Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
500 college students–one quarter of the total attendees–descended on Washington at the end of February for J Street’s national conference. The size of the student delegation displayed the growth of J Street U during the past year, and gave students a central role in the conference.
Becca Strober has considered herself Jewish for her entire life. Then she converted to Judaism. Then she converted again. Now she might convert for a third time.
They host shabbat dinners, say blessings over the wine and bread and talk about the Torah portion. Then they praise Jesus. Carly Silver takes an inside look at the world of Jews for Jesus at Brooklyn College.
J Street U got confirmation that its Birthright trip was good to go. Then Birthright found out about it. Was the trip proposed and declined, approved and cancelled or shut down due to political pressure? And what does it mean for the Zionist conversation on campus?
It was once the mother tongue of Jewish households across Europe. Now, Yiddish courses will not even exist at the University of Maryland, home to over 6,500 Jewish students. Yiddish professors and students reflect on the decline of the “mamaloshn” on campus.
Students all over Northwestern University are tuning into “Continental Drift,” the school’s international music radio show, and listening to a range of Israeli groups–whether subversive, folksy or anything in between. How does Israeli music fit into the international scene? And what happens when the lyrics get political?
Adam Hummel went to Kenya in 2008 to help prevent cattle theft, and found himself alone with a tour guide. Two years later, after a soccer tournament and a peace treaty, he’s building a new future for Kenyan youth.
The Soviet authorities told Naum Meiman that he would never be able to leave Russia. 12 years after his family fleed, he landed in Tel Aviv. This is his story of survival, and the American fight to get him out.
The University of Florida Hillel has begun offering classes in Krav Maga, the official martial art of the Israeli army. The result? A bunch of Jewish students in a room–kicking, punching and slapping each other in the face.
On a summer internship in Sderot, the embattled southern Israeli town near Gaza, the author sees trauma through the lens of the camera. A story about qassams, plays and perseverance.
Jacob Arem had to navigate twisted Damascus streets and approach random old men, but he had finally found it: the last remnants of Syria’s Jewish community. Here is the story of a small but resilient group, determined to hang on to their roots.
Moishe House provides a shared space and programming for post-college Jews. But is the organization another set of Jewish communal training wheels, an attempt by the Establishment Jewish community to defer adulthood for these 20-somethings?
Avi Smolen and Justin Rosen announced their upcoming nuptials in the New Jersey Jewish Standard, and what followed in quick succession were: complaints from the Orthodox community, a Jewish Standard ban on future same-sex announcements, complaints from the rest of the community and a second note from the Standard retracting the original ban. Now, New Voices bypasses the commotion and goes straight to the source: Avi Smolen, one of the grooms.
The movement to boycott, divest and sanction Israeli activity in the West Bank and Gaza, commonly known as BDS, has been gaining steam at a few campuses across the country and has been sparking an incendiary debate nationwide. At the center of that debate are Jewish students–many of whom support the cause.
When they go abroad, students often feel lost and confused in a new country. And some find romance with a local resident overseas to ease the culture shock. But does the new relationship add familiarity to the experience, or make it even more foreign?