Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
With every beginning comes an end. Sound like an introduction to Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities?” Well, not quite. On Oct. 27, I wrote a blog post about the possibility of science eventually disproving religion entirely. Yesterday, scientists came a step closer to proving one of the most highly controversial subjects: The Big…
Michelle Obama and the first family have a long history of handshake snafus. Most recently, the first lady shook hands with Tifatul Sembiring, a conservative Muslim and Indonesia’s information minister. One would assume that the shaking of hands between dignitaries is a no-brainer. “MObama, meet Mr. Sembiring.” “How do you do?”, as hands reach for…
Protest movements, to gain legitimacy, often relate their cause to another, more established one from the past. Thus we see that gay rights advocates cite the Civil Rights movement of the fifties and sixties, and advocates against the Iraq War find common cause with antiwar protesters from the Vietnam era. Not all protests are the…
Say what you will about the wisdom of BDS, but everyone should agree that these protesters find their inner pop star in their protest of Aroma Cafe. Check out the video here and above. [CGulkin] At Birzeit University, how the occupation impedes the academic progress of Palestinian students. [Chronicle of Higher Ed.] At Cambridge, one…
Bullies. We’ve all experienced them — in the lunchroom, on the playground, and even in the workplace. Though they may not all fit the stereotypical image of a tyrant, they are still pretty easy to identify because of the confident way in which they carry themselves. That’s why I didn’t see this one for who…
While watching an online TED talk delivered by Shashi Tharoor, I encountered an interesting bit of information. I do not remember the details of the segue, but he mentioned that India is the only country in which the Jews have not experienced anti-Semitism (a brief, yet informative article on the history of Jews in India…
This article was reported from the Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans by Caroline Kessler and written by Ben Sales. Five activists from Jewish Voice for Peace disrupted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans today. The activists stood in five separate locations near the front of the room and shouted slogans saying…
The headline couldn’t have said it better: “The fine art of being a slut” [Frum Satire] So I’m not really sure what happened in this story, but it seems like this Palestinian student claimed to be God, got violent on some people and was shot by a masked gunman before his court trial. Crazy. [JPost]…
When my classmates were out at Halloween parties, eating candy and dancing in their costumes, I sat in my basement, studying the history of the Jewish people. Boring, right? This Halloween was rather blasé by most people’s standards. Since it fell during fall break and was a few days before my midterm, I went home…
A common phrase that used to be heard in Campus Hillel mission statements was: “To maximize the number of Jews doing Jewish with other Jews.” Yet, as familiar as many of us may be with this formulation, it has today disappeared from nearly all Hillel websites and promotional materials (with a few exceptions). Why? In…
Students who are in New York City this week should check out a few cool events coming from a range of organizations. Some are free and some cost money, but in my opinion all are worth it: On Sunday at 3 p.m. in Park Slope, Meretz USA is commemorating the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin with…
As students and the rabbinate try to reconcile in Israel proper, violent followers of a Chabad rabbi in the West Bank are attacking military and security personnel. [Failed Messiah] Meanwhile, here’s a guide to how Chabad does its kiruv, or religious outreach, on campus — the final installment of a three-part guide to kiruv. [Frum Satire] A student…
What value does tradition have? What is added to an action, ritual, or practice from it being something that has been done for 500 years as opposed to 50 years or five years, or compared to starting a new ‘tradition’ altogether? As anyone who has watched Fiddler on the Roof knows – and judging by…
Jacob Arem had to navigate twisted Damascus streets and approach random old men, but he had finally found it: the last remnants of Syria’s Jewish community. Here is the story of a small but resilient group, determined to hang on to their roots.
Dear Mr. President, I want to thank you for your column in the New York Times today, on the anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. Your exhortation to “take up the cause for which Yitzhak Rabin gave his life” is as pressing now as it was in 1995, and your grounded determination for peace…