What’s New With The Workers Circle College Network

By Noa Baron and Brit Zak June 16, 2021

Two student activists on the politics and vision behind a new Jewish socialist youth collective.

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It’s Time for Jewish Philanthropy to Invest Outside of the Jewish World

By Talya Wintman June 23, 2020

If we are serious about racial and economic justice, we must center the voices of small local nonprofits, people of color, and the broader communities in which we are situated, and we must do so inside of our endowment meetings.

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Judaism’s “First Reformed” Moment Is Here

By Ariel Wexler January 9, 2019

The central question of “First Reformed,” Paul Schrader’s film about a pastor reckoning with climate change, is, “Can God forgive us for what we’ve done to this world?” It’s a good question for American Protestants, and for all of us living between skeptical optimism and righteous despair. It’s high time for Jews to have our…

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Working With Student Gang Members Changed Me

By Danielle Neuwirth May 24, 2018

In the spring semester of my junior year, Jose* started hanging out with my friend group. The problem was he also hung out out with local gang members. Jose was from south of Worcester, Massachusetts. As a fellow Puerto Rican, he came to me for assistance when he was kicked out of his home, hoping…

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Student Divers Study Torah and Ocean Conservation

By Hannah Bernstein April 23, 2018

There’s an old Jewish joke about a righteous man who kept all the mitzvot. Every day, he prayed to God to win the lottery, and every day, he did not win. After the man died, he entered heaven and found himself at the foot of the Lord. In anger, he asked: “Why did you never…

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Between Politics and Religion: Jewish Activism at Columbia

By Solomon Wiener December 20, 2016

Originally published in the Fall 2016 edition of The Current. Since the famed student uprising of 1968, many generations of Columbia students have felt an obligation to perpetuate the legacy of the late 60s by creating a myriad of activist clubs and organizations here on campus. And not uncommonly, Jewish students have occupied prominent lay…

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A Magazine for All ’70 Faces’ of Our Community

By Lauren Rosenblatt May 21, 2015

It started over a cup of coffee. I had just gone to Israel and was eager to continue learning about that illusive country I had just been exposed to. Courtney Strauss had just started her new job as Director of Engagement of the Hillel Jewish University Center at the University of Pittsburgh and was eager…

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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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Who is my Sister’s Keeper?

By Lili Brown February 27, 2015

  This is the story of a family I am blessed to be a member of, one that is comprised of five distinct people that, together by surname, by years of photographic history, by a shared address, make us a single unit. My story is that I am a sister to two older sisters, a…

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Be the Light

By Miriam Roochvarg December 25, 2014

As I got ready to light the menorah for the last time this year, I could not help but think about the meaning of the shemash, or head candle, amid all the other candles. Each night a new candle is added to the menorah and the light spreads. Come the end of Chanukah, you have…

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When Will the Federations Let Millennials Speak for Themselves?

By Madeline Winard December 11, 2014

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…

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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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How Hobby Lobby Forces American Jews to Reexamine Our Commitments to Religion, Pluralism, and Secular Governance

By Maddie Ulanow July 23, 2014

The case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., presented a classic conundrum in American constitutionalism: a conflict between religious expression and the lengths to which such expression may infringe on the rights of others. The case also raised controversial questions of personhood and gender equity, and ultimately seemed to pit the interests of religious…

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Growing Up an American Jew – 2 Poems

By Sophie Katzman April 18, 2014

2 Poems  by Sophie Katzman:   Descendant’s Blessing Zadie. Zionist. Yellow stars. Young and old yearning for years passed. Yahrzeit. Yiddush: lyb, sholem. War. Woody Allen. Leaving notes on the Western Wall. The V’ahavta. U-blessed by the Orthodox Union. Torah. Tzedakah. Tikkun Olam, we repair the world. Shabbat. Sternberg Sewing. Samuel’s Metal Shop. Schlep. Shylock….

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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…

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