Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
“In our minds, the fun and harmless rule-breaking was no different than treating one another’s bodies as fodder for our entertainment. Sexual violence was celebrated, encouraged, uplifted, and glorified, even as it was, technically, against the rules.”
As the camp season begins, New Voices investigates the experiences of former LGBTQ+ campers who have for decades faced exclusion, emotional conflict, pressure, and trauma in the summer’s aftermath.
The student filmmaker behind the upcoming short film “Unconditional” tells the story of an interabled lesbian couple’s first intimate evening – and the experiences at Jewish summer camp that inspired her script.
As North American Jews have struggled to come to grips with #MeToo era questions of consent, continuity, heteronormativity, and harm, four writers have come forward to share their personal experiences within Jewish youth spaces’ pressure-based sexual culture at camps and youth groups.
As Jewish summer camps reopen, one counselor wonders how to make their summer camp more queer-friendly. Jewish Queeries have answers.
An archival story of how “Summer Children’s Colonies” became known as Jewish diasporic humanitarian aid.
“I had finally learned how to be my own version of a madricha and not constantly try to copy or one-up others. I wasn’t looking for heroic moments anymore. I was simply loving my job and loving my chanichimot.”
“Jewish kids wait ten months just for two, and those two never came.” A reflection on the absence of summer camp in the time of COVID-19.
“As they age, campers are tasked with more leadership opportunities and chances to represent their peers in front of the entire camp. It is our job as counselors to put them in the best position to succeed. As they started getting older and the stakes got higher, it became paramount that inclusion and collective participation be at the forefront of their experience.”
Read New Voices Magazine’s new series, “Bunk Tales: Jewish Camp Counselor Stories” for reflections from camp counselors across the Jewish camping world.
“You can’t work at camp for all those summers, watch all those campers burst into bloom under a summer sky that feels close enough to reach out and grab hold of with the tips of your outstretched fingers, without learning to believe in something. And those things I believe about camp live at the very center of my heart; to deny they were true for myself rendered them meaningless, entirely.”
When applying to colleges, I gave barely any thought to Jewish life on campus. This was not because I didn’t care about being engaged with a Jewish community; on the contrary, between leading my Temple Youth Group, attending regional NFTY events, working as a teaching assistant at a religious school, and moving up the ranks at…
Introduction Anti-Semitism is everywhere, and it is nowhere. It is claimed to be behind every critique of Israel voiced by progressive youth, yet is said to have been vanquished as American Jews have found themselves increasingly present among the fringes of the establishment. Of course, anti-Semitism still exists. The attacks on Jews in Paris and…
I came to the Jewish Federations of North America’s General Assembly (JFNAGA) for two reasons: I love the Jewish community, and I am a Zionist who firmly believes in a Jewish and democratic state of Israel with internationally recognized borders living alongside a Palestinian state. I was excited to attend this conference featuring some of…
When I first started to attend a local Orthodox shul, I approached with what could be considered a strong level of trepidation. I grew up mainly Conservative, and considered myself as falling somewhere between the lines of Conservative and Reform. When I thought of Orthodoxy, I thought of my Pop’s narrow-minded uncle who never struck…