Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
For Apple, that was indeed the question. After protests from Jewish activists, the software giant removed from their App Store a French program called “Juif ou pas Juif,” or “Jew or not Jew.” For $1.08, users could find out if their favorite stars qualified as members of the Tribe. The app’s creator, Johann Lévy, is…
It’s tempting to call freshman Penina Yaffa Kessler a rookie reporter. But that would be misleading. We first met her back in May at our Jewish Student Journalism Conference. This was right after we had moved into our new office, inside the offices of the Forward. Penina told us that she was a rising freshman…
Full Name: Haley Jennifer Joy Pessin Bio: Haley Pessin is a junior at Williams College in MA majoring in French and History. She thoroughly enjoys reading books, attending the theatre and classical music concerts, and consuming gelato. You identify as a “JewMaican.” Would you explain what led you to identify this way? Well, my father…
College is supposed to challenge your assumptions, but right now I’m experiencing the most annoying challenge possible. As planned, I went down a couple of days ago to talk to the rabbi—ordained Reconstructionist, though he insists that the congregation is “unaffiliated”—about my options for converting. He told me, of course, that I and my patrilineal…
In 586 B.C.E., the Babylonians, under King Nebuchadnezzar, decimated the Temple in Jerusalem, forever ending ancient Israelite culture. With the Temple destroyed and most of its worshipers exiled to Babylon, it seemed that God had left His “Chosen People.” Yet, after defeating the Babylonians in 539 B.C.E., King Cyrus the Great of the Persian Achaemendid…
When I was looking for 10 reporters to become this semester’s New Voices National Correspondents, the field was full of Cohens, Fines and Silvers; among seven others, we hired Zach C. Cohen, Dafna Fine and Carly Silver. But there was also this Chen in the mix, one Jun Chen. Jun is a graduate student at…
Here’s the thing about your year in Israel: You plan for it for a full year, you make lists, you buy clothes (skirts that cover your knees!), you stock up on toiletries, you book your flight and you Facebook-stalk your future roommate. And yet, however prepared you might think you are, nothing can possibly prepare…
Over the last few weeks, a discourse has taken place between Rav Shlomo Riskin—chief rabbi of Efrat—and Rabbi Andrew Sacks—the director of the Rabbinical Assembly of the Masorti (Conservative) movement in Israel. The conversation started when Riskin wrote in the Jerusalem Post about the conversion controversy in Israel. For the not-yet-up-to-speed: Debates have surged in the past…
Today in New Voices Magazine, we present “September 11, 2001: Half a Lifetime Ago,” seven essays by people for whom the decade since 9/11 represents one half of their entire life. Today’s college students grew up in the post-9/11 world and can hardly remember the pre-9/11 world. These essays were co-published with The Jewish Daily…
One of the most shocking facets of Israeli culture, especially as a growing Jew who has experienced a scant half-dozen different observant communities, is reliance on symbols and outward signs of Jewish practice. The first day in Israel, I went to the Old City. Right after dinner, I turned toward the Kotel, the western wall…
I’m told that Modern Orthodoxy has a look. It’s funny to think of the Modern Orthodox as a stereotype, but only because I’m part of it and have been my whole life. You can see the stereotype of Hasidim in pretty much any Hollywood movie (test my theory–1 in 10 movies has a clip of…
“What happens in a taxi should stay in said taxi”: This is a motto that a friend of mine swears by. Before leaving North America, I was warned by many friends that, at any point during one’s year in Israel, one should expect to be completely overcharged for at least one insignificant, but absolutely necessary…
My first week of school has been… chaotic. Before I even came, there was a fire. After I came, there was an earthquake. Now this hurricane, not to mention the most grueling orientation ever invented and having to be social 24/7, which can get pretty tiring when you’re not used to it. Welcome to my…
British Religious leaders of every stripe have weighed in on the devastation caused by London rioting. Some, like Rabbi Anna Gerrard of the United Kingdom’s Liberal Jewish movement, took a moment to offer words of comfort. Others, like the Church of England, provided liturgical supplements praying for a stop to the violence. In the case of…
Nothing makes me feel more like a Jew than going shopping with my mother. Maybe I should rephrase that to sound less self-hating. No, I mean it. I mean it as a positive statement. A point of pride. My Jewish/New Yorker/American ancestors did not get where they are today buy paying retail price. I mean…