Finding myself (again)

By jcohen April 26, 2011

I am not what you would call a naturally confident person. In fact, I go out of my way to put myself down, in the hopes that I will not only seem a more approachable person, but that someone will tell me that I am wrong. The only problem is I have stopped believing those…

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The Orthodox Looking Glass

By Laura Cooper April 24, 2011

It’s a hard life. And not just because of these new and strange diet restrictions, which frankly I’ve quelled by replacing my usual fare with a lot of chocolate and Passover cake. No, something much more tumultuous is brewing. I keep thinking back to my conversation with a certain head of the local RCA chapter,…

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Is American Pop Culture Anti-Semitic?

By lcuen April 24, 2011

I’ve heard about it at two Passovers now, both the one at home in L.A. and the night up in San Francisco with some Israeli friends, the fog playing Elijah as it floated in wisps all around us, a constant yet absent presence. Somehow or another the topic of Mel Gibson arrives. Deep breaths are…

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Syria police massacre pro-democracy protesters

By mekeisler April 22, 2011

I have no idea why, but the Obama administration has been very warm toward the Syrian regime, calling the dictator/son of a dictator Bashar al-Assad a “reformer”. This leads to the obvious question, what does that make Pol Pot? While Syrian police have been killing protesters en masse, the US has been silent. In fact,…

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What are Israel’s Priorities?

By greback April 21, 2011

Netanyahu Looking Like a Wreck This has dragged out too long. Just shut down the settlement expansion. I have to admit, I am a Religious Zionist. Not all RZs support settlements, but most do . . . and but I do. The settlements actualize the imperative to settle the country. If the land is bought…

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A Foreign Affair

By akinman April 20, 2011

Three big events happened for the first time this week. One, I went to my first Seder spoken completely in Hebrew. Two, I tried gefilte fish for the first time. Three, I baked without giving anyone food poisoning. OK so maybe I want to brag about the last two events, but I really want to…

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Why pass over the food?

By jcohen April 20, 2011

Passover is one of the most commonly practiced Jewish holidays, and yet, I’m pretty sure it’s one of the holidays we qvech about the very most! For many, eighth days without chameitz is a nuisance. But, I really enjoy a week without bread and other such foods. It helps me renew my appreciation for the…

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Pride versus arrogance

By mmoncaster April 20, 2011

Last week, spurred on by an excellent article, I mentioned the whole “Jews are the chosen people” thing. This week, Rabbi Donniel Hartman wrote about this same topic, albeit within the context of Passover. It’s short but sweet, definitely worth the read. I am continually impressed by Hartman’s writing because he conveys meaningful messages with…

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UC Santa Cruz Hosts Maccabiah Games

By lcuen April 18, 2011

On Saturday April 10th UC Santa Cruz hosted the first intercollegiate Macabiada games, sponsored by the Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco. It was modeled after the international Jewish sporting event, the Maccabia Games. 120 students from the Hillels of UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UC Berkley, San Francisco State, Chico…

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The Day I Said Too Much

By Laura Cooper April 17, 2011

There is an old man at my synagogue who really enjoys gossiping about anyone and complaining about anything. I recently learned I got in his crossfire, and a few days ago when I wasn’t there, he seized the moment and started gossiping about me! I didn’t think that anyone could have any ammo against me,…

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The little things

By mekeisler April 14, 2011

It was small stuff, but it bothered me. At 3:45 PM, I was waiting for the bus, hoping I wouldn’t be late for work. It was Sunday afternoon, sunny out—I couldn’t find my ipod before I left my apartment so the wait was killing me. You know, playing tetris on my phone, texting people I…

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The Hapa Jews

By lcuen April 14, 2011

I was sitting in class the other day chattering to a friend about my Passover plans when the Hawaiian girl next to me, Leah Lau, leaned over and said that she was also Jewish. I did a double take, drinking in her features and wavering tan line. Her mom is a Jewess from the east…

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Bloggers Round Table: Too soon?

By David A.M. Wilensky April 14, 2011

New Voices blogger Max Moncaster recently discovered the Hitler YouTube parodies. He sent me one and suggested we might make it the subject of the Round Table this week. The one that caught his fancy was this one, in which Hitler can’t find Waldo: For those whose heads aren’t as firmly planted in the internet…

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Toss in the Matzah, Bring on the Graham Crackers

By akinman April 13, 2011

In honor of Pesach starting next week, I thought that I’d share some pictures of UF Hillel’s Chocolate Seder. Last week, I reported that UF Hillel would be hosting their annual chocolate seder, brought back by popular demand. The sweet seder took place last night with plenty of Almond Joys, chocolate milk, and graham crackers…

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Jerusalem (and some Minor Reasons Why Palestinian Independence will not End the Conflict)

By greback April 13, 2011

Not Actual Photo This September, the Palestinian Authority will attempt to gain recognition as an independent state via a vote in the United Nations’ General Assembly. It is taking a a page out of the playbook of the Zionist movement and the leadership of what would become Israel. This time, the Arabs will support a…

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