Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
As I sit across from her over a plate of chocolate chip cookies and a cup of dark coffee in the newly renovated faculty cafeteria, I think to myself: “I have so much respect for her.” Truth be told, I have so much respect for all of my colleagues because they’ve been doing this…
So my last article– discussing the historical parallels between Israel today and White South Africa pre-1994 – went mildly viral. It was something I was not prepared for: I had expected the typical (warm, exciting, and fairly big, but nevertheless decidedly niche) response a New Voices article garners: a few dozen Facebook “likes,” no more…
There’s been a bit of news about Sephardim lately. Although the attempt began a few years ago, the Spanish government recently announced a more concerned effort at paving the way for Sephardim – ancestors of those Jews expelled in the Inquisition of the 15th century – to acquire Spanish citizenship. The ways of determining who…
On one of the hottest days of the year in San Francisco, a whirlpool of polyester hijabs, Gucci sunglasses, and strollers surround the Dewey monument pillar in Union Square. A stage in the shade of Saks Fifth Avenue is draped with a vermilion banner reading, “19th Annual Arab Cultural Festival.” Every October since 1995, the…
Reform rabbi added to religious council in Israel [Times of Israel] Mazel tov to the most recent addition to one of the many religious councils in Israel: a position typically held by Orthodox authorities. “Rabbi Alona Lisitsa said she did not feel hostility from the rest of the representatives — all Orthodox — of the local…
Scanning the headlines from Barack Obama’s speech about the Middle East, it is compelling the way different newspapers and online sources decided to interpret his words. You don’t need to read the Arabic to see Arab papers are putting words in Barack Obama’s mouth. Thus far, there is no wide division in the analysis. Barack…
Better late than never: Not as good as those Hanukkah dreamboats, I think, but still fun. [Ein Prat Fountainheads] And you thought Natalie Portman couldn’t get any more amazing. [NYT] Turns out Italy isn’t as Catholic as it seems. [Pink Pangea] Where do you go if you’re a student in Egypt and things get ugly?…
You thought the progressive voice in Israel was dying and that progressive policy couldn’t happen? Well, check out today’s Reading List, my doubting friend: In what may be one of the biggest long-term steps to coexistence in the land, Israel is now requiring Arabic language education across its school system. [Ha’aretz] A new liberal Israeli…
I have found that I lack the necessary Arabic words to adequately describe the concept of “keeping kosher.†While the notion of vegetarianism may be generally accepted in Amman, for my home-stay mother, Madame Basma, such a lifestyle remains as foreign… as the American Jew living in her house. I had barely walked through the…