The History of Jewish Summer Camp Could Change its Future
“It can be hard to let go of the sense that camp is full of tradition and history… but change is ok. It’s inevitable.”
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Article Archive
Investigation: How Jewish Summer Camps Are Damaging LGBTQ+ Youth
As the camp season begins, New Voices investigates the experiences of former LGBTQ+ campers who have for decades faced exclusion, emotional conflict, pressure, and trauma in the summer’s aftermath.
Investigation: How Jewish Youth Groups Are Breeding A Toxic Sexual Culture For Teens
For decades, major Jewish youth groups have cultivated pressure-based teen sexual cultures, leaving Jewish youth without support or education about sexuality and consent.
“Off the Beaten Path,” Part II: At the University of Texas, Ex-Hillel Rabbi Brings Students Where Birthright Won’t Take Them
Last summer, a group of students from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin met up with Ben Packer, a fringe, far-right nationalist, in Jerusalem. Their trip leader, then-Hillel Rabbi Moshe Trepp, says the meeting was unplanned, a happy accident. He asked Packer to show them around. “The great guy that he is, and so…
“Off the Beaten Path,” Part I: A Campus Rabbi Introduces Students to a Right-Wing Extremist
Walking through Jerusalem’s Old City, the tour guide brandished his gun in front of a group of students from the University of Texas (UT) at Austin. “I’ll shoot,” he said. “I’ll shoot an Arab if I have to. I’m not scared.” Ben Friedman, a business honors major at UT, remembers this moment well. He was…
Outside Hillel, Northeastern Jewish Students Struggle After Rabbi Leaves
This is part 3 in a series about politics, identity, and Jewish community on college campuses. Click here to view part 1, and here for part 2. Ben Novak came to Northeastern University in 2016 from a Catholic high school in Kingston, Massachusetts. His father was raised Jewish, and his mother converted to Judaism before…
Hillels and Israel, Part II: A Widening Divide at Northeastern
This is part 2 in a 3-part series about politics, identity and Jewish community on college campuses. Click here to view part 1, and here to view part 3. When Lindsey Bressler got the first text, it was Nov. 8, 2016 — Election Day. She was watching the news with her peers at Northeastern University,…
Hillels and Israel: How Campus Jewish Communities Are Grappling with Polarizing Politics
This is part 1 in a 3-part series about politics, identity, and Jewish community on college campuses. Click here to view part 2, and here to view part 3. On the eve of Rosh Hashanah in 2015, a new wave of violence arose in Israel. Often referred to as the “stabbing intifada,” it led to…