Archive
Around winter break, during the peak of Israel’s “Birthright season,” I received an invitation from the Columbia/Barnard Hillel to attend a meet-up in Jerusalem for gap-year students in Israel. It was the first time the thought of college had even crossed my mind – I had been doing a pretty good job of focusing on […]
If we are to believe that there is truly a growing anti-Semitic presence on all college campuses these days, then what you’re about to read won’t make sense. Last May, I walked in front of the Israel “Apartheid” Wall at my campus during Justice in Palestine Week, wearing my yarmulke, and a member of Students […]
We Jews have a problem: we fetishize Muslims. Not just any Muslims, though: we choose to fetishize the “Good Muslims.” The Muslims, or the Arabs, who stand up for our cause, who toe our party lines, and who stand up to protect us. To be sure, many in our Jewish community also often quite hastily […]
As far back as I can remember, I have been excited for college. Even as a young child, it was always somewhere in the back of my mind: after middle school, then after high school, I would get a chance to study away from home, learning something I loved, and practicing for something I’d do […]
This is the story of a family I am blessed to be a member of, one that is comprised of five distinct people that, together by surname, by years of photographic history, by a shared address, make us a single unit. My story is that I am a sister to two older sisters, a […]
I’m nervous and shaking. My Hillel rabbi, Isabel, has taken me to a grocery store upon my request; I haven’t gone grocery shopping for about three months and it’s vital to my recovery that I have food around the house that I can eat. The grocery store is one of my least favorite places in […]
While Jewish family planning typically includes finding a welcoming community or reputable Hebrew school, one non-profit program hopes more couples will consider genetic screening a step in building a healthy Jewish family. J Screen, an initiative based out of Emory University in Atlanta, is an education and carrier screening program that provides genetic screening kits […]
My older brother has autism, a disorder that mainly affects social interaction and communication skills. He is one of the proudest Jews you will ever meet: He attends services every Saturday morning, reads Torah once a month, and has all the prayers and their page numbers memorized. At our shul, one of the congregation’s favorite […]
Growing up, I thought I had a normal Jewish family. I had two wonderful and loving parents, and two awesome older brothers. We kept kosher, lit Shabbat candles, and were a part of the local synagogue community. The only difference between my family and yours is that my middle brother has special needs. My middle […]
You walk across the quad to your next class, take the stairs up to a second level and sit down in a standard school-sized seat. Sounds typical, right? You don’t even think about things like walking, climbing steps, and sitting comfortably down among others. February is Jewish Disabilities Awareness Month. The purpose is to recognize […]