The Jews Who Celebrate Christmas
As the assimilation dilemma grows, an obsession with “continuity discourse” may be creating more barriers for Jews often shamed for multi-traditional upbringings.
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Article Archive
Dealing with Imposter Syndrome as an Interfaith Jew
Figuring out who I am as an interfaith Jew has been complicated, but I have gotten to the point where I am more confident in my identity. Yes, I am the person who proudly wears Chrismukkah sweaters to parties.
Is Giving Presents a Jewish Tradition?
Gift-giving on Chanukah is so popular a custom that we rarely stop to think about it. Why do we do it? Are we just copying Christmas, or is there some Jewish tradition present in the act of gift-giving? (No pun intended.) To find out how gift-giving became such a prominent aspect of Chanukah, we have…
In Defense of My Americanized Chanukah
When I was little, I looked forward to the day in December when my dad asked us to dig the “Chanukah box” out of the attic. Out came the electric menorah to put in our window, the glitzy blue and silver garland of dreidels and Jewish stars to hang on our bannister, several rolls of…
Happy Hanukkah! No more Drake Christmas memes.
I know when those sleigh bells ring, that can only mean one thing: the sound of forced assimilation. If you’re on the internet and move in Canadian or Drake-loving circles, you’ve probably seen the usual “Hotline Bling” memes, now featuring Christmas. You’ve seen the ugly Christmas sweaters with Drake’s likeness on them. They’re harmless, I suppose,…
A Convert’s Christmas in Southern Oregon
The span from Thanksgiving through New Year’s is generally a hectic time for me. A week after trying to wrest control over half the Thanksgiving menu from my mother and sister while debating internally if it’s even worth trying to keep kosher on such a day before inevitably stuffing myself to the gills either way,…
Meeting New People: A Five-Step Guide for Non-Jews Meeting Jews for the First Time
College means opening your mind and seeing a lot of new faces. You may even find yourself learning more from those around you than from of all the information in your textbooks. Of course, meeting people who think differently than you can be nerve-racking. If you’re meeting a Jewish person for the first time,…
Rabbis, Gin, Christmas—New Vices
If you are reading this, you have almost certainly been affected by the life and philanthropy of Edgar Bronfman, who passed away Saturday. An heir to the Seagram’s beverage fortune, Bronfman used much of his wealth to contribute positively to Jewish students of all stripes, including creating the Bronfman Israel Fellowships, which has sent over…
How to Spend Your Jewish Christmas Day
Well, here it is again: Christmas. Lights are a-twinkling in every store window, Salvation Army volunteers are ringing bells everywhere, and green and red drape every available space in the country. As Jews who weren’t raised with a tree in our living room, there’s more than a bit of FOMO this time of year. We…
PHY: The Truth About Santa
This article is the fifth in the series “Procrastination HaYom”– a week-long series of funny videos, websites, articles, and pictures that will do nothing to help you get that A, but everything to help keep you sane during finals time. Life has been rough the past twenty-one years. Never a single visit from the big…
5th Graders+Chanukah Songs=Adorable
I’m told it’s because I never went to public school and fully appreciated diversity (read: the stubbornness of Jews in insisting that the holiday season include some mention of Chanukah), but I have to admit I went wild when I saw a group of 5th grade students from Staten Island singing Maoz Tzur, Light the Candles, and,…
Don’t Be So Quick to Dismiss Chanukah
We’ve all heard the story: Chanukah, the festival of lights, celebrates the miraculous event that occurred a couple thousand years back, where the Maccabees and their friends only had enough oil to kindle their menorah for one day, but it somehow lasted for eight days and nights. We’ve also heard this story: Chanukah is an…
Ugly Sweaters: Now for Jews, Too
So here it is: I’m That Girl. You know, the one who consciously finds hipster to be cool. The one who shops at the fakest hipster store ever, Urban Outfitters, to look just a little hipster on those few days I can wear some of the expensive hipster clothes I managed to buy without sending…
Oprah and Chabad; Jesus for Hanukkah; and more. [Required Reading]
Oprah goes Hasid [Chabad] Visiting Hasidic communities in Brooklyn for an upcoming episode in her latest program, Oprah sat down for a special interview with Chabad Rabbi Motti Seligson. Oprah discussed misconceptions about the role of women in Orthodox Judaism, the importance of family, and living a life of meaning. When asked by Seligson…
Chanukah: the festival of anti-assimilation? [Long-Range Israel]
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…