The Reading List: Party like it’s 1492

By Ben Sales September 14, 2010

Haaretz reported today that in the best example of “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” one in three Spaniards is anti-Semitic. Jeff Goldberg insightfully points out that one in five Spaniards is actually of Jewish descent. [Jeff Goldberg] But while they may be hating on us in Madrid, there’s nothing but…

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A Hairy Situation

By mmoncaster September 14, 2010

What do a fictional British agent and Jewish men have in common? Two words: androgenic hair. For non-science majors, and those who never searched “body hair” on Wikipedia, androgenic hair is a fancy word for the hair that develops during and after puberty. If, after the preceding lines, you are scared to read on, rest…

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Back to the (Community) Drawing Board

By ckessler September 14, 2010

It’s been just a week since I returned from a Hillel Leadership Retreat with a sore back, campfire-smoke in my hair, and a beaded bracelet (well, a piece of string with four beads) on my wrist. But it feels like it’s been a lot longer than that–those of you in college realize the time warp…

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Brandeis to Peretz: Take it back!

By Ben Sales September 13, 2010

In shades of the Abbie Hoffman tradition, TPM has alerted us that Brandeis students are fighting back against the anti-Muslim words of New Republic editor Martin Peretz, a 1959 Brandeis alum (who is Jewish). Peretz wrote: And among those Muslims led by the Imam Rauf there is hardly one who has raised a fuss about…

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How can you sing when my children are drowning?

By Harpo Jaeger September 13, 2010

My rabbi made a bold move during his d’var Torah on the first day of Rosh Hashanah services this year.  After a brief word on Park 51 earlier in the service, in which he condemned the bigoted opposition in the strongest terms I could have imagined, I wasn’t expecting too much more fire and brimstone, especially on…

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The Reading List – Kipot, kaparot, the Ten Days of Grounded Flights and more

By David A.M. Wilensky September 13, 2010

A basket in the Lower East Side’s Bialystoker Synagogue chronicles a century of weddings, as recorded in the kippot. [NYT] Less than half of all Israelis see themselves as secular. “8% of Jewish Israeli adults define themselves as ultra-Orthodox, 12% as religious, 13% as traditional-religious, and 25% as traditional but ‘not very religious,’ according to…

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The Reading List: Sunday (non-) Brunch: Shanah tovah!

By Ben Sales September 12, 2010

Today is the Fast of Gedaliah, traditionally observed because Yishmael ben Netanyah, a Jewish extremist, murdered Gedaliah ben Ahikam, the final Jewish Babylonian-appointed governor of the Land of Israel, and the last Jew to govern the land before 1948. I think, though, that the rabbis instituted the fast because they needed a cool-down period after…

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The Forgotten Corner

By mmoncaster September 10, 2010

Looking at a map of the United States, one notices a clustering of Jewish populations at the corners. The well-known nucleus is New York City. But Jewish settlement extends throughout the Northeast, even creeping north of the border, to Toronto and Montreal. In South Florida, Miami and the beaches and cities that surround it host…

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L’shana tova: a year in strange and uncomfortable places

By lcmoore September 10, 2010

I’m a new face here at New Voices. None of you know me, and I don’t know any of you yet.The first thing I want to do is say that I hope your New Year has been sweet so far. Because let’s face it, shall we? For some of us, 5770, in many ways, totally…

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Shanah Tovah!

By David A.M. Wilensky September 8, 2010

God bless Benji Lovitt for pointing out this gem of Israeli advertising to the blogosphere today. Benji’s blog, What War Zone???, is a never-ending buffet of satire on Israel from the perspective of an American oleh. I highly recommend it. He’s doing a US comedy tour soon and looking for venues. Hillels are perfect, I…

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Justice Served Cold

By Hailey Dilman September 8, 2010

In 1948, “Nuremberg,” a documentary on the Nazi war crimes trials, showed in Berlin. 62 years later, it’s finally playing for American audiences, and the film has lost none of its relevance.

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The Reading List – Castro tells Ahmadinejad to shut up, the Talmud has something to say about television… and more

By David A.M. Wilensky September 8, 2010

J.J. Goldberg has assembled his favorite selection of (mostly Christian) music about repentance to help us all get in the mood for the season. [J.J. Goldberg] The other Goldberg, Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic, was invited by Fidel Castro to come chat in Havana. It seems that Castro really liked Goldberg’s story about Iran a few…

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Who will read the article?

By Ben Sales September 7, 2010

This post is in response to David Wilensky’s post from earlier today. David, you and I both know how most people read news articles: they usually don’t. Maybe they’ll read the headline, maybe–if we’re lucky–they’ll read the lede and the nut graf and maybe–if they actually care–they’ll read an entire article. The truth, though, is…

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I heard that Rabbi Jason is an anti-Semite

By David A.M. Wilensky September 7, 2010

Rabbi Jason Miller, blogger of RabbiJason.com, heard that an article in Time Magazine isn’t good for the Jews. After having read a few posts about the article, he decided to throw his several hundred words of cents in. He has cleverly titled his post, Time not on Israel’s Side. (Get it? See, the name of…

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Columbia Spectator on Rosh Hashanah

By David A.M. Wilensky September 7, 2010

The Columbia Spectator featured an op-ed yesterday by Aviva Beuchler, president of Columbia-Barnard Hillel about Rosh Hashanah choices. Beuchler writes: Navigating the first few days of classes is always a daunting task. Does this history class fit my schedule, or should I try to enroll in the political science class? Should I take physics or…

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