Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
This Sunday, thousands of people will arrive in Washington, D.C. for the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America. Just outside the GA, they’ll be joined by the Jewish People’s Assembly, a protest that its organizers from Open Hillel expect to draw around 100 attendees. The protest, according to its website, has three…
With over two hundred thousand students enrolled at more than 800 institutions, Jewish day schools are becoming more and more prevalent in the American Jewish community. That’s two hundred thousand students learning about Israel from an early age — but what are these students actually learning about Israel? That’s what “Between The Lines,” a documentary…
Yom Kippur is a day we all associate with asking forgiveness. It is a day when every Jew admits in public that they are not perfect. That they have sinned. We ask God to inscribe us in the Book of Life despite our transgressions. Over the course of twenty-five hours we hit our chests while…
Imagine that you’re 14 years old. It’s December 1936. Today, and for a while now, you’re focusing on the fact that you are leaving home. Possibly forever. Your parents bring you to the local train station with your medium-sized black suitcase, and the three of you await the arrival of the next locomotive. All you…
With a new football season underway at the Ohio State University, the Buckeye community is determined to move forward in light of a report released this past summer regarding anti-Semitic lyrics in the school’s marching band songbook. OSU Hillel Executive Director Joseph Kohane told New Voices via email that the administration issued two statements condemning…
For Amna Farooqi, the newly elected president of the J Street U student board, what was once the elephant in the room has now become her job. Farooqi, a first-generation Pakistani-American, has been making headlines across the Jewish world as the board’s first Muslim president. She was elected to the position at the Aug. 17 J Street…
As the rift between J Street U and Hillel continues to widen, J Street U members remain dissatisfied with Hillel’s efforts to close the gap. On Aug. 17, Hillel International CEO and president Eric Fingerhut addressed J Street U in D.C. to apologize for declining to speak at the J Street U conference in March….
The AMCHA Initiative, a watchdog organization that works to investigate and combat anti-Semitism in American universities, launched a new web page last month to collect testimonies from students of on-campus incidents. Director and co-founder Tammi Rossman-Benjamin said AMCHA created the page because of concern over a rise in campus anti-Semitism. “We hear regularly from Jewish…
Though J Street U and Hillel moved closer to working together in June, progress is still slow. At the meeting, which took place on June 10, J Street U made several requests of Hillel, and Hillel asked for time before committing to any of them. The meeting came after Hillel International CEO Eric Fingerhut’s decision…
Choosing a college was the first big choice I had ever made. I knew Seton Hall University gave away good scholarships, was close, and I figured I had nothing to lose. Two months later, I was accepted to their six year B.S.E. Elementary/Special Education/M.S. Speech Pathology program. The first time I set foot on campus,…
American students are more likely to die from gun violence than car accidents. It seems as if we serve as potential targets wherever we go. The horror that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School is still remembered around the world, but perhaps the most tragic thing about it is that almost 100 school shootings have…
Everyone is awkward when they start college. Eventually, most students find a group they feel comfortable with, build a community, and the awkwardness goes away. For students with special needs, however, that awkwardness can become a social stigma with aftereffects that can last a lifetime. People with special needs often report feeling invisible to others,…
It started over a cup of coffee. I had just gone to Israel and was eager to continue learning about that illusive country I had just been exposed to. Courtney Strauss had just started her new job as Director of Engagement of the Hillel Jewish University Center at the University of Pittsburgh and was eager…
At 8:17 a.m. on a rainy Thursday morning, a group of nine Jewish students at Guilford College decided to make a change. Rather than continuing to label themselves as a Hillel, the students decided to dub themselves Guilford Chavurah, meaning “group of friends” in Hebrew. “I want it to be a very flexible club,” said…
Keeping kosher in college is not easy; keeping kosher for Passover is even harder. Pizza, bread, eggs, fruits, veggies, and desserts are my go-to dorm foods. While mentally preparing for Passover, I realized many of the main staples of my already restricted diet were no longer options, and that was daunting. No more opening the…