Raisman Cha Cha Cha’s Her Way To Second Place

By H. B. Rubin March 21, 2013

Imagine my delight to see this face staring out at me as I browsed my morning newsfeeds. That’s right America, Aly Raisman is back in the spotlight. And girl can dance. Though last I heard she wanted to start her own fashion line, Aly is taking a short detour into a different world of heels…

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Why are there Pringles on my Head?

By Lex Rofes March 20, 2013

Headwear is kind of a big deal in Judaism. The accurate assertion is often made that, in Jerusalem, you can learn a lot of information about someone just by looking at what hats they wear. On college campuses, certain flat-brimmed baseball caps or the occasional fedora might tell you something about an individual, but they…

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Why Castro Should Free Alan Gross

By Atara Siegel March 19, 2013

Alan Gross, a 64 year old Jewish contractor for the U.S. government pro-democracy program, USAID, has been held in Cuba since 2009 when he was arrested for bringing satellite phones with capability of connecting to the Internet to Cuba’s Jewish community as part of his USAID responsibilities. Cuba accused and convicted him of “Acts against…

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Catholic Leader Chosen; Jews Want Jewish Connection

By Simi Lichtman March 18, 2013

In a winning moment for my boss, JTA sent out a News Alert on Wednesday that he had predicted hours earlier. Said boss, a certain David A.M. Wilensky, posted this on his Facebook wall at 3:21 PM, about an hour after the new pope was named: In Jewish newsrooms the world over: The new pope is…

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This Naughty Bread Kinda Looks Like Hamentaschen

By John Propper March 15, 2013

One of our tasks here at The Conspiracy is to bring our readers the latest in Jewish-themed content and commentary. Another is to keep abreast of the Internet’s many “Wow!” and “WTF?” moments. Sometimes, as if by the mighty hand of an evil god, the two beautifully (horrifically?) unite. Posted by Luke Y. Thompson of famed…

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Israelis and Their Prostate Porn

By Simi Lichtman March 14, 2013

Every second, 28,258 people are viewing pornography. In China alone, the porn industry revenue is $27.4 billion. And every 39 minutes, a new pornographic video is made in the United States. (Thank you, porn statisticians.) Given the amount of time and energy put into porn—making it, watching it, pretending not to watch it—and given our fascination…

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Israelis Have Funny Names (See Below: Citrus Dolinsky)

By David A.M. Wilensky March 14, 2013

I just read this terrific piece in Tablet about Yityish Aynaw, the newest Miss Israel — and the first Ethiopian woman to win the pageant. (“Asked by judges why she deserved the title, Aynaw said it was about time that a black woman wore the crown.”) Very moving, you should go read it, etc. The article…

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Andrew Blitman: The Voice of Our Jewish Generation?

By Simi Lichtman March 13, 2013

Be yourself. It’s advice we’ve all heard before, and for the most part ignore—after all, it leads to those pesky questions like, “Who am I?” that no one wants to answer—but to Andrew Blitman, 22 year old author of two books and a successful blog, it’s the most important thing of all. A graduate school…

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BuzzFeed’s Kosher Kick

By Simi Lichtman March 7, 2013

BuzzFeed, that random website that sort of just shows up in your Facebook newsfeed from time to time, apparently has a bit of a thing for the Jews. From 31 Reasons Why Bar & Bat Mitzvahs Were The Best to 25 Delicious Ways To Use Matzoh (and believe me, they get pretty creative in that…

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The Bible Gets Itself Some Badass Ninja Angels

By John Propper March 7, 2013

Like 13.1 million other people, I tuned in to watch the History Channel’s new miniseries, The Bible. Unlike most of them, it seems, I tuned out after the first five minutes to watch something else. (Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master is now on DVD, and I missed it during the theatrical run.) Thankfully, I caught…

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Israel Gets Its Very Own Hebrew Playboy

By H. B. Rubin March 6, 2013

My friend Kyle emailed me earlier this morning with the subject line “Baruch Hashem.” And baruch hashem indeed. As AP reports, Hugh Heffner’s vast pornographic empire has finally extended its titillating grasp to the olive-lined land of our brethren: Playboy, the 60-year-old popular men’s magazine/soft porn magazine (depending on your mood), has just launched its very own Hebrew…

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Lena Dunham Charms My Pants Off, Keeps Hers On

By Simi Lichtman February 28, 2013

Lena Dunham was nothing like I expected her to be in real life, and everything I hoped she would be.  I attended the Jewish Museum’s Purim Ball last night, held in the Park Avenue Armory, where, surrounded by hundreds of rich white people, I felt completely out of my element. I was there to see…

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The Bullies, the Bullied, and Their Permanent Scars

By Simi Lichtman February 27, 2013

If you’ve ever been alive—and the fact that you’re reading this article is a fairly strong indicator that you currently are—then you know someone who’s been bullied, and you probably know someone who’s been the bully. You might even be one—or both—of those people. If you were, we want to know your story. (Keep reading.)…

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You’ll be Old One Day, Hopefully

By Atara Siegel February 26, 2013

“Oh, weaker resistance, slower reflexes, Amycus,” said Dumbledore. “Old age, in short… one day, perhaps it will happen to you… if you are lucky.” – J.K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” As college students, we often spend the majority of our time around people our own age. Living in dorms, spending Shabbat on…

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Four Decades: Jewish Students ‘Press’ on at UCSC

By David A.M. Wilensky February 25, 2013

New Voices has been around since 1991, but the organization that publishes New Voices, the Jewish Student Press Service, has been around since 1970. In the 70s, as I wrote for last Monday’s edition of Jewniverse, there were hundreds of independent Jewish student publications on campuses all over the country. JSPS was founded as a…

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