How to Build a Sukkah on your College Dorm Porch
A short instructional guide in six easy steps.
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Article Archive
Lists of Colleges For Jewish Students, Ranked
In the Jewish world, this has been a school year of many lists – particularly lists of the best and worst colleges for Jews. As the one and only national online magazine for Jewish college students, we’ve decided to add our voice to the mix and create a list of our own – a ranking…
Why Trevor Noah Is Terrible
The last time someone named Noah’s actions were so globally significant, animals boarded a boat in pairs, it rained for forty days and the world flooded. This week, it was the Twitterverse that flooded over because of comedian Trevor Noah’s: a) appointment to the highest throne in the comedic news world as the replacement for…
New Voices and the ZOA: Working Together to Command Support for Israel on Campus
It’s no secret that the war for Israel currently has two fronts: the Middle East and American university campuses. Jewish students feel increasingly threatened and intimidated by anti-Israel activity on campus that too often crosses the line into anti-Semitism, as seen recently in incidents at UC Davis and UCLA. All people concerned with the…
Getting to NO on Campus: Israel and Palestine Edition
“Middle ground is just another word for failure. I do NOT want to make a deal! We deserve it all!” That’s the philosophy of the “NO-gotiatior,” a man who wants to teach you how to make the power of “No” work in your life. It got me to thinking: What advice might the NO-Gotiator…
First Results of the Jewish Student Survey are In!
Preliminary results of the Demographic Survey of American Jewish College Students 2014 are out. Started last spring by Drs. Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar at the Trinity College Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture, this is the first comprehensive scientific survey ever of an underrepresented and under studied demographic: American…
Towards a Toolbox for Anti-Semitism
A college student’s first encounter with anti-Semitism on campus can be mildly terrifying: after all, anti-Semitism does not announce itself with a big red flag or banner. In some cases, it may even take a while for the student to realize what happened. A comment such as “no wonder you’re irritable, you can’t eat bacon”…
Naughty Jewish Boys – Yes, Bubbe, They do Exist
In a studio in New York’s theater district, Duncan Pflaster, a playwright and part-time photographer, was unpacking props for his photoshoot: yarmulkes, a menorah, and a book called The Jewish Pleasure Principle. Mr. Pflaster isn’t doing a swimsuit calendar — he’s creating the Naughty Jewish Boys calendar, which will feature a Jewish man in various…
‘Ambiguous Hillel’ Movement Breaks Out at West Virginia International University
Feeling caught up in the pressure to align themselves with either the liberal Open Hillel movement or the nascent reactionary Safe Hillel movement, Jewish students at West Virginia International University met and decided to start a new movement in response: Ambiguous Hillel. “We really had no other option,” explained WVIU Hillel president Jason Scheingross. “Our…
South Park Brings Peace to the Middle East… For 10 Minutes
I have a confession. For all my self-proclaimed desire to rise above the profane, I absolutely love South Park. While the majority of this last season has been a bit of a disappointment for me, the creators of South Park offered up a true gem recently with the episode, “Ginger Cow. “ For most, I…
5 Great Mustaches…And the Jews Who Wore Them
(X-posted from Texas Hillel’s blog) November means Movember, a month of growing mustaches to bring awareness to prostate cancer and other male cancers. In honor of this, Texas Hillel’s blog presents: Five Great Mustaches… And the Jews Who Wore Them. When comedian Groucho Marx didn’t want to take the time to apply a pasted-on mustache for a vaudeville…
Waffle Cone + Pizza = A Glimpse of the Kosher Future
For a kosher-keeper like me, Kosherfest 2013 was almost too good to be real. A huge room full of free food I can actually eat coming at me from every direction, the longer I stayed, the further my train of thought devolved to the level of a dog in a sausage factory: I see they’re…
Seriously, what the f—, Bible?!: An interview with David Tuchman
Ever read the Bible cover to cover? Think it’s a bit strange so much of our society is built by a book most people never read in its entirety? Listen to one little podcast, and your relationship to this all-pervasive text may change radically. Enter OMGWTFBIBLE. Each month on this monthly podcast, a guest reads…
Is That a Lulav in Your Pocket…?
Welcome back! Here’s hoping your Yom Kippur was meaningful, your fast easy, and your shofar loud. Over the next few days, Jews around the world will observe Sukkot, an agricultural festival. Many of us will construct a sukkah or booth structure, where we will eat, pray, sleep and yes, (some of us) even shtup. Though it…
Sci-Fi & the Jews; Mother’s Day; the Internet; and more. [Required Reading]
Haredim and the Internet… part whatever [Haaretz] Hmm… so it’s tough to know what to make of it, but whatever you think, it’s an intriguing report. Maya Epstein writes: “To put things into proportion, both the Arab and Haredi communities are relatively impoverished, and their proportion of households with Internet is lower. But among those who…