Archive
When I attend a large Jewish conference, I come into the experience with a healthy dose of cynicism and a quick trigger to critique. As a committed Zionist and Social Justice activist, not to mention a philosophy major, I consider myself to be blessed with the ability to see past the explicit messages that these organizations put forward on the surface and to the implicit messages underneath. So it was that I attended the General Assembly (GA) of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) 2011, in Denver Colo., as a part of the Do The Write Thing student journalism conference. My main question was: As JFNA focuses more on Israel experiences, are they developing a truly Zionist initiative? Or is it merely window dressing, a way to capitalize on the trend of Israel experiences?
My group traveled to Jedwabne on July 11, 2011. We were not meant to go to Jedwabne; it was not on our original itinerary. We left Warsaw early in the morning, and by the time we pulled into Jedwabne, it was a beautiful day — the first nice day after a week of rain. The […]
My most recent blog post, some musings on issues of shomer negiah (boys and girls touching) in the Modern Orthodox community, segues quite naturally into a discussion of dating. Dating is a bit of a sore topic for many students at here at Stern College, Yeshiva University’s all-women undergrad school. Warranted or not, there’s a […]
In the third and final part of this series about non-Jews in Bloomington, Ind. who have become deeply involved with the Jewish community, Jun Chen interviews non-Jewish members of a Hooshir, a Jewish student a cappella group.
Our previous post on #Occupy and the baseless charges of anti-Semitism that have been levied against the movement as a whole based on a few crazy people has received more trackbacks than any other I can remember in this blog’s history. As far as #Occupy bots are concerned, we must be great writers! But just […]
On Thursday evening, Steve Greenberg became the first rabbi ordained by the Orthodox movement to officiate a same-sex marriage. Yoni Bock and Ron Kaplan exchanged vows before some 200 friends and family members, wearing matching kittels – the traditional white robe worn during Jewish weddings – and marigold kippot. The ceremony took place at the […]
It’s official: “Funny Girl,” the musical semi-biography based on the life of Fanny Brice, will not be coming to Broadway anytime soon. According to Dave Itzkoff of The New York Times, the production is having “economic difficulties.” News of this tragedy made several excited yentas planning their mid-winter Broadway trip plotz. Thousands of gay Jewish […]
I’ve been taking care of myself for 71 days – cleaning up after myself, doing my own shopping, making my own food, doing my own laundry – and somehow, I’m still alive (I think everyone back home is kind of shocked that I’ve lasted this long). It has now been over two months since I […]
If you haven’t been reading the Global Jewish Voice, our new blog run in partnership with AJC-ACCESS and the World Union of Jewish Students, now is the time to start. There is some terrific stuff being written for that blog. Here’s one example: Loudly Quranic in J-town By Adam Ehad in Tel Aviv So I’m […]
Hebrew is everywhere on the campus of Brandeis University. It’s heard conversationally in the fast-paced exchanges of Israeli students with thick accents and in ritual form at Hillel. It’s found on posters in the campus center and on the clothes of students sporting Brandeis apparel. It’s embedded in the Brandeis seal — which features the word emet, Hebrew for truth — and takes an academic role inside the classroom. But faced with the increasing financial challenges of the ongoing economic crisis, Brandeis announced in 2010 the termination of the Hebrew Language and Literature Major, beginning with the students of the class of 2015, who began school this semester.