J Street Unchained: Inside #JSt2015

By Derek M. Kwait March 26, 2015

I came to the J Street Conference earlier this week with a question in mind for students: How do you advocate for Israel and for peace on campus after last week’s elections? In true Jewish fashion, their answers went beyond the question to address other important points about Israel advocacy and Jewish life on campus….

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The Reform Movement Must Apply its Values to Israel

By Hannah Ehlers July 31, 2014

Early in my Jewish education, I was taught that, as Jews and as human beings living in an imperfect world, we are obligated to stand up and speak out in the face of injustice. However small or large the perceived wrong, and despite our shaking legs and cracking voices or how powerful and vocal the…

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If Jewish Organizations Want to Secure the Jewish Future, They Need to Stop Alienating It

By Derek M. Kwait May 6, 2014

Hannah Silverfine’s experience with a Jewish education that taught only a very narrow definition of “pro Israel” is not only a problem in the Reform Movement.  I agree that a good argument can be made for teaching children why support of Israel is important first, then leave the messy stuff for when they’re old enough…

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The Reform Movement Must Express its Support for a Two-State Solution in Youth Education

By Hannah Silverfine May 2, 2014

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of hearing Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the President of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), speak at the J Street U Student Town Hall in Baltimore. As a J Street U leader at Clark University in Worcester, MA, I was very excited to hear him speak passionately about…

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2012’s Jewish Headlines and Their Ramifications for Jews on Campus

By Lex Rofes December 31, 2012

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. School is off, joy is in the air, and the NFL playoffs are about to start. Christmas and Chanukah? Well…they’re done, and with them the holiday season is now reduced to the solar New Year. But we all know what that means. It’s the time of year…

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Arresting the Victim (Again)

By Editorial Board October 25, 2012

Anat Hoffman does good work for the Jewish community. As the head of the Israel Religious Action Center, she directs an organization that is helping to build the civil society devoted to liberal democracy that Israel desperately needs. Yet many in the Jewish world have never heard of her. She doesn’t even pass the does-she-have-a-Wikipedia-article…

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A place for college students in Reform Judaism? [URJ Biennial, day 1]

By Zach C. Cohen December 15, 2011

The Union for Reform Judaism’s biennial convention, held this year at a gargantuan conference center/hotel outside Washington, D.C., is bigger than ever: It sold out when 5,000 people signed up before registration closed. But the excitement is palpable for another reason: This is Rabbi Eric Yoffie’s last, and Rabbi Rick Jacobs’ first, biennial as president…

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