What Can Marmite Tell Us About Diaspora? – A Jew in the Motherland

By Jonathan Katz November 13, 2014

  It was certainly one of the stranger Jewish conversations I have had. (Mind you, I have had many.) There I was in Oxford after a hearty Sabbath lunch, walking in the beauty of Christ Church Meadow, chatting with a new friend about food. At a moment, he turned to me and said, “You said…

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Learning to Undo Ashke-normativity – A Jew in the Motherland

By Jonathan Katz October 22, 2014

Like most Jews with ties to South Africa, my heritage is extremely Ashkenazi. In fact, both sides of my family largely originate from the same region of what is now northeastern Lithuania and northern Belarus. Growing up in New York, most of what I was exposed to as “Jewish culture” was really “Ashkenazi, specifically Lithuanian…

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Continuing a Tradition of Activism at The People’s Climate March

By Jesse Baum September 30, 2014

Last weekend, I drove down from Burlington, Vermont with nine other activists from school to participate in the People’s Climate March. It’s hard to really explain how inspiring the march was. Maybe because it was the march finally showed a side of the environmental movement that we haven’t seen much of yet—a diverse group of…

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Consulting the List: Discreet Judaism and British Kashrut – A Jew in the Motherland

By Jonathan Katz September 29, 2014

In the US, those of us who keep kosher in any form (and yes, that means many things) are used to kashrut wars. Is Does said person keep to that seal? Is this food OK, or is it Star-K? Will a thousand demons eat me if I have a block of Triangle-K cheddar? In short,…

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5 Ways to Maintain Your Jewish Life This Summer

By Ed Mighell July 21, 2014

Summer vacation is meant to be exciting, but it can present a challenge if you only came to discover the joys of Jewish communities while on campus. This summer, to avoid spiritual dryness, make an effort to stay actively involved in Jewish life. Check out these suggestions to help you stay focused on your faith….

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How to be Jewish on a Small College Campus

By Ed Mighell July 1, 2014

  College is an exciting time, but being Jewish on a small college campus can often come with some limitations: cultural concerns, religious practices, specific dietary needs, and misunderstandings to name a few. But in spite of the difficulty, it’s completely worth it. If you’re from a small community like me, a huge college just…

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Apocalypse Now: Preparing for the Potential End of Jewish Statehood

By Jonathan Katz June 25, 2014

  Attention: I am doing something that is heretical across much of the Jewish spectrum. Very heretical – for two-state JStreet-ers, for your right-wing grandma at synagogue Kiddush, and certainly for anyone remotely associated with StandWithUs and other organizations dedicated to apologetics for the Occupation. I am preparing for the potential end of Israel as…

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The Ten Commandments of Recovery

By Jourdan Stein June 3, 2014

Shavuot commemorates receiving the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. It is customarily observed by participating in a night of learning. Since I last wrote, I have relapsed and gone back to residential treatment for anorexia. Going back to treatment for the second time since January took a great deal of courage and taught me a…

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What Stake Should American Jews Have in Israeli Affairs?

By Amram Altzman June 2, 2014

  Israel has always been always at least somewhat present in my life. Though I have only visited once, as a Jew who was raised in a Jewish educational system, Zionism came part-and-parcel with my religious education. In school, I learned Modern Hebrew as a second language and was exposed to Israeli culture and food….

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Growing Up an American Jew – 2 Poems

By Sophie Katzman April 18, 2014

2 Poems  by Sophie Katzman:   Descendant’s Blessing Zadie. Zionist. Yellow stars. Young and old yearning for years passed. Yahrzeit. Yiddush: lyb, sholem. War. Woody Allen. Leaving notes on the Western Wall. The V’ahavta. U-blessed by the Orthodox Union. Torah. Tzedakah. Tikkun Olam, we repair the world. Shabbat. Sternberg Sewing. Samuel’s Metal Shop. Schlep. Shylock….

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Time is Chopped Liver

By Dani Plung April 10, 2014

Passovers during my high school years were games of “What-will-Dani-bring-to-school-for-lunch-today”?  Hosting Seders at my house almost every year meant that we always had an insurmountable amount of leftover Peschadike food in our fridge. This, combined with the fact that the only Kosher for Pesach thing my school cafeteria served was plain matzah with butter, meant…

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My Shabbat Dinner with Muslims

By Audra Gamble April 3, 2014

My grandmother tells this story about how a relative of hers who lived in Israel asked her, quite intensely, whether she was an American or a Jew. She didn’t know what to say; why couldn’t she be both? For many American Jews, including me, this question is ridiculous. I have no problems with the intersecting…

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Anorexia and Shabbat Pt. 2

By Jourdan Stein March 20, 2014

…Continued from Anorexia and Shabbat  My first Friday out of my first intensive treatment session for anorexia.  I’m supposed to be excited to see my friends, relax, and enjoy the free food that Hillel is serving for Shabbat dinner.  I know what’s on the menu for the night, and how now much of each food…

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Anorexia and Shabbat

By Jourdan Stein March 14, 2014

Third grade lunch at Solomon Schechter Jewish Day School. All my friends are sitting around eating Cheetos and sharing sandwiches. Me, I’m staring at the clock waiting for the little and the big hand to both land on the twelve so that I can throw the untouched lunch my mother packed me into the trash…

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No, I Will Not Stop Criticizing Israel on Facebook

By Jonathan Katz January 28, 2014

I post a lot of things about the Holy Land on Facebook. I mean, I post about a lot of things – South Africa, migration politics, tasty coconut-based desserts – but also a lot about Israel and Palestine. And many of the things I post are not terribly adulatory of Israel. In fact, they’re starkly…

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