi Levi, played me for the cash under the pretense of needing medicine money for his sick 10-year old daughter, who had flo4from Israel to Maryland for kidney surgery the day before. He needed the medicine before flying back, he…

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Remembering Dr. Atomic

By peil July 16, 2009

Today marks the 64th anniversary of the first nuclear bomb test at Trinity, a desert site sixty miles west of Alamogordo, New Mexico. Conducted in the early morning of July 16, 1945, the “gadget” was a success: producing a “burst of light of a brilliance beyond any comparison” and laying the groundwork for the U.S.’s…

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Kids these days…

By rebeccablady July 14, 2009

It’s a personal relief to see so many Jewish innovators and new Jewish organizations really giving a lot of thought to the Jewish experience, which is something I feel was left out too often in my Jewish day school and Young Israel synagogue experience. But I’m confused about one thing: Where is God? The question…

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Z Street: this is for real

By Ben Sales July 14, 2009

And you thought Commentary Magazine would be J Street’s biggest critic. Think again. A group of pro-Greater Israel nationalists has taken it upon themselves to create Z Street, a right-wing organization formed to combat the “great danger to the Jewish State of Israel and, increasingly, to world Jewry,” according to the group’s charter. Z Street…

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From East of the Bank: Christain, Notzrim, Missihi

By miriamberger July 14, 2009

From the start of my home-stay in Amman, I made it clear that I was a practicing and self identifying Jew. I felt that this was an important first step in building an open relationship with my host family, as well as in exploring how my sense of identity could co-exist within an Arab household….

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Military and Society in Israel

By admin July 12, 2009

In his blog post from June 18, Aryeh Roskies wrote that in Israel “it is possible to construct a concrete secular Jewish identity.” His column focused on the struggle of preserving an authentic and vibrant Jewish culture in the absence of religious uniformity, and he mentioned Israel only to contrast the Israeli Jewish community with…

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