Pay students to get students to be Jewish, Hillel says [URJ Biennial, day 2]

By Zach C. Cohen December 16, 2011

Yesterday, I talked about the uncertain future of college Jews in organized Reform Judaism. Now there may be hope, but from Hillel rather than Union for Reform Judaism, whose biennial convention I’m reporting from. About five years ago, Hillel realized there was a dirth of Jewish life on college campuses. When they asked themselves how…

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Beacon coverage moves from news to opinion [Today in New Voices]

By David A.M. Wilensky December 15, 2011

Last week, New Voices (and everyone else on the planet) reported on the tale of the YU Beacon, a Yeshiva University student newspaper that decided to go independent to save itself from censorship. This week, it’s all about the editorials, including two op-eds — not one, but two! — from Beacon editor and New Voices…

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A place for college students in Reform Judaism? [URJ Biennial, day 1]

By Zach C. Cohen December 15, 2011

The Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial convention, held this year at a gargantuan conference center/hotel outside Washington, D.C., is bigger than ever: It sold out when 5,000 people signed up before registration closed. But the excitement is palpable for another reason: This is Rabbi Eric Yoffie’s last, and Rabbi Rick Jacobs’ first, biennial as president…

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YU anonymous sex column: the music video! [Parsing]

By David A.M. Wilensky December 12, 2011

The tale of the newly severed ties between Yeshiva University and the YU Beacon, the most controversial of YU’s several student newspapers, is over. But the telling of the tale continues: The New York Times arrived a little late to the party, but God forbid they should ever miss out on a quirky Jew-y New York…

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The Finals Countdown [Fresh Off the Block]

By pkessler December 10, 2011

I have a propensity for contracting illnesses in inconvenient situations. I’ve had tonsillitis in Prague, influenza in Florida, and most recently, pneumonia in Middletown. The last was by far the least opportune time to be seriously ill – amidst four exams, three papers, and various other odds and ends that had seemed to all converge…

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Chanukah: the festival of anti-assimilation? [Long-Range Israel]

By greback December 9, 2011

It’s been a while since there has been a good bit of controversy about Jewish assimilation, but thankfully American Jews and Israeli politics are out of sync just enough to justify talking about it again. The latest blip, I think, challenges American Jews much more than any other public effort since the spread of the…

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Jewish Stereotypes in Your Favorite Sitcoms [20,000 Leagues From Hillel]

By Carly Silver December 9, 2011

Network television shows have long played upon various Jewish stereotypes. Several of these conventions were alive and well in prominent 1990s television situation comedies, or “sitcoms,” such as Will and Grace and The Nanny. Both shows frequently invoked stereotypes about Jewish women in relation to culture and religion. Characters rarely accessed their Jewish heritage outside…

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YU Beacon story explodes, editor resigns [Parsing]

By David A.M. Wilensky December 9, 2011

Updated, 2:20 p.m., 12/9/11: I added a bit about Failed Messiah’s piece on the story. On Wednesday, New Voices broke the news that the YU Beacon, a student newspaper at Yeshiva University was in hot water over an anonymous article about a sexual encounter. Then The Jewish Daily Forward‘s Sisterhood blog had a short post about…

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Yeshiva University and the YU Beacon part ways [Sex!]

By David A.M. Wilensky December 7, 2011

            As we first reported earlier today, the editors-in-chief of the YU Beacon, the most daring of Yeshiva University’s three (!) student newspapers met at 5 p.m. with a group of YU administrators. The administrators were threatening to cut off the Beacon’s funding in response to an article about a…

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YU student paper in danger after acknowledging existence of sex [Breaking]

By David A.M. Wilensky December 7, 2011

Updated at 3:42 p.m. — New Voices has now re-published the censored article in its entirety. At 5:00 p.m. today, Simi Lampert and Toviah Moldwin, co-founders and co-editors-in-chief of the YU Beacon will sit down with four Yeshiva University administrators who they fear will threaten to pull the Beacon’s funding. The meeting was called in response to an…

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How to not get your comment deleted OR What did Judy Joo ever do to deserve being called a cockroach? [The continuation of the Holocaust denial saga]

By David A.M. Wilensky December 6, 2011

Last week, we published an article about acclaimed (by the sort of people who acclaim such things) Holocaust denier Arthur R. Butz, a professor of electrical engineering at Northwestern University. Yesterday, I put together a blog post featuring some of the emails I received in response to that article, all of them from members of…

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Noam Chomsky: Palestine/Israel Among Biggest Issues on US Campuses [Other Voices]

By gmschivone December 5, 2011

Here’s Noam Chomsky on the enormously changed landscape on US campuses over the past twenty years surrounding the US/Israel-Palestine conflict. Among the issues discussed is the growing influence of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) groups and the petty isolation of pro-Israel groups on campuses. The following is a raw excerpt from dialogues with prominent…

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‘Defamation of a genius’ and other defenses of our favorite Holocaust denier [Letters]

By David A.M. Wilensky December 5, 2011

I was surprised by the volume of emails I received in response to last week’s article by Gabi P. Remz about Arthur R. Butz. Butz is a professor of electrical engineering at Northwestern University in Chicago. Tenured decades ago, he’s now more well known for his work as a Holocaust denier than his academic areas of expertise, which,…

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The Problems of Converting They Don’t Tell You About [The Jew in The Boonies]

By Laura Cooper December 4, 2011

With one day left of school now, I feel I must reflect. What they say about this school is true, you know — people really do sleep in the library, and it is hard to make friends. Really, two of my only friends here include the rabbi and the Catholic priest. It’s kind of interesting. They…

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Jewish Atheism? [J-Studs]

By dbloom December 3, 2011

One of the foremost experts on the Second Temple Period, Shaye J. D. Cohen, the Nathan Littauer Professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy at Harvard University, writes, “In the eyes of the ancients, the essence of religion was neither faith nor dogma, but action” (51). Though counterintuitive, this statement seems absolutely correct. If one searches the…

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