Archive
It’s sundown on Friday, and I have just turned off my laptop. I walk downstairs to light the Shabbat candles, and I prepare myself for 25 hours without technology. After a nice Shabbat dinner, I retreat to a warm and cozy couch. I settle in with a book in one hand and a magazine in the […]
This article was originally posted on PunkTorah.org. Kavanah. If you’re Jewish, you’ve probably heard the word thrown around by your Rabbi, or perhaps by a friend. Perhaps you use it yourself on a regular basis. For me, it’s a biggie. Loosely translated as “intention,” and related to the word kivun meaning “direction,” living life with […]
If community is a foundation of Jewish life, what does Judaism have to say about solitary confinement, the forcible separation of a person from the community? A few months ago I began an internship with Solitary Watch, an investigative news organization dedicated to reporting on solitary confinement. Once I got started, I became interested in […]
“Zero Dark Thirty.” Something tells me I could type that title and walk away, and the comments section would take care of itself. No need for further input. Good game, everyone. Why is there so much anger over this movie? Many say it exaggerates the positive relationship between torture and the death of Usama bin […]
Disclaimer: I have a literary crush on Jonathan Tropper. All glowing reviews of Jonathan Tropper and his works in this article may very well be biased by said crush. But my crush is well earned. Just pick up one of his books—I’d recommend This Is Where I Leave You to start—and you’ll understand. Not only […]
From an outsider’s perspective, the undergraduate college at American Jewish University in Los Angeles may not seem diverse. After all, the college, while not a religious institution, is predominately Jewish. However, AJU students – much like American Jewry as a whole – are differentiated by homeland, customs, beliefs, and individual personality traits, despite being generally […]
Jerusalem, ISRAEL — As the 2010 film Inception suggests, the introduction of a simple idea can be done very subtly but can transform a person’s resulting thought pattern or behavior completely. In reality, if you do not have conviction about a particular fact, you are much more likely to be swayed to believe the opposite when […]
For most of my three years in college, my main goal was to graduate. I started out pre-med, under the delusion that I enjoyed sciences, and then college had a purpose: to educate me in the basic sciences so that I could attend medical school. But once I took and subsequently came to loath Chemistry, […]
Last winter, I attended the second Occupy Oakland port shutdown, along with hundreds of other students. At a midday rally, Angela Davis, one of my greatest heroines and a professor of my alma mater, addressed the crowd. My heart soared as she spoke of the “wins” of the first port shutdown. However, my beating pulse […]
This article was originally posted on the author’s personal blog, and can be read here. What I have to say is controversial. But bear with me, and let me first contextualize, with something I think we all can agree on. The Jewish narrative is one of struggle. With me so far? Since the birth of the […]