Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
A good deal of time passed in my life where Judaism was very far back in my mind. Jewish life for me used to just mean meeting up with extended family and friends for the holidays, and here and there Friday night dinners with my family were made a little more special by turning them…
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…
It is a problem that I and many other queer Jewish students face: as religious folk, we want to pray. But how do we – gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans*, queer, and other identities across the “rainbow ” – connect with a liturgy that is often seen as heteronormative, cis-normative, and well, “straight”? Some say, “the…
For 12 weeks I dated an Israeli. The majority of our relationship involved watching TV and smoking cigarettes on his couch. National Geographic was our favorite channel, since it was guaranteed to be in English. At first I felt guilty about staying indoors when I could hear Tel Aviv’s beaches a block away, but I…
Part 1 in a 3 part series. We might just be the last Jewish organization to respond to the big bad Pew Survey and we’re fine with that. It seems like every response so far is other people telling us what how we need to feel about it, whether we should be scared, take…
Jewish education in American synagogues is often compartmentalized into a curriculum: an hour of Judaic Studies and an hour of Hebrew, twice weekly. Judaic studies includes watered-down lessons on holidays and Torah stories. Mastery of the alef-bet, the Hebrew alphabet, is often all students gain from the Hebrew class. By the Bat/Bar Mitzvah age of…
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…
I don’t generally date non-Jews. I’m not snotty about genealogy, I think the treatment of those who intermarry is barbaric and exclusionary, and I would not be upset if I ended up marrying a non-Jewish man. That said, I do usually end up falling head over heels for young Jewish men who can understand things…
My friend Kyle emailed me earlier this morning with the subject line “Baruch Hashem.” And baruch hashem indeed. As AP reports, Hugh Heffner’s vast pornographic empire has finally extended its titillating grasp to the olive-lined land of our brethren: Playboy, the 60-year-old popular men’s magazine/soft porn magazine (depending on your mood), has just launched its very own Hebrew…
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…
A Northwestern student visits the Jewish community in our socialist neighbor. [Schmooze] While a student at Maryland works for social change during an Alternative Spring Break. [JewMD] And a student in Israel finds out what it’s like on the other side of the Jordan River. [Pink Pangea] Kids at a Hebrew charter school in New…
Natalie Portman is engaged and pregnant. [People] American Football hits Israel, a step up from the storied Jerusalem yeshiva boys’ flag football league. [NYT] All the young Jews get together on Christmas Eve. [JIDaily] Seven YU high school students will get to take a class with a renowned Israeli author. [YNet] Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian…
Michael Kellogg, age 24, dies on the final day of his Taglit-Birthright Israel trip. [JPost] Meanwhile, as the Tea Party election commences, Israel starts its own version of the uber-populist, rightist group. [JPost] In more right-wing Israeli foibles, students plan to party on the anniversary of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. [YNet] In Jerusalem, student protests continue…
Walking through the crowded shuk on a Friday morning in Ramleh, an Arab and Jewish town in the center of Israel, I heard a familiar tune blasting from a dated boom box up ahead. I was suddenly taken back to Magen David, the Sephardic and Mizrachi shul I went to as a kid. I looked…