Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Scholars regard the Book of Lamentations as one of the most problematic in the Tanakh. Written after the fall of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E., Eicha describes Jerusalem’s decimation and the nearly complete destruction of its inhabitants. The text acknowledges sin only briefly and it does not specify its nature. Traditionally, commentators have interpreted Lamentations…
Did you know? Hillel elections are coming up, and as planned, I’m running. They’re a mess, as far as clubs are concerned. I even talked to our rabbi a few days ago (under the guise of interviewing him for our newspaper), and he confirmed that our Hillel is a “Jewish affinity club” and that I…
My father has always loved math because it’s simple, it’s direct and it’s truth. That’s not always the case, though. Statistics are finagled all the time, and the student newspaper at American University, the Eagle, of which I am the student life editor, found that AU’s Jewishness was not as black and white as we…
Today’s question comes from a variety of people, names excluded. Suffice it to say that more than five have approached me in conversation with this burning question: Jewish atheism? What’s up with that? While some people have articulated their curiosity more eloquently, most have cut right to the point: “What is Jewish atheism? Isn’t that…
On my first day in Poland, as I sat jet-lagged in the only Kosher restaurant in Krakow, the Olive Tree, my group leader told us each that we would be taking a day trip in a few days to small, formerly Jewish towns around Krakow. Only half-aware of what was happening, my friend Alexandria and…
In the Medieval Ages, Christians developed the myth of the Wandering a Jew, a Judean who refused to help a soon-to-be-crucified Jesus and was cursed to wander the Earth for eternity. Historians agree that’s awfully silly but the epithet endures (sometimes reclaimed by Jews themselves). Nevertheless, it’s time to face the facts: Jews live and…
Sex. Ostensibly there is nothing of the sort at Yeshiva University. As the exemplar of American Modern Orthodoxy, YU has something of a pristine reputation. Many parents send their children to YU with the hopes of preventing them from being sucked into the big, bad college world of drinking, drugs and, of course, sex. YU…
When I was at Shemspeed’s CMJ concert in Brooklyn, I got the chance to talk to Y-Love. He called out Jay-Z, talked about going more pop with his sound, and dropped some theology. KEISLER: Long story short, how’d you come to Judaism? Y-LOVE: I saw a commercial on TV when I was seven years old…
Whether you are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or straight, Mollie Pier will be your bubbie. She is the cofounder of Project Chicken Soup, a nonprofit volunteer organization that delivers kosher meals twice per month to residents of Los Angeles County living with HIV/AIDS. Even at 91, Pier is a fierce advocate for the LGBT community;…
My dance professor stresses the importance of body movement as a form of non-verbal communication, and having spent half a semester examining and performing various forms of motion, I’m inclined to agree that sometimes our bodies do speak for us. Taking the class has made me pay more attention to the ways we communicate with…
English comedian Ricky Gervais created the original British version of The Office, which quickly jumped across the Atlantic to the U.S. Here, no one was quite sure the hit NBC comedy could ever be the same after Michael Gary Scott left Dunder Mifflin, but this hasn’t stopped other countries from playing on the formula the British series developed. Enter the…
We are coming out of the festival of Sukkot. To be honest, it is an oft-ignored holiday. It matches neither the trembling awe of the theme of freedom from Passover, nor the exhilarating celebration of victory in the lights of Chanukah. These two holidays could summarize what we want in an epic and idealistic event…
Tevel b’Tzedek (Hebrew for Earth In Justice) is an Israeli non-profit organization promoting social and environmental justice by sending young people all over the world to do intimate and immediate action. Their goals are to engage the Jewish community is issues of poverty and devastation on the premise that the Jewish people are innately connected…
It’s been an eventful few weeks, full of holidays, cute anecdotes, law school applications and politics both domestic and international. And now, my pithy observations about all this: 1. My house built a Sukkah for Sukkot. It was really quite nice to sit, eat and sing in. I’d forgotten how much fun sing-alongs are especially…
There’s nothing we here at New Voices like better than a press release email with a shouted subject line: “REP. ACKERMAN ATTACKS OVER 100 NYU PROFESSORS FOR SIGNING DIVESTMENT LETTER.” After catching our breath, we looked into it: Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) doesn’t care for boycotts: I strongly condemn the ill-conceived and dangerous effort by…