Jews and the Rebirth of the Cool

By bspringer October 28, 2010

A friend of mine coaches soccer for tween boys in Boulder. One day during practice, she noticed one of the boys had a water bottle with the inscription “Hebrew High.” “Wait, are you Jewish?” my friend asked (she’s not a Jew). The boy responded in the affirmative. My friend proceeds to exclaim: “That’s so cool!”…

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Russian Jewish activism dominates “Jewish Community Hero” finalists

By Ben Sales October 28, 2010

As Jewish organizations across the country have found out through a stream of emails during the past couple months, the Jewish Federation’s Jewish Community Hero Award competition is in its final round. Out of hundreds of nominees ranging from Chabad rabbis to social justice workers, judges have picked five finalists, one of which will win $25,000 for his…

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Masa Israel Opening Event

By bbarer October 28, 2010

I was invited to live-blog the event in addition to offering some thoughts afterwards, and while it was tempting for someone of my generation to withdraw from the experience that I was a part of and dispassionately describe it for those who could not be there, I felt like it was a really great opportunity…

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Reading List: Even Religious Kids Light Up

By jmerkin October 27, 2010

Even the MOrthos engage in cannabis creations in Berkeley. [Tablet] New federal guidelines may protect Jewish college students against bullying. [Baltimore Jewish Times] StandWithUs launches a special password-protected website to help students fight campus BDS campaigns. [JTA] IDF soldiers find a new war: convincing U.S. college students that the Israeli-Arab conflict is not black-and-white. [JW] In…

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Got Faith?

By akinman October 27, 2010

Microsoft. Apple. You name it. I probably know it. Each week I try to come up with topics that relate to technology and Judaism, from the Kindle to BibleMap. Sometimes coming up with unusual ideas can be a challenge. After all, in some ways, technology contradicts the ways of Judaism. Nevertheless, I try to find…

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Help Me Get Money

By David A.M. Wilensky October 27, 2010

Remember that time when I said rich people should give me money so I can continue my Jewish education? It turns out that anyone, regardless of how much money they have, can help me out with this. I applied for a blogging scholarship. Yes, it seems there are people who will give me a big…

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Justice, Israel and Everyone I Know

By Ben Sales October 26, 2010

Going to the New Israel Fund‘s New Generations benefit last week was like walking into a party where you’re friends with everybody and close friends with almost no one. It was, for me, an enjoyable night of endless catch-up conversations and introductions to friends of friends: I ran into the son of my family synagogue’s rabbi, a…

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Quality Conduct

By jcohen October 26, 2010

October’s chilly fingers creep into coat collars, and a rainbow of falling leaves spirals down from the trees. Students cradle steaming mugs of coffee and walk close to one another. It is a lovely image. Lively, beautiful, and inviting, worthy of entire volumes of poetry, but it is not what I have chosen to write…

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JFNA, JCPA partner in national anti-BDS campaign

By Ben Sales October 26, 2010

The Jewish Federations of North America and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs are teaming up to launch a national campaign against efforts advocating boycott, divestment and sanctions of Israel, according to an article by the JTA: The JFNA and the rest of the Jewish federation system have agreed to invest $6 million over the…

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The Reading List: Party like it’s… 1914?

By Ben Sales October 26, 2010

Some things never change… According to the New York Times archive, frats have been hosting loud and obnoxious parties since before World War I. [EV Grieve] Are you scared of gentile baby-sitters? Fear not! Your troubles are over. [Heeb] Here’s an entertaining list of American Jewish communities–with comments and reflections–where one man has spent Shabbat. Find…

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Hatikvah

By bspagat October 26, 2010

Bailey Spagat is participating in Career Israel, one of Masa Israel’s 180 programs.

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A Holy Conundrum….

By bzalcman October 26, 2010

Surprise, surprise. The bill proposed and backed by the ultra-orthodox hasn’t garnered a majority in the Knesset. And why should it? Instead of helping incorporate the ultra-orthodox into mainstream Israeli society, it encourages unemployment and separatism. This idea of separatism is not new to the ultra-orthodox. They thrive on it. For instance, in order to…

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Jewish Community Unity

By mmoncaster October 26, 2010

Recently I found myself on campus without anything to do during a lengthy break between classes. Looking for an activity to fill my time, I wandered to the library. Out of sheer curiosity, I typed in “Judaism” on the library catalog, wrote down the call number for the first book on the list, and made…

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I Heart…

By ckessler October 25, 2010

New York? Pittsburgh? Hamas? Didn’t see that third one coming, did you? Me neither. I’ll admit, there are certain taglines or catchphrases that seem timeless. “Got milk?” is one that lends itself nicely to variations. And the “I heart (or I love…)” may be even more timeless. It’s certainly provocative. I don’t know many people…

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A Snippet from Northwestern’s New Voices Blog

By jmerkin October 25, 2010

Here is a tidbit of some of what is going on our Northwestern-New Voices website: A review of the Chicago Festival of Israeli Cinema by Abraham Benson-Goldberg. Howdy y’all! ABG here, checking in with some good suggestions for the NU Jew community. Arts and culture! As you know, if you know me, I’m a film…

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