Diaspora English: Tradition As A Tool For Rebuilding
“It can be hard to find comfort in a world where many of the traditional sources of identity are being reexamined and dismantled.”
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Article Archive
Mah Jongg at Jason’s Deli: A Surprising Jewish Tradition
Four women sit around a table. Playing cards are laid out in front of each player and tiles are shuffled. Laughter and friendly chit-chat fill the air. The game begins; phrases that might seem foreign to bystanders replace the chit-chat, and off they go. Four Crak! Two Bam! Three Dot! Around the table it goes…
Why Religion Matters – With or Without God
Original version published on whoknowsoneblog.wordpress.com. Is there something that faith brings to our society that we would lack if we lived in a world without religion? To the person who has perfect belief in God or a specific religion, this question seems silly. In their minds, of course the presence of their specific religion is of…
In defense of organized religion
There’s a stereotype that engagement programs for Jewish young adults are geared solely at producing the next generation of Jewish children. Many stereotypes exist for a reason — and this one is no exception. Many efforts to engage youth make a desire to produce the next generation of engaged Jewish youth explicit — and that’s…
My queerness is more than just a Bible verse
On this weekend, five years ago, a community member of the synagogue in which I’d grown up stood up at the podium of my teen minyan, and talked about the verse in this week’s Torah portion — one that’s served as the basis for discrimination against queer Jews for decades. I had just come out…
Why I choose to be queer — and why that’s inseparable from being Jewish
I am queer — and my decision to be queer is a conscious decision. There were times in my life when I wasn’t queer, but it’s been a process through which I have grown into my identity as someone who identifies not as gay, but primarily as queer. And, as I’ve grown into it, that…
Messy Jewish identities: A High Holidays meditation, part II
Two years ago, I wrote my first blog post for New Voices. I invited young Conservative Jews, unhappy with the current situation within their movement, to enter into conversation with me and the many other young Jews I know who grew up Modern Orthodox. We, too, were discontented with what we perceived as our movement’s…
Five songs to get you in the mood for Tu B’Av
Have you ever wondered how Tu B’Av became marketed in Israel as an Israeli Valentine’s Day? When I went to Israel to visit my cousins, I was surprised to see Tu B’Av being celebrated as such a commercial holiday. Being the yenta that I am, I set out on a journey to find out why….
Reanalyzing That Damn Survey Again…Again
“American [Jew]s are fleeing organized religion.” This was the big takeaway from the Pew Report in 2013 (I feel a not insignificant embarrassment that we are still quoting it) and another report released last week on the state of American religion in general, both of which found that many Americans are affiliating less and…
Kendrick Lamar and Revelation: A Challenge for Jewish Theology
I’ve wanted to write about Kendrick Lamar for a while. Mostly because listening to Kendrick seems to be what I turn to when I’m supposed to be writing, so integrating the two activities felt ideal. But what angle could possibly be found to write about hip-hop for a Jewish student website? Well, I’m not sure….
Rabbi Hillel, the Tube, and Reading the Comments – A Jew in the Motherland
I usually read, but do not respond to, the comment threads on my articles for this publication and others. Why, then, do I read them, despite my editor’s adamant suggestions not to? To a certain extent, I have a perverse pride in rankling ideologues of all stripes (and for those of you critical of my…
Tevye at Temple Sinai: Past as Prologue in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’
Recently, I participated in one of our people’s most sacred customs: I went to see Fiddler on the Roof. I was psyched. Fiddler has been a part of my life from time immemorial (meaning, I literally cannot remember a time when I did not know it nearly word for word). I’ve seen the movie countless…
Remembering Korach, or On The Danger of Open Hillel
Eric Fingerhut, you take too much upon yourself. The CEO of Hillel International could not resist taking a swipe at the ever-growing Open Hillel movement in his speech to the Hillel General Assembly, comparing us to Korach and his band of rebels. Korach, and by implication, Open Hillel, initiated a dispute that was not for…
5 Ways to Make Jewish Life Less ‘Clichéd’ from an Actual Millennial
I am a Millennial. I say this proudly. I dance around Jewish tradition, modernity, and practice in a way that Millennials do. I whole-heartedly enjoy my status as a Generation Y’er. At the same time, however, I really don’t like how much of the conversation about how to engage my peers is fundamentally had…
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What Judaism will actually look like 50 years from now
I don’t often like to think about the future. Instead, I like to study my past (hence my Jewish History major) and understand my present (hence my sociology major). But when Commentary released its symposium wherein seventy professional Jews — academics, philosophers, researchers, and the like — were asked about what Judaism will look like…