It’s No Surprise Birthright Silenced Israeli Arabs

By Elaine Cleary November 14, 2017

I grew up hungry for Jewishness. As a young American Jew eager to explore my family’s culture, I tried countless times to find a rabbi or a Hillel staffer who could connect me to our rich history. Everyone gave me the same answer: go on Birthright. Early in college, I considered it. I felt no…

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Netanyahu’s ‘Jewish’ State Is an Affront to Judaism

By Hannah Ehlers March 26, 2015

It is no great surprise that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu was reelected last week. He is a skillful politician and an astute campaigner. What did surprise some, however, including many American Jews and American Jewish communal institutions, were the various statements Netanyahu made during the last days and hours of his campaign. The day…

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Israel Advocacy Is Now Two State Advocacy

By Amram Altzman March 23, 2015

Israel advocacy started out for me as the “unconditional” support for the State of Israel and its policies because they, broadly, were in agreement with my Western, liberal values. For the most part, the Israeli government—in lip service, if not at all in action—supported the idea of a two-state solution, of a government that would…

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What’s Behind Israel’s Veil?

By Evan Traylor February 10, 2015

For so many young Jews in North America, the idealistic images seen on particular trips with organizations including NFTY, BBYO, Young Judaea, USY, and especially Birthright, come to define our views of Israel. After my first trip to Israel, when I spent 4 weeks exploring Israel with my camp and NFTY friends, I immediately felt…

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Brunch With Progressive MK Merav Michaeli and the American Jewish Left

By Derek M. Kwait December 16, 2014

Merav Michaeli, the Israeli journalist and women’s rights activist-turned-Knesset member for the Labor Party, is a sign of hope for a progressive future in Israel. Last Tuesday, she tried to convince an exclusive crowd of worried Jewish leftists gathered in an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper West Side that there was hope for the upcoming elections…

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Peace Can’t Come Through Shutting Down Dialogue

By Tomer Kornfeld August 6, 2014

In my article, “Together We Can”, I called for joint peace efforts among college student clubs, especially those with differing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I relayed an example where I invited Students for Justice in Palestine to join the pro-Israel group at my college in New York for a debate, or ‘mock peace talk.’…

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Why Palestinian Advocacy Groups Don’t Partner With Hillel

By Tom Pessah July 2, 2014

In his post on New Voices last week, Tomer Kornfeld recounts how he worked with his campus Hillel to set up “a debate, or ‘mock peace talk’ with Students for Justice in Palestine.” But “instead of reciprocating our goodwill, sitting down with us and working things out, S.J.P. sent out an email to club members…

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An Interview with the Jewish Educator Banned from UCSB Hillel

By New Voices January 14, 2014

David Harris-Gershon is a Jewish educator, author, speaker, and regular blogger for Tikkun Magazine.  He was recently asked by the Israel Committee of Santa Barbara to be a keynote speaker at its annual event, which was to be housed in the Santa Barbara Hillel building. He was going to speak about his book, What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist…

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Rabbis, Gin, Christmas—New Vices

By Derek M. Kwait December 26, 2013

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…

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A Lesson in Dancing, and Driving, with Palestinians: A Review of the Other Israel Film Festival

By Catie Damon November 26, 2013

The Other Israel Film Festival, featuring films by and about Arab populations living in Israel, just finished running for its seventh season at the Manhattan Jewish Community Center. I was lucky enough to stream a few of the festival’s documentaries and dramas this week from my little corner of the West Coast. Two films impressed…

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The Reading List: Selling Used Laptops to Pay for Jewish Day School

By Ben Sales February 14, 2011

That’s exactly what the Brisker Institute of Torah uMaddah in Buford, Montana is doing to offset tuition costs. [Frum Satire] Haredi control over Israel’s immigration grows. [JW] Some commentary on Malcolm Gladwell’s parsing of YU’s Us News ranking in the New Yorker. [Tzvee’s Talmudic Blog] A Jewish-Arab coexistence school in Israel is failing. [YNet] Regardless…

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