Ben Sales

Anti-Semitism at Indiana (and Elsewhere)

By Ben Sales December 1, 2010

Note: This article has been edited to reflect a correction. At first the article mentioned vandalism of the Northwestern University Chabad’s property, implying in context that that vandalism was driven by anti-Semitism. Although initial reports of that incident in October claimed it to be anti-Semitic, police later confirmed that the vandalism was not driven by…

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The Reading List: Yet Another Catchy Hannukah YouTube video!

By Ben Sales December 1, 2010

You’ve seen the Maccabeats. Now, get ready for NCSY. [MyNCSY] Do you cheat on tests? Do your professors care? [HuffPo] Here’s a funny take on US priorities in the Middle East post-WikiLeaks. [Mere Rhetoric] A court acquitted the Israeli police who took out an American student’s eye during a protest. [Vos Iz Neias] YU has…

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OMG PRINCETON HUMMUS VOTING ENDS IN 3 MINUTES!!!

By Ben Sales December 1, 2010

PRINCETON STUDENTS OF ALL SHAPES AND SIZES! NOW is the time for you to make your voice heard in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict! With one click of the mouse, YOU can end a decades-long fight! Will you solidify Sabra Hummus’s place as the sole representative of the Middle East among the school’s array of condiments??? Will…

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The Reading List: Special WikiLeaks Edition!

By Ben Sales November 30, 2010

As the fallout from the latest batch of WikiLeaks continues, here are some choice links from around the Jewish interwebs: According to the JTA, these leaks reveal… that political and military leaders in the Middle East don’t know what they’re talking about. [JTA] And did Bibi want to give land to the Palestinians? [JTA] Meanwhile,…

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Keep YU Discourse Open

By Ben Sales November 30, 2010

Excluding non-Orthodox speakers from the school hurts students and betrays Jewish tradition.

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The Reading List: Princeton Students Are Pro-Hummus Choice

By Ben Sales November 29, 2010

Sabra Hummus’s parent company supports the IDF, so some pro-BDS students at Princeton want alternative Middle Eastern dips at the dining hall. This makes me doubt these students’ sincerity, because if they really cared about the Middle East, they’d know the value of a good hummus. I mean, have they tasted Sabra’s competition? [The Daily Princetonian]…

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The Reading List: Female Students Fight to be Allowed Back in the Kitchen

By Ben Sales November 24, 2010

It’s not what you think. Donyel Meese talks about her struggle to become the only female mashgicha, or kosher kitchen supervisor, on campus.  [Leftover Cholent] Israeli students aren’t the only ones protesting. For the Brits, tuition is too much. [HuffPo] And some students finally get the opportunity to go to school. The Jewish Community Foundation…

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The Reading List: TSA Scanners Cause Problems…With Halakha

By Ben Sales November 23, 2010

Moriel Rothman, student president of J Street U, brings it in an op-ed about the group’s pro-two states demonstration. [HuffPo] The Shibboleth Magazine blog uncovers the intriguing and disturbing Men’s Rights movement. [Shibboleth] An Israeli student talks about what it’s like to have to sit in the back of the bus. [Rucheli’s Ramblings] Flying home…

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The Reading List: Protest mounts against Columbia/Barnard Hillel

By Ben Sales November 22, 2010

A group of Columbia/Barnard alumni have sent a petition to the schools’ Hillel, advocating open discourse and protesting the Hillel’s decision to pressure the schools’ J Street U affiliate to drop its sponsorship of Gaza UNRWA Director John Ging. [Jewschool] Yes, there is a Guinness World Record for number of dreidels spun simultaneously, and YU students are…

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The Reading List: Columbia J-Street U group did withdraw sponsorship of Ging event

By Ben Sales November 18, 2010

According to a Forward article, J Street U affiliate Just Peace did withdraw its sponsorship of UNRWA Gaza Director John Ging’s speech at Columbia. [Forward] Call me cheesy, but I think this is what we need in order to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [Indexed] Volunteering, conviction and partying: 600 students at the GA. [JTA Telegraph]…

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The Reading List: Can a Shabbat Dinner Go By Without People Gettin’ Crunked?

By Ben Sales November 17, 2010

Observant Jewish students may not go out on Friday night, but that doesn’t mean they stay sober. [Mitzpeh] Another from UMD’s JewPaper: You can’t have a college party without beer, but is that beer kosher? [Mitzpeh] In Toronto, the rabbi of a community Jewish high school refused bribes to persuade students to study at a…

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The Reading List: The GA Destroyed My Understanding of Zionism

By Ben Sales November 16, 2010

So says a journalism student who went to the GA’s Do The Write Thing conference. [Jewlicious] What’s it like going to college after attending Jewish high school? [Schmooze] The Hebrew U. Hillel house puts on a TEDx conference—a regional version of the renowned TED conference. [Jewlicious] Does college today cost too much? Maybe not, these guys…

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The Reading List: Did StandWithUs physically attack JVP?

By Ben Sales November 15, 2010

Several Jewish Voice for Peace accounts claim that members of the Israel advocacy group StandWithUs physically assaulted members of JVP with pepper spray at the South Berkeley Senior Center in the Bay Area. [JVP] In a less violent expression of anger, a Cornell professor erupts at a class — because of a yawn. [IvyGate] A…

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The Reading List: Party like a Jew

By Ben Sales November 11, 2010

What should Jewish students who visit Brussels do? Apparently, they should celebrate Shabbat, tour the city and then get down.  [JPost] The kollel stipend protests continue… [JPost] While at Arizona State University, students protest IDF soldiers. [Mondoweiss] And at the University of South Carolina, the administration plans to revise the school’s discrimination policy, which could affect…

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The Reading List: If you marry me, I’ll give you this silicone chip

By Ben Sales November 10, 2010

It may get the Guinness World Record for “smallest wedding proposal ever:” a computer chip plated in gold. [Forward Shmooze] The University of California cannot censor the anti-Semitic statements of Muslim groups, says the UC’s president. [JJ] The GA hosts a student journalism conference aimed at making said students Israel advocates. A telling quote: “I will…

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