Diaspora English: Tradition As A Tool For Rebuilding
“It can be hard to find comfort in a world where many of the traditional sources of identity are being reexamined and dismantled.”
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Article Archive
Atoning for Jessica Krug
“Whether we ‘claim’ her or not, whether we knew her or not, as a Jew, Jessica Krug is part of our community. All of us must atone for her transgression, just as all of us must atone for the transgressions of synagogues who hired police and security that scrutinized Black Jews and Jews of Color entering our sanctuaries. There cannot be any evasion here.”
The Enneagram as Jewish Holidays
Do you know your enneagram type? Find out which Jewish holiday celebrates you best!
12 Tips for High Holidays Balance and Presence
In this excerpt from a collaborative High Holidays reader entitled “Our Still Small Voice”, Raffi Levi brings Jewish spiritual wisdom on enoughness and healing for readers looking to set an intention for the whirlwind Days of Awe.
A Strike Against Despair
On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, a University of Michigan undergraduate reflects on the sense of possibility unleashed by the grad student strike.
Here We Are: A High Holidays Podcast
Listen to a new two-part High Holidays podcast “Here We Are,” fresh out of Providence, Rhode Island. In a time of unprecedented turmoil, this group of Jewish students has gathered stories and reflections on how they’re entering the new year in the face of a pandemic, climate change, political upheaval, and personal struggle.
Why I’m Eating This Yom Kippur
Throughout college, I struggled with an eating disorder. In many ways, it first manifested itself during Yom Kippur freshman year. From there, it was a downward spiral into self-hatred, an obsession with calories, and compensatory cardio. Four Yom Kippurs in a row, I fasted too easily. The challenge was not for me to abstain from…
I Won’t Forgive Sexual Harassment This Yom Kippur
In the weeks leading up to Yom Kippur, I go through all my Facebook friends and determine who needs an apology. I write dozens upon dozens of apology emails full of pleas for forgiveness and willingness to move forward. This year, Yishai – let’s call him that – sent me such an email, but just like last year,…
U of M Students React to Campus Apartheid Wall on Rosh Hashana
At the University of Michigan, many Jewish students spent the morning of Oct. 4 attending Rosh Hashanah services. That same morning, students in Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) were getting ready to protest. “I just saw these two huge walls,” said first-year student Juliet Wishner. She also saw signs supporting BDS. SAFE, a…
High Holidays and Midterm Season Survival
Original version published in The Daily Californian. When I was preparing to come to UC Berkeley, my biggest fear wasn’t the academic rigor of college, making friends, or getting used to the sometimes-unidentifiable food at Crossroads dining hall – though those were definitely all high up on my list. It was observing Jewish holidays, including Shabbat, and…
Reflections on National Novel Writing Month
There’s a good reason Jews are referred to as the “people of the word.” Our focus on texts is a long-standing tradition that encourages respect, even reverence, for the written word. Words are meaningful, powerful. They can create entire worlds. I highly appreciated this concept even as a child when I used to create fictional…
Messy Jewish identities: A High Holidays meditation, part II
Two years ago, I wrote my first blog post for New Voices. I invited young Conservative Jews, unhappy with the current situation within their movement, to enter into conversation with me and the many other young Jews I know who grew up Modern Orthodox. We, too, were discontented with what we perceived as our movement’s…
Beginning to forgive a rapist on Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is a day we all associate with asking forgiveness. It is a day when every Jew admits in public that they are not perfect. That they have sinned. We ask God to inscribe us in the Book of Life despite our transgressions. Over the course of twenty-five hours we hit our chests while…
Reclaiming “off the derekh:” A High Holidays meditation
As a child, my rabbis and Judaic studies teachers cautioned me against straying “off the derekh,” which almost literally translates to off of the Orthodox straight-and-narrow. If we did, though, then the High Holidays were a time when we could return to once again being on the straight, singular path that Orthodoxy provided. As a…
Why I Love Yom HaAtzmaut Anyway
We’re usually pretty hard on Israel here at New Voices, and though more forgiving than some, I’m no exception. Yet, I find that in the midst of all my anxiety over the results of the last election or railing against the settlements, Yom HaAtzmaut provides the ideal opportunity to step back and remember why I…