Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Shimon Peres wants you to be his Facebook friend [JTA] President of Israel Shimon Peres has launched a clever media campaign, enlisting the help of remix artist Noy Alooshe to extend his message – be my Facebook friend, for peace. Civil War Bigotry, Revisited [Slate] While pretty much everyone is familiar with the racist history leading…
We recently posted an op-ed by Carolyn Klaasen, a member of Young, Jewish & Proud. Carolyn argued that a queer safe space is one where queers can “strategize, energize, and organize to fight for our safety outside of that space.” She applies this understanding to a dispute over whether queer Palestinian solidarity activists should be…
Whoever thought that Bubbe’s track suit could help her land a part Off Broadway? All she’d have to do is stand up, tell a joke, and she’d be part of a long tradition of old Jews who love keeping the youngin’s in stiches. Old jews telling jokes is a source for cute, quick humor that is…
Today’s Required Reading featured a recent story about the Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative Judaism), with controversy brewing over whether or not the RA was sponsoring a fair and equal number of female voices in an upcoming annual conference. While Conservative Judaism is by definition non-Orthodox, and seen as generally more open to the leadership of women…
Rabbinical Assembly’s May conference sparks discussion about female speakers [Forward] After information regarding an upcoming conference hosted by the Rabbinical Assembly (Conservative Judaism) was released, debate has been sparked as to whether or not enough women speakers will be present at the event. Since the initial report, the RA has released a statement stating that…
Just when you thought Israel Apartheid Week was over, IAW Madrid makes a showing with one event – one week after most cities have wrapped up the program. Rebecca Powell delivered this dispatch from Madrid: With a tinge of fear, I planned to go witness some of the Spanish events myself. Yet, with only two…
Florida law might threaten authority of Orthodox batei din [Forward] It began as a state bill to oppose Islamic sharia law, but it may end in compromising the authority of Orthodox courts. The Application of Foreign Law in Certain Cases bill, which is one of many such bills nation-wide based on model legislation (ironically by…
‘Slutwalk’, the controversial feminist movement in which women dress provocatively in response to social criticism that labels women who have been raped while being dressed “immodestly” were “asking for it” is coming to Israel. While I agree with Varda Bachrach that the term slut is derogatory and otherwise detrimental to female empowerment, I find the message…
Purim & the Hunger Games [Tablet] Abigail Miller discusses the similarities between the age old Jewish holiday and the popular book series, highlighting the importance of pageantry, in an insightful portrait connecting past to present. “When fashion blogger Michael von Braithwaite writes, “You probably won’t want to dress like a dystopian hero every day, but if…
As promised, I was on Al Jazeera on Monday, where I joined: Pro-Palestine activist Max Blumenthal, Breitbart.com editor Ben Shapiro, Al Jazeera anchor Derrick Ashong, Al Jazeera online producer Malika Bilal, Stanford University Student Body President Michael Cruz and Occupy AIPAC organizer Sasha Gelzin for a discussion on AIPAC and college Jews with a focus…
Whew. That was quite a week. Now that it’s over, check out Dafna Fine’s terrific piece of news analysis on this year’s Israeli Apartheid Week: While reactions came in different forms from different pro-Israel groups, they were almost unanimous in their embrace of a new strategy this year: Avoid a direct attack on pro-Palestinian groups…
How do you tell the Purim story to kids? [Forward] Jewish tales often feature a lot of (ahem) adult content. The Torah/Tanakh is ripe with plenty of sex, violence, prejudice, and more. Sometimes the Torah warns us about the dangers of these things. Other times, like in the story of the Megillah, violence in particular…
Yeah, remember when I said Occupy AIPAC was going to be across the street from AIPAC Policy Conference? Well…they crossed the street. Liza Behrendt, a recent graduate of Brandeis University and a current member of the Avodah service corps in New York, interrupted a session with the help of CODEPINK organizer Alli McCracken, shouting that she…
The first reaction I had upon reading that students were repaying their loans late at higher rates than ever was cynical, and entirely justified. To all the banks losing money because college students haven’t paid their loans back: are you really surprised? Most top colleges in this country cost upwards of $50,000. That’s more than a good…