Archive
“Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus,” said Dumbledore. “Old age, in short… one day, perhaps it will happen to you… if you are lucky.” – J.K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” As college students, we often spend the majority of our time around people our own age. Living in dorms, spending Shabbat on […]
New Voices has been around since 1991, but the organization that publishes New Voices, the Jewish Student Press Service, has been around since 1970. In the 70s, as I wrote for last Monday’s edition of Jewniverse, there were hundreds of independent Jewish student publications on campuses all over the country. JSPS was founded as a […]
I recently saw a French film, the title of which translated into The Rabbi’s Cat. This movie, set in colonial Algiers, explored the place of Jews in the world: the place of the Jews among a secular colonial power, among Christians and Muslims of all sorts, and among themselves. Do black Jews in Ethiopia and blonde […]
The fenugreek sprinkled into the chicken coconut stew has no significance to the half-dozen diners scattered around the restaurant. But to Thoufeek Zakriya, an Indian Muslim, the plant is not just a staple in Indian cuisine — it is an artifact in the history of Cochin’s Jewry, the long tale of a small community in […]
Here at New Voices, we’re very excited about Purim, as we’re sure you must be as well (take that as an order). After all, what’s not to like? Baked goods + costumes + alcohol + heartwarming story of good vs. evil = one hell of a good time. So pretty much everyone on our masthead […]
“Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it,” says Cady in that memorable scene from Mean Girls (admittedly, pretty much every scene from Mean Girls is memorable). What follows is a parade of high school girls, each clad in […]
Jon Stewart has occasionally joked about the inferiority of Jewish holidays when compared with our Christian counterparts. He’s lamented the cardboard taste of matzah, expressed his jealousy at the yummy chocolates given out on Easter, and generally represented the sentiments of many Jewish Americans that our calendar of holidays is not quite so fun. Well, […]
Some four years ago, when I left my home in the humid Georgia foothills for college in the snowy Midwest, a member of my family gave me two pieces of advice: “Number one: If someone hits you, or hurts you, you get ‘em back,” they said. “Stand up and don’t let ‘em win. “Number two: […]
The times that I’ve made Hamantaschen in the past have always been in an affectionate haste around my kitchen table, with my grandmother’s well-worn cookbook pinned down by two generations of elbows and floury fingers. My mother and I flutter around the kitchen in hazy swirls, looking for circle-cutting cylinders, inventive ingredients to ad lib as creative […]
There’s a bit of a dilemma brewing in my brain. Let me unpack it for you. I’m an avid reader: a non-fiction guy. Philosophy, pragmatic thought and ethics. Religion, mysticism, law and queer Torah studies. Politics and liberal theory. History (the American Civil War). Economics, finance and banking. On average, I read anywhere from 25 […]