Stories From The Toxic Sexual Culture of Jewish Teen Spaces

By New Voices Editorial Board August 5, 2021

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.

Read More...

Netflix’s Latest Teen Flick Models Toxic Masculinity

By Erin Ben-Moche May 31, 2018

Not even Molly Ringwald could save Netflix’s new teen romantic comedy. In the wake of the #MeToo movement, at a time when women’s rights are in and sexualizing women is out, it seems rather odd that Netflix chose to stream its latest teen flick “The Kissing Booth.” The film, starring Joey King, Joel Courtney and…

Read More...

The Bar Mitzvah Gift that Keeps on Giving

By Eric Steitz April 9, 2014

A mother wakes up and prepares for the day. The routine sounds normal: get the children ready for the day, cook, clean and provide for the family. But, what if it took six hours just to get water? This problem is real for Sub-Saharan African communities. It takes the majority of the day just to…

Read More...

Questioning the Role of Zionism in Jewish Identity

By Dani Plung March 26, 2014

I don’t remember much about my brief stint on the high school crew team, probably because it only lasted one spring season when I was fourteen. Most of what I do remember is meaningless—and not exceedingly positive—like not being able to carry my share of the boat and thereby forcing a coach to take over…

Read More...

How I Became a Proud Wandering Jew

By Dani Plung December 19, 2013

In high school, I idolized Jack Kerouac. I dreamed of beatnik-esque wanderings, of driving wherever the highways took me without a particular destination in mind. I had a realization, though, when some friends and I waited on the el platform in one of Chicago’s northern neighborhoods to return to our campus in the southern part…

Read More...

On the Queer-Jewish-Teenager Experience (or, Corollary to Last Week’s Article)

By Amram Altzman November 25, 2013

I wrote last week about how I grew up in the Modern Orthodox world, but now feel that, in terms of practice, I identify as part of the vast, grey area between Modern Orthodoxy and Traditional Conservatism, and how I, along with peers from both my religious right and left, can build upon that vast,…

Read More...

Selfish Tikkun Olam

By Dani Plung November 13, 2013

Tikkun Olam, it seems, is all the rage. Having grown up in a very Jewish area , physical acts of tikkun olam, or “healing the world” have been a part of my Jewish life since preschool. Street cleanups, community gardening, food bank packing, helping animal shelters, the list goes on. Despite all these opportunities to…

Read More...

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…

Read More...