Politics Much..?

By bzalcman December 7, 2009

Every six months, there’s one event that I look forward to immensely.  American comedian, Avi Liberman, brings in three American comics in order to do a series of shows whose proceeds go to charity. It’s a great way for English speakers to have a night out that is reminiscent of “the old country” while giving…

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The Global Citizen: Equal Empowerment Through Health or is it Entitlement Through Wealth?

By dzivari December 5, 2009

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. The following blog was inspired by Faigy…

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Who Speaks for Israel?

By mmicner December 4, 2009

As I was working on my thesis the other day, I came across a paper by Prof. Dov Waxman about the American Israel Lobby. Intrigued by his argument, I Googled him, and found out that he is the author of a book which looks at the effects of identity politics on the peace process in…

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On Sleeping and Waking

By sgreen December 4, 2009

College students like to sleep. Everyone in higher ed knows about the old stereotype of the lazy college student who won’t schedule a class before 11am because it will interfere with his/her sleep. Last semester one of my profs suggested that we schedule a make-up class for 10pm on a Wednesday, because, “you guys don’t…

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Beyond the Statement, ‘This is why I Hated Hebrew School’

By miriamberger December 3, 2009

Whenever I raise my voice at my fifth-grade religious schools students, I immediately begin to worry that they will recall this moment twenty years from now as an explanation for why they are no longer affiliated with Judaism. “I came there twice a week when I didn’t want to,” I fear they’ll say, “and then…

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Hamsa’s Symbolism

By kseeger December 1, 2009

I absolutely love Jewish art and jewelry. While I appreciate its creativity and detailedness, I also feel a connection to what its symbols represent. The Star of David is the most universal Jewish symbol, since it is on Israel’s flag; however, there are other popular symbols too. I would like to focus on the hamsa…

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The Global Citizen: Not First Class? Move On Back!

By feabdelhak November 30, 2009

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. “We will now begin boarding flight 398…

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Guns, Walking Tours and Black Eyed Peas

By bzalcman November 30, 2009

You know, I think that the ‘Black Eyed Peas’ were onto something when they wrote the words to their song ‘Where is the Love?’:   If you only have love for your own race, Then you only leave space to discriminate And to discriminate only generates hate And if you hate than you’re bound to…

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T-Giving

By sgreen November 29, 2009

If you think about it, Thanksgiving, or ‘T-giving’ as I have taken to calling it in the past month, while not strictly a Jewish holiday, sure seems like one—the food, the guilt, the family and things associated with each—add up to a pretty Jew-y holiday tradition. And this year my family’s celebration seemed especially so….

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Sunrise, Sunset

By Carly Silver November 25, 2009

When Jews fled Russia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, they scattered all over the globe. Many came to America, helping to found the prominent Ashkenazi community in the country today. Throughout the twentieth century, Jews suffered under the reign of the Soviet Union presidents and are still marginalized in Russia today. Yet, tucked away…

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I Love My Jewish Mom

By mmogilevsky November 25, 2009

OK, I’ll admit–this post isn’t about anything profound or relevant to anybody other than myself, but I just thought I’d share it because it’s all I can really think about. Today is my first day home after almost three months of being away at college, and it feels great. My parents cleaned up my room…

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A Thanksgiving Spin On Shabbat

By kseeger November 24, 2009

This week food store shelves are being wiped of turkeys, cranberry sauces, corn, pumpkin and countless other Thanksgiving accompaniments. While Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, I felt like it is appropriate to write about this week because I am seriously itching to go home for the break. People enjoy Thanksgiving because it usually consists of…

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Rumor Has It….

By bzalcman November 23, 2009

Jews all over the world are all aware of the bleak reality: one of our boys has been in held in captivity by an Arab terrorist group for over three years. Gilad Shalit, a soldier in Israel’s Armored Corp (a.k.a. tanks for the non-army savvy) was kidnapped in June 2006 and has been held captive…

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The Rabbinic Tradition and Talking About Israel

By mmicner November 20, 2009

This past Tuesday, I participated in a conference call with J Street U. For anyone not familiar with this organization from the media or from your own campus, it used to be known as the Union of Progressive Zionists and is now the campus branch of J Street. The topic which prompted this conference call…

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Why a Tallit Shouldn’t Be a Woman’s Prison Sentence

By atedesco November 20, 2009

Two weeks ago, I wrote about my hesitations with the “she-kippah,” which probably gave a few people the impression that I was against women partaking in various rituals and traditions. Which, of course, is completely untrue. That said, I was absolutely appalled when I noticed that Jewschool had posted that a woman was arrested at…

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