Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
For years they wandered, desperate to be at home in their God-given land. Â Despite constantly being at the mercy of cruel, tyrannical leaders, they tried to live lives of dignity. Â Above all else, they were certain that they were God’s chosen people and that eventually, the land they loved would belong to them. Â The trials…
If you’re familiar with my work you’ll know that in just about every meal that I eat I include “The Purple Cabbage Stuff” as a side dish. It’s that beautiful purple stuff on all the plates. See here or here. Well, this week I decided to try and make it all by myself. I looked…
The Global Citizen is a joint project of New Voices and the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Throughout the year, a group of former AJWS volunteers will offer their take on global justice, Judaism, and international development. Opinions expressed by Global Citizen bloggers do not necessarily represent AJWS. In a weekly commentary on the Torah…
Last Saturday night in Jerusalem, protesters rallied against a bill that prohibits women from sitting in the front of certain buses. These buses (which are already in operation) separate men and women in the name of religious purity. Although few buses are segregated, this has become a hot topic in Israel. Women argue that they…
“Come on, rude boy, boy, can you get it up?†asks Barbados-born singer Rihanna on her latest single, the aptly-titled “Rude Boy.†The raunchy hit song will likely be in her set list for her May 30 concert at Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa. Reports say that it has taken “months of negotiations†to get the…
Yesterday afternoon, I spent two hours on the phone for Brown/RISD Hillel’s fund drive. Â We asked parents and alums for donations ranging from $20 to $1000. Â About half of the funding for our Hillel comes from board members, and the rest from other donors like the ones we were calling. Â The implications of funding an…
As Israel Apartheid Week finally winds to a close across campuses around the world, allow me to take a look back at the demise of the original Apartheid in South Africa. Â Though South Africa’s Apartheid and Israel’s occupation are two wholly different animals, at their core they are very much alike. Â In both, the government…
I can count on one hand the amount of times I’ve eaten liver in my life. The first time was when I had paté not knowing it was liver. The second time was at a holiday party where they served chopped liver. The third time was when my friend’s roommate’s girlfriend came over to cook…
At the home of a Persian Jewish family in Great Neck last December, according to the Jewish Week, Ashkenazi Rabbi Mordecai Asheret and an entourage of four others crashed a young girl’s first birthday party. The celebration consisted of “mixed dancing and traditional Iranian fare,” which the uninvited rabbi vehemently opposed. He declared that those who chose…
Try to follow my train of thought. I watched the most recent episode of The Office a week ago, when Pam and Jim finally have their baby. Spoiler alert: she’s named Cecilia Marie Halpert. My brain immediately floated to the name “Cecilia,” which sounds like an Anglicized version of the Latin name “Caecilius,” who was…
This is the second post of a series. To read the first post, click here. The next morning we walked passed the synagogue on our way to the main boulevard. It was an impressive cement building with a giant Magen David centered above the entrance, which had two Greek columns on either side. The temple…
Yesterday marked the 99th International Women’s Day, a holiday that celebrates the achievements across the globe by ambitious, successful women in a variety of fields. Since gender disparities are a hot topic amongst international cultures, I really support this holiday and believe it is important to recognize. Since forming early in the 20th century, International…
I’ll add my perspective to the discussion on Israeli Apartheid Week between Ben Sales and Sam Melamed by pointing out a terrific piece on the J Street U blog by University of Pittsburgh senior Benjamin Kamber. The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Movement (BDS) is entirely counterproductive in its pursuit of an end to the Israeli-Palestinian…
The Israeli occupation of the West Bank is a problem we cannot ignore. Sam Melamed agrees with me. He also says that Israel isn’t an apartheid state: on that we agree as well. Where we differ is in how we choose to approach Israeli Apartheid Week, which purports to strive to bring peace to the Palestinians…
The word on everyone’s mind lately seems to be Shakshouka. What is it? Check out the Wikipedia definition right here: Shakshouka (also shakshuka, shaqshuqa, chakchouka; Arabic: شكشوكة‎; Hebrew: שקשוקה‎) is a North African dish consisting of poached or fried eggs cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices (often including cumin, turmeric, and…