Article Archive

Uri L’Tzedek, a student driven Orthodox social justice group, wants to wed halakha and ethics. Its latest project, Tav HaYosher, aims to certify kosher eating establishments for fair labor practices.

You always remember your first. Mine was on a boat in the Hudson River. It was dark, and the wind across the top deck was cold. Some of the savvier kids were drinking a bottle of something expensive that they had grabbed from the bar while the bartender was looking the other way. Downstairs, everyone danced to “I’m a Barbie Girl.” I took a deep breath. Yes, it was my first absurdly extravagant Bar Mitzvah.

“The two leading lusts of the Jew’s life are lechery and money.” So wrote the improbably named Telemachus Thomas Timayenis in his 1883 anti-Semitic opus The American Jew: An Expos\xc3\xa9 of His Career. As Forward editorial director J.J. Goldberg says in his interview in this issue, stereotypes are frequently unfair, but very rarely unfounded. It seems improper, then, that seventeen years on this magazine has dedicated at least two of its covers to sex and none to money.

What do you do when your drama teacher makes you wear a tree costume that is really uncomfortable? If you’re an elementary school student at the anarchist Stelton Colony in New Jersey, you go on strike.

In the aftermath of the revelation that Bernard Madoff’s investment fund was a tremendous Ponzi scheme, the Jewish community adopted a customarily defensive pose. Afraid that Madoff’s religious affiliation would encourage anti-Semites, community spokesmen worked to disassociate him from the Tribe. David Harris, the executive director of the American Jewish Committee, complained to the New York Times in a December 13th letter that their coverage of Madoff had placed “a striking emphasis on his being Jewish,” and pointed out that no one was talking about the religion of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, who had been accused of corruption the same week.

You know the type. They drank Mocha Lattes at the Starbucks after high school, wore shoes at 16 that would have looked extravagant on a 30-year-old, and drank martinis when you were still working on your rum and Coke. Now, with a Blackberry in one hand and Pinkberry in the other, they rule the Quad, the sorority, and the local dive. We got a real live Jewish American Princess to answer some questions about the culture. Her name is withheld, but she’s for real.

There are three types of great magazines, in print or online: those that uniquely interpret the historical moment for their readers, those that enable a circle of writers to interpret the historical moment, and those that do both.

New Y.U. Tolerance Club Enjoys Mixed Reception

Activists Say Hazon’s Food Conference Is Elitist. Should Social Justice Play a Greater Role?

Hilltop Jam Band Aharit Hayamim Plays Jewlicious, 92YTribeca

Would-Be Rabbinical Students Question the Ban on Intermarriage in the Non-Orthodox Seminaries

Princeton's Orthodox student group makes a comeback.

New USF program mixes academics with activism.

Are there still any Jewish terrorists in North America?

One campus activist fights apathy and unethical Kosher meat.