Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
“Whether we ‘claim’ her or not, whether we knew her or not, as a Jew, Jessica Krug is part of our community. All of us must atone for her transgression, just as all of us must atone for the transgressions of synagogues who hired police and security that scrutinized Black Jews and Jews of Color entering our sanctuaries. There cannot be any evasion here.”
Ariel Wexler gives an on-the-ground report on the Black Lives Matter protests against police brutality in Washington D.C. throughout the historic summer of 2020.
“As an illegitimate child, claims of Israel’s legitimacy have never concerned me. I can identify that both of us exist, whether or not we were born into the world under perceived authority. Even if there was a malicious ideology that caused either of us, Jewish bastards both, it would not be relevant in addressing our current transgressions.”
“As an American in Israel, I can talk to English-speaking immigrants to Israel, and use a shared vocabulary to explain why I believe the annexation would lead to the creation of an apartheid state. And unlike my Israeli friends, I can stand up for Palestinian rights without fear of societal backlash.”
In Elizabeth, New Jersey, when I shouted “Close the camps!” and sang “Which Side Are You On,” a song I remembered from the Ferguson rebellion in my hometown of St. Louis when I was young, I meant it.
Until recently, I had never heard of Rabbi Ben Packer. And then I read two detailed reports about a summer trip to Israel led by Texas Hillel’s Rabbi Moshe Trepp that went ‘off the beaten path.’ Multiple students from the University of Texas at Austin reported meeting with this far-right extremist and receiving a tour…
A few weeks ago at JFK airport, I huddled with fellow Brown University students and members of IfNotNow near the El Al check-in line. The airport was crowded that night. It was filled with anxious travelers of all sorts, including dozens of young Jewish adults searching for their Birthright groups. As they wandered the airport,…
Several weeks ago, 11 people were gunned down while attending Shabbat morning services at a synagogue in Pittsburgh. Throughout the United States, people mourned with the Jewish community after the worst act of violent anti-Semitism in our country’s history while candidates campaigning for the upcoming midterm election promised to make sure nothing like this ever…
This past spring, Sheldon Adelson—noted Republican donor and Birthright funder—was awarded the “Guardian of the Jewish Future” award at the annual Birthright Israel gala in New York City. Without Birthright, he said, only 42% of Jewish kids between the ages of 18 and 26 marry other Jews or bring up their children Jewish. “In another…
It was a warm Wednesday in the fall of my first year at Brown University. As I meandered through the main green, a child with with tzitzit poking out of the bottom of his shirt walked up to me and asked, “Are you Jewish? Would you like to say a prayer or come to dinner?”…
Last month, my Senator, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, reintroduced an updated version of a 2016 bill known as the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act (ASAA). On its face, this legislation purports to protect Jewish college students like me. In fact, the ASAA establishes an official definition of anti-Semitism that includes criticism of Israel. If passed, this bill will…
According to a survey recently reported in the New York Times, 41 percent of millennials wrongly believe two million or fewer Jews died in the Holocaust and that 66 percent of millennials could not say what Auschwitz was. American Jews understandably reacted with extreme concern, shocked that so many of their fellow Americans – particularly…
Originally published in J. Weekly. My experiences in Israel have been some of the most formative of my life. I was bat mitzvahed on Masada, worked in the winery of a kibbutz and made lifelong friends in the country. And yet, my relationship with Israel is complicated, like that of many progressive American Jews. I…
I was arrested on Tuesday. My crime was participating in an act of civil disobedience outside the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas in solidarity with Palestinians being killed in Gaza. I could have had it worse. When Palestinians peacefully protest for their own rights, which they continually and bravely do, they…
According to the Oxford dictionary, ghosting is defined as the practice of ending a personal relationship with someone by suddenly and without explanation withdrawing from all communication. (Yes, ghosting is now an official term in the dictionary – one of our generation’s many accomplishments alongside avocado toast and sushi burritos.) As a frequent user of…