Building Bridges to Peace Over Formidable Terrain

By Lily Greenberg Call April 16, 2018

Originally published in J. Weekly.  My experiences in Israel have been some of the most formative of my life. I was bat mitzvahed on Masada, worked in the winery of a kibbutz and made lifelong friends in the country. And yet, my relationship with Israel is complicated, like that of many progressive American Jews. I…

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Reintroducing… The Kvetch-Up

By New Voices Staff October 27, 2017

We know you’re busy. Those midterms are coming up and beer pong isn’t going to play itself. But we also know, amidst the hectic life of academia, you want to keep up with all the news for campus Jews. That’s why New Voices is reintroducing The Kvetch-Up, quick  summaries of some of the top Jewish…

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Speechless.

By Zev Hurwitz October 24, 2017

Originally published in Ha’am. I’m not going to waste too much space speaking to the importance of free speech, diversity of opinions and the benefits of engaging in lively academic conversation with those who disagree with us. Blah blah blah, kumbaya. These are all wonderful attributes that college students and faculty members alike will almost…

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Cobbling Together a Jewish Life in China, Just Like My Grandparents

By Izzy Ullmann August 21, 2017

Originally published in J. Weekly. Being isolated from community tests one’s commitment to the values and practices that normally bring that community together. This is what the experience of being a Jew in China has taught me. I grew up in the warm embraces of Judaism, spending many hours at Yavneh, a Jewish day school in…

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UC Berkeley Students React to Violence at Milo Yiannopoulos Protest

By Sara Weissman February 3, 2017

On the night of Feb. 1, violence erupted at a UC Berkeley protest in opposition to controversial conservative speaker and Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Yiannopoulos, who had been invited to speak by the Berkeley College Republicans, evacuated the premises and his speaking engagement was cancelled at 5:45 p.m. According to The Daily Californian, what started as a…

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High Holidays and Midterm Season Survival

By Sara Weissman October 20, 2016

Original version published in The Daily Californian.  When I was preparing to come to UC Berkeley, my biggest fear wasn’t the academic rigor of college, making friends, or getting used to the sometimes-unidentifiable food at Crossroads dining hall – though those were definitely all high up on my list. It was observing Jewish holidays, including Shabbat, and…

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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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Why Palestinian Advocacy Groups Don’t Partner With Hillel

By Tom Pessah July 2, 2014

In his post on New Voices last week, Tomer Kornfeld recounts how he worked with his campus Hillel to set up “a debate, or ‘mock peace talk’ with Students for Justice in Palestine.” But “instead of reciprocating our goodwill, sitting down with us and working things out, S.J.P. sent out an email to club members…

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What About Non-Zionists?

By Tom Pessah January 20, 2014

In an interview with New Voices last week,  Jewish educator David Harris-Gershon expressed his support for Swarthmore’s Hillel brave declaration, and recounted his own experiences of being banned from speaking at the UC Santa Barbara Hillel chapter for his political views. In the interview, Harris-Gershon recognized students’ “right to a space free of anti-Israel activity,”…

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Campus Dialogue ?

By lcuen May 8, 2011

“There’s a lot of dialogue and but it’s the silent minority. The loud majority doesn’t want dialogue,” said Gila Hashkes, Israel Fellow at UC Berkley Hillel. “We (at Berkeley) had a whole week during apartheid week, we had a big tent with a sign that said: “Let’s Talk.” And it was really interesting.” The tent…

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