Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
The Nobel Peace Prize was established in 1901 for the purpose of rewarding those who have “done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” One would then assume that the awarding of the prize is based…
When my roommate at USC, a film student with a pink streak in her hair, edited a documentary on rape, I remember the ambivalence I felt. This issue, I thought, was a closed book: a mandatory assembly on rape and consent, massive turnout for Take Back the Night demonstrations, “yes means yes and no means…
Women of the Wall (WoW) was founded 25 years ago as a women’s minyan at the Western Wall to meet on the first of every Jewish month. A few years ago, some of WoW’s leaders started getting arrested for wearing non-“feminine” (read: colorful) talitot and tefillin in violation of a 2003 Israeli Supreme Court ruling….
I don’t generally date non-Jews. I’m not snotty about genealogy, I think the treatment of those who intermarry is barbaric and exclusionary, and I would not be upset if I ended up marrying a non-Jewish man. That said, I do usually end up falling head over heels for young Jewish men who can understand things…
Publications aimed for a queer Jewish audience, like any niche-aimed work, tend to concentrate on certain themes. There are your coming out to your community publications, there are your famous-queer-Jews publications, there are your “my story” publications. And then there is another trend: a deep, heavy, nearly-overwhelming concentration on Israel. Israel is everywhere in the…
Former President George W. Bush once referred to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 as “[the] most devastating attack[s America has experienced] since Pearl Harbor.” Last week was the twelfth anniversary of 9/11, and by interesting coincidence, that day also saw a United States governmental official’s confirmation to CNN that weapons funded and organized by the…
Just a few weeks ago, the White House released a video of President Obama wishing the American Jewish community a sweet New Year. Obama emphasized the importance of the newly-resumed peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, as well as the responsibility of American Jews to act to bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Now…
The first thing you should know about the new editor is that I am new to New York, having moved here from my native Pittsburgh just after Rosh Hashana to captain this rickety little ship they call New Voices. The second thing you should know about me is that I have a long subway ride…
On August 29, the Washington Post published an article titled “Nine Questions About Syria You Were Too Embarrassed to Ask.” The sixth question listed in this oversimplified piece of rhetoric asks, “Why hasn’t the United States fixed this yet?” This type of question illustrates a fundamental arrogance in the attitude of Americans, with regard to…
It takes a lot for the Association For Asian American Studies to make international headlines. The AAAS is a group of academics within the fields of Asian and Asian-American Studies who work to advance the fields of Asian Studies and Asian-American Studies. Not exactly the kind of organization regularly covered by CNN. A quick Google…
It’s clear from recent changes that the mission of the Women of the Wall is gaining traction. The Jerusalem District Court ruled recently that the Law of Holy Places does not require “local customs” to be Orthodox practices, that police had no reason to detain the Women of the Wall earlier this month and that…
This piece was originally published in the Daily Californian. The Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC) Senate’s deeply misguided vote to divest UC funds from companies affiliated with the Israeli military is, in one sense, utterly irrelevant. Despite its best efforts, the coterie of far-left activists that dominates student politics rarely influences university policy — Chancellor…
Our generation of Jews is torn on the subject of Israel. While intense discomfort grows in some corners, beaming pride grows in others. As our way of observing Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, which begins tonight and continues tomorrow, we asked four Jewish college students with very different takes on Israeli independence, the Palestinian observance…
Hitler, the Holocaust, gas chambers, Nazis, concentration camps — these all loom large in our contemporary cultural consciousness. They call forth strong feelings and evoke vivid imagery. At the same time, it is no longer surprising to encounter cheap comparisons to them. It happens all the time: You’re walking down the street, on your way to…
Happy March, everyone! St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon, Passover’s not too far off and, despite a whole ton of snowfall in a few corners of the country last week, things are warming up. But as we all know, March is a special time on campuses all around the world. It’s when Students for…