Archive
Last week, I looked out over the old city of Jerusalem, barely paying attention to the view it afforded me. This week, as I sit in a hotel in Lublin, Poland, looking out at the graves of hundreds upon hundreds of Jews, I swear I will never take that image for granted ever again. When […]
I had the opportunity a few weeks ago to meet with leading American social critic Noam Chomsky in his office at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where we spoke about a number of issues of international youth activism regarding American involvement in the Israel-Palestine conflict. One of the issues I was curious about was his youth advocacy work within the Zionist movement during the waves of foreign immigration to–and settlement of–Palestine, before Israel was established.
Scholars regard the Book of Lamentations as one of the most problematic in the Tanakh. Written after the fall of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E., Eicha describes Jerusalem’s decimation and the nearly complete destruction of its inhabitants. The text acknowledges sin only briefly and it does not specify its nature. Traditionally, commentators have interpreted Lamentations […]
Did you know? Hillel elections are coming up, and as planned, I’m running. They’re a mess, as far as clubs are concerned. I even talked to our rabbi a few days ago (under the guise of interviewing him for our newspaper), and he confirmed that our Hillel is a “Jewish affinity club” and that I […]
My father has always loved math because it’s simple, it’s direct and it’s truth. That’s not always the case, though. Statistics are finagled all the time, and the student newspaper at American University, the Eagle, of which I am the student life editor, found that AU’s Jewishness was not as black and white as we […]
Today’s question comes from a variety of people, names excluded. Suffice it to say that more than five have approached me in conversation with this burning question: Jewish atheism? What’s up with that? While some people have articulated their curiosity more eloquently, most have cut right to the point: “What is Jewish atheism? Isn’t that […]
On my first day in Poland, as I sat jet-lagged in the only Kosher restaurant in Krakow, the Olive Tree, my group leader told us each that we would be taking a day trip in a few days to small, formerly Jewish towns around Krakow. Only half-aware of what was happening, my friend Alexandria and […]
In the Medieval Ages, Christians developed the myth of the Wandering a Jew, a Judean who refused to help a soon-to-be-crucified Jesus and was cursed to wander the Earth for eternity. Historians agree that’s awfully silly but the epithet endures (sometimes reclaimed by Jews themselves). Nevertheless, it’s time to face the facts: Jews live and […]
The laughter of playing children can be heard amid the chatter of college students at Hillel on Friday nights. It may be unusual for Hillel attendees to show up with their own children, but at Franklin & Marshall College, students aren’t the only regulars. Many professors and their families celebrate Shabbat on campus, too. The close student-professor relationship is the reason why senior Jessica Fink came to F&M, a small liberal arts school. “Whether or not I actually speak to my professors at Hillel, I feel that seeing them around campus, and at Hillel, enhances the feeling of community and familiarity that makes F&M so special,” Fink said.
Sex. Ostensibly there is nothing of the sort at Yeshiva University. As the exemplar of American Modern Orthodoxy, YU has something of a pristine reputation. Many parents send their children to YU with the hopes of preventing them from being sucked into the big, bad college world of drinking, drugs and, of course, sex. YU […]