Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Anyone who knows me is aware of the fact that I love hip-hop. Old-school, new-school, white, black, Filipino, Canadian—it’s all good to me. R&B chimes in with its sultry melodies and catchy hooks to complement the harder sound of rap, creating a musical dynamic with soft and street edges. Even though rap is a game…
Pope Benedict XVI hasn’t always had the greatest reputation for being pro-Jewish. In fact, he was a known member of the Hitler Youth when he was a young German man, which practically screams “anti-Semitism†(though whether he joined voluntarily and/or participated in their rituals is open to debate). Let’s take a look at a latest…
Anything ending in the suffix “ILF†can’t be good. When the latest version of the sexual phenomenon that expressed just whom the public would like to have sex with next came out, though, I was surprised. The newest “ILF†category is Jews: more specifically, Jewish women. I’ve long heard that Jewish women are whiny, kvetching…
Oy. What’s set the kvetchometer off this time, you may ask? It’s not that I have a theological problem with this, but it’s just…a bit strange. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, a Mormon, has written and performed a Hanukkah song to be released online. When I first heard the news, I thought it a bit strange….
When Jews fled Russia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, they scattered all over the globe. Many came to America, helping to found the prominent Ashkenazi community in the country today. Throughout the twentieth century, Jews suffered under the reign of the Soviet Union presidents and are still marginalized in Russia today. Yet, tucked away…
Empire Maker. Ghostzapper. Sightseek. Rattling off the names of these horses, I can’t help but realize that most other people besides Thoroughbred horse racing enthusiasts will have any idea about who or what they are. These magnificent animals were just some of the horses under the conditioning of the Jewish Hall of Fame racing trainer…
When I think of famous Jews in the world today, ones that would be ideal to visit a conference like the recent Reform biennial in Toronto, who comes to mind? Rahm Emanuel, Joe Lieberman…. and Tony Blair? The reformers brought out some big guns at their conference, pulling a few surprises that may have proved…
When I first sat down to figure out a blog topic, I decided to write on the Croatian president’s revelation that his grandson, a Christian, attends a Jewish day school. Blasé enough, controversial to some, I thought. But, when I was making my daily rounds of hip-hop websites to check up on all the latest…
Just like cathedrals are for Catholics, synagogues are proud monuments of Jewish history, our legacy in architecture passed through generations. But what should be done with old synagogues where no Jews longer live, the living conditions—inhabited by non-Jews—are poor, and money is being spent to rebuild synagogues that are never used? This problem sprang up…
I recently got one in a series of forwarded e-mails from my dad, who enjoys passing on Jewish jokes and trivia to his friends and family. This one was particularly interesting. Entitled, “Jewish Trivia Worth Sharing!,” the e-mail went on to uncover a number of people who allegedly have a Jewish heritage, including Winston Churchill,…
Who knew the Catholic Church had field trips? As the Jewish Telegraph Agency reports, on January 17, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI will visit a Roman synagogue on the 21st annual Catholic “Day of Judaism†that sponsors dialogue between the two communities. For that matter, I didn’t know there was a “Day of Judaism,†let alone…
Hillel is something that we all have most likely scene and/or participated in during our times at college. Yet what is it? Jewishenyclopedia.com, that well-known source of Hebraic wisdom, recalls the rabbi Hillel, who taught his followers to imitate “his love of peace….his love of man…and…leading mankind to a knowledge of the Law.” Since the…
For as far back as I can tell, my family has been Jewish. I don’t necessarily mean that every relative kept the Sabbath or kept every commandment, but they, at least nominally, adhered to the Jewish religion. Sure, I do have relatives that converted to Judaism, but my direct ancestors, as far I as can…
While looking back through my fiction writing that I’ve done, I realized that Jewish influence has come out in full force. Here’s a taste of what I wrote the summer before junior year of high school, simply titled, “Moses.” Behind him, a whistle seared the air, and a smacking sound was followed by a man’s…