Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
If nothing else, the over-discussed Pew Report from almost a year ago (almost a year ago — and here we are, still quoting it like it’s the Bible itself!) heralded the death of the American-Jewish religious middle. This summer’s Operation Protective Edge seems to have heralded the death of the American-Jewish political middle, as…
Some people study whales. Some people study epistemological analysis. I study white people. More specifically, I am interested in diaspora networking and migrant housing stock, but I am also interested in the way whiteness as a concept affects these in host countries. A lot of the time, that idea means things like deeply…
By the early 2000’s, the false promises of the Oslo Accords were becoming clear. The peace process was crumbling, and by 2001 the Second Intifada was in full swing. The situation was not all that different from what we are looking at right now: prospects for peace seemed low, and the odds of a peacefully…
Staring across a room filled with tiny chairs and colorful books, I felt a great fear. The other people there were all strangers, the person across from me had bright red spiked hair, and only about 8 teeth. He looked sort of like my glue-sniffing boss from my days as a janitor. This was way…
In my article, “Together We Can”, I called for joint peace efforts among college student clubs, especially those with differing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I relayed an example where I invited Students for Justice in Palestine to join the pro-Israel group at my college in New York for a debate, or ‘mock peace talk.’…
During the Nine Days preceding Tisha B’Av, the 25-hour fast commemorating the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem,we reflect on baseless hatred (sinat chinam). The Talmud teaches us that it was the baseless hatred among the people Israel that partially brought about the destruction of the Second Temple. (Along with, you know, high-level political drama…
Recently while killing time at work, I saw an email regarding a position I had applied for at my university’s Hillel. Expecting a rejection, I clicked, and realized that I was not being consoled- they were offering me a job. I’d applied for the job almost accidentally – working an event for my bike repair…
An article by Amanda Borschel-Dan in the Times of Israel has described American youth as moving with “lightning speed” towards anti-Semitism. The proof in the nationalist pudding, it seems, is a lessening support for Israel among American youth. It seems that non-Jewish teenagers and young adults associate Israel a little too much with the over…
Together, we have reached the last leg of our journey through the text of the Torah, coming to the fifth and final book, Devarim, or Deuteronomy. In Parshat Devarim, from which the entire book gets its name, the Jewish people stand at the foot of a mountain, on the last leg of their own journey…
Early in my Jewish education, I was taught that, as Jews and as human beings living in an imperfect world, we are obligated to stand up and speak out in the face of injustice. However small or large the perceived wrong, and despite our shaking legs and cracking voices or how powerful and vocal the…
The US Supreme Court’s decision in in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby has resulted in two main talking points, both of which seem odd, in particular to those of us outside the U.S.A. Firstly, the fact that the “conscience” of a legal corporation is protected by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act 1993 (RFRA); and secondly, that…
I turned 25 this year. Something about that looming birthday made me evaluate who I was, who I am, and who I want to be. I asked myself if I was happy, if I was fulfilled and doing what I pictured for myself in my mid-twenties. It didn’t take long to realize that the answer was no. I…
On July 3, Open Hillel sent out a press release announcing its 6 recommendations for Hillel International’s new student-led Israel Strategy Committee: Amelia Dornbush, Gabriel Erbs, Andrew Farkash, Catie Stewart, Holly Bicerano, and Justin Szasz. According to the release: All the recommended students are deeply involved in their local Jewish communities. They come from college…
There is this belief that the rich and famous have these amazingly exciting lives, making some of us regular people want to live vicariously through them in the form of memoirs, tabloids, and TV documentaries. Our own lives seem boring in comparison to the recorded ups and downs of celebrities. With less than three decades…
The case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., presented a classic conundrum in American constitutionalism: a conflict between religious expression and the lengths to which such expression may infringe on the rights of others. The case also raised controversial questions of personhood and gender equity, and ultimately seemed to pit the interests of religious…