Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Giddy up! The harness racing world put a Jewish spin on their April 5 races with the Monticello Raceway 12th Annual Passover Pace. The “run for the matzohs†(a pun on horse racing’s most famous contest, the Kentucky Derby, also known as the “Run for the Rosesâ€) featured Jewish jockeys and top-notch horses. The sport…
Farm Aid, Band-Aid….now, Passover Aid? There may not be an upcoming concert for Passover help (partially because the holiday has passed), but stories of individuals helping others during Pesach never cease. One recent story involves the “last living Jew in Afghanistan†celebrating Passover with the help of an American. Holliswood, Queens, resident Jack Abraham loaded…
Bwog, a news blog at Columbia University, is taking readers away from the campus paper, the Columbia Spectator. Does this spell doom for the college newspaper industry, or can the Spectator keep up?
“Never again†is the constant phrase we utter about the Holocaust. “Not again†are my words about the latest anti-Semitic scandal to hit. Today, on Good Friday, papal preacher Reverend Raniero Cantalamessa compared recent criticism of the pope to anti-Semitic abuse the Jews have suffered over millennia. There are many things wrong with the preacher’s statement,…
“Let my people go!†is the cry of Moses that has resounded through the ages. As Passover approaches, we remember our ancestors who were oppressed by Pharaoh and freed through the grace of God and the courage of Moses. Why, then, did some South Carolinian Jews participate in the propagation of the Confederate states in…
“Come on, rude boy, boy, can you get it up?†asks Barbados-born singer Rihanna on her latest single, the aptly-titled “Rude Boy.†The raunchy hit song will likely be in her set list for her May 30 concert at Bloomfield Stadium in Jaffa. Reports say that it has taken “months of negotiations†to get the…
Try to follow my train of thought. I watched the most recent episode of The Office a week ago, when Pam and Jim finally have their baby. Spoiler alert: she’s named Cecilia Marie Halpert. My brain immediately floated to the name “Cecilia,” which sounds like an Anglicized version of the Latin name “Caecilius,” who was…
Imagine Narnia’s Aslan as the Lion of Judah. Or a wardrobe as the Tabernacle. Unlikely, says Michael Weingrad in a recent book review. “To no other field of modern literature have Jews contributed so little,” he writes. The idea that Jews can’t transport ourselves into another dimension? Ridiculous. I’ll readily admit I’m a fantasy enthusiast….
King Solomon lives (maybe)! Well, he’s hardly the next Elvis come back from the dead, but it seems archaeologists have found something to say that Solomon actually existed. I can imagine biblical archaeologists salivating over this latest find, a wall dating back to three thousand years ago. If this wall is indeed that old, says…
If suburban Connecticut doesn’t exactly scream “farm†to you, maybe you should look a little harder. Born and raised in Connecticut, I had a farm over the hill from my house and rode horses at farms nearby. Still, none of that prepared me for the option Hillel presented to its students for 2010 spring break:…
…And other things I learned at a Columbia University Hillel party.
Balancing ritual, culture, observance and secularism as a college Jew.
For those of you that know New York, you’ll know that Jews have become as much a part of the Big Apple as the Statue of Liberty. From bagels to black hats, the Diamond District to door mezuzot, we’re a huge part of the city. Still, New York is made up of a lot of…
A Thousand Leagues from Hillel Or, A Moderately Fictional Version of How I Began a Search for the Hare Krishna, Avoided a Lecture on Duck Gender Rights, and Ended Up at Whole Food Part I began my journey to a Hindu temple. Part II continues with the journey to ISKCON, the Krishna temple downtown. Huh….
This is the beginning of a creative writing piece inspired by an experience that New York City’s finest in religion offered. A Thousand Leagues from Hillel Or, A Moderately Fictional Version of How I Began a Search for the Hare Krishna, Avoided a Lecture on Duck Gender Rights, and Ended Up at Whole Foods “‘Hallelujah!’…
I wish I lived in Idaho. It’s not often that I say that. I don’t think I ever have before. Not that there’s anything wrong with Idaho, but I’ve never been there and, thankfully, like where I live. But Boise now has something that New York City desperately needs: Rabbi Pickle. For those of you…