Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
At Limmud NY every year, there are some panels that really just serve as an excuse for some smart people to talk to each other, rendering the supposed topic of the panel irrelevant. The “‘Just’ Giving” panel was not one of those. It was a panel with some smart, interesting people, but the topic was stayed…
I’m starting to wonder if the State of Palestine will just slowly fade into real existence. This week, the PLO mission in DC raised its flag for the first time and Russia reaffirmed a 1988 Soviet recognition of Palestine. The latter is a far more important step than the recent spate of South American recognitions…
David Grossman was in the middle of writing a book about Israeli parents coping with their child’s military service. Then his son was killed in the 2006 Lebanon War. What followed was “To the End of the Land,” Grossman’s most powerful novel yet.
Remember Tamir Goodman, the Orthodox high school basketball phenom? Now he’s in Beachwood, a Jewish suburb of Cleveland. [Cleveland Jewish News] Are you liberal? Do you love Israel? Things are looking up! [Ha’aretz A Special Place in Hell] Jews love to save money, so here’s a list of places where you can get discounts with your student…
At five o’clock in the morning arose crabby, sleep-deprived teenagers. Hair dream-tousled and expressions vacant, the group made its way to the table with instant coffee and little slices of cake. Dressed to hike, but clearly not ready to, they slumped in the plastic chairs at the pre-hike rendezvous point, grasping at last moments of…
…Pretty fly for a Rabbi: In keeping with the Arts and Culture theme of my recent posts, I decided to peruse through the various fan-made videos on Youtube of this lyric. (And yes, I sincerely believe that outlandish Youtube videos do count as culture, especially in the blogosphere.) So without further ado, here are my…
I recently came across Pilate’s Wife, a novel by Antoinette May about the wife of Pontius Pilate, the procurator of Judea who allegedly prosecuted Jesus. As a religion major fascinated by ancient history, I started researching this figure and what I found made me wonder about the Judaism of today vs. the days of yore,…
I know that this isn’t typical blog style, submitting poetry where a story ought to be, but after a long weekend of “drunk-sitting,” I feel that this poem best encompasses my experience. Let the record show that I do not disapprove of social drinking. However, it was unsettling to watch some of the brightest young minds…
When I took a trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina, to visit my grandma, I hardly expected to garner any blog material. But as luck would have it, I found some interesting subject matter about 45 minutes south of Hilton Head: Savannah sits on the South Carolina-Georgia border, a charming town that is full of…
Jews and hip-hop have a long history. Jews, comedy, and hip-hop, however, are a newer trio on the global stage. Eric and Jeff Rosenthal, also known as It’s the Real, are pioneering the art. Their comedy plays mainly to hip-hop fans — like making fun of long-lost Houston rapper Mike Jones — but the Rosenthals…
A calendar featuring the hunkiest Jewish guys on your campus! Cornell’s Hillel has published a calendar of the “Nice Jewish Greek Men of Cornell” for 2011. Maybe this will be the catalyst that changes Hillels’ reputation nationwide from serving as a breeding ground for nerdy Jewish boys to becoming at least a GPS for where…
What happens when you put a student from Yale, a snowboard instructor from Colorado and a journalist together in the same room? It sounds like the beginning to a joke. Instead, it’s the beginning to a night to remember. In December, I wrote about a Jew Crew reunion I was putting together with my friends…
In Judaism, when we pray, we always turn our bodies so that we face Jerusalem. The reason for this is that within the walls of her old city resides The Kotel. The Kotel, more commonly known as the Western or Wailing Wall, is the last remaining wall of the destroyed temple in Jerusalem. Its oldest…
God bless io9, my favorite sci-fi blog. In addition to sci-fi, the blog hosts regular features — like Mad Science — that focus on real life things… such as 16th century nose jobs. The post notes that it was multi-week process that involved grafting your whole arm onto your face and so forth. Apparently, it…
Israeli cinema has grown in stature on the international stage in recent years. Israeli-made films received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007, 2008, and 2009. Over winter break, I watched two of these films, which both dealt with a challenging subject: war. If you are looking for an action-packed…