Hityavnut (Hellenization)

By bbarer December 9, 2010

I’d like to focus on something I mentioned very briefly in my overview of Chanukkah which has been coming up in my mind as I consider life back home: namely, Hityavnut or Hellenization, or what would today be called assimilation. The word gives varied messages manifested in different languages. Hityavnut is an example of a…

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Building the Bridge

By akinman October 20, 2010

Like the bell on Wall Street blaring off to the start of a chaotic day, my e-mail inbox hits the ground running at the sound of my alarm. Aside from the numerous Facebook notifications about who-said-what-to-who, I make sure to open UF Hillel’s weekly newsletter. Communication in the 21 Century. Filled with the inside scoop…

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That’s What She Said!

By Carly Silver March 10, 2010

Try to follow my train of thought. I watched the most recent episode of The Office a week ago, when Pam and Jim finally have their baby. Spoiler alert: she’s named Cecilia Marie Halpert. My brain immediately floated to the name “Cecilia,” which sounds like an Anglicized version of the Latin name “Caecilius,” who was…

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Legends of the Hidden Temple

By Carly Silver February 10, 2010

For those of you that know New York, you’ll know that Jews have become as much a part of the Big Apple as the Statue of Liberty. From bagels to black hats, the Diamond District to door mezuzot, we’re a huge part of the city. Still, New York is made up of a lot of…

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A Thousand Leagues From Hillel (Part I)

By Carly Silver February 3, 2010

This is the beginning of a creative writing piece inspired by an experience that New York City’s finest in religion offered. A Thousand Leagues from Hillel Or, A Moderately Fictional Version of How I Began a Search for the Hare Krishna, Avoided a Lecture on Duck Gender Rights, and Ended Up at Whole Foods “‘Hallelujah!’…

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Putting You in a (Good) Pickle

By Carly Silver January 27, 2010

I wish I lived in Idaho. It’s not often that I say that. I don’t think I ever have before. Not that there’s anything wrong with Idaho, but I’ve never been there and, thankfully, like where I live. But Boise now has something that New York City desperately needs: Rabbi Pickle. For those of you…

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I Love My Jewish Mom

By mmogilevsky November 25, 2009

OK, I’ll admit–this post isn’t about anything profound or relevant to anybody other than myself, but I just thought I’d share it because it’s all I can really think about. Today is my first day home after almost three months of being away at college, and it feels great. My parents cleaned up my room…

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Struggling with God

By mmogilevsky October 27, 2009

After a long hiatus from watching Israeli movies (my Netflix account doesn’t see much action while I’m away at school), I finally decided to get back to my roots a bit and watch Ushpizin with my brother and his friends. At first, the movie’s premise didn’t seem like anything extraordinary–a Jewish Orthodox couple in Jerusalem…

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Judgement Day

By bzalcman August 31, 2009

I spent this past shabbat with a new group of seminary girls who are beginning their year of Torah study in Israel. Along with the other madrichot (counselors? there really is no translation for this kind of job, at least that I can think of), I led a discussion group with (most of) the girls…

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The Death of the Jewish Cultural Vanguard

By Ben Sales July 2, 2009

I was about to write a blog post about a giant Israeli cucumber, but then I decided to check my email. And what happens? First I see a JTA piece by Ben Harris about Jewish Hipsters, then I read a Tablet article by Wesley Yang about how Jews invented Rock n’ Roll. Yang’s argument channels…

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