“Jewish Media Is…”: An Unsettled Fellowship Reflection
“Jewish media is constantly questioning what I think I know, what I think I believe, and who I think my heroes are.”
Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Article Archive
Why progressive Jews should be outraged about Hasidic schools
When news broke back in September of the systematic and egregious lack of regulation of secular studies curricula in Hasidic and Haredi schools, there was little outcry from the rest of the Jewish community over the fact that a large segment of our population — already growing up cut off from the rest of the world…
It’s time for Jews to condemn Rabbi Mizrachi
Haredi Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi is a renowned worldwide Torah lecturer, claiming to be devoted to bringing Jews closer to Judaism. But it’s clear in light of recent remarks that his devotion to kiruv — Orthodox outreach — is anything but unificatory. It’s time that the Jewish community, regardless of affiliation, takes a stand against the…
Zionish challenges readers to find nuance in Zionism
There seem to be two choices in mainstream Jewish life: Either you’re pro-Zionism, or you’re anti-Zionism. A new online publication, Zionish, rejects that binary. “Our stance is to reject the traditional stances,” Zionish editor Aaron Simons told New Voices via email. “People conceive of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as one where you have to be either…
A Magazine for All ’70 Faces’ of Our Community
It started over a cup of coffee. I had just gone to Israel and was eager to continue learning about that illusive country I had just been exposed to. Courtney Strauss had just started her new job as Director of Engagement of the Hillel Jewish University Center at the University of Pittsburgh and was eager…
5 Ways to Make Jewish Life Less ‘Clichéd’ from an Actual Millennial
I am a Millennial. I say this proudly. I dance around Jewish tradition, modernity, and practice in a way that Millennials do. I whole-heartedly enjoy my status as a Generation Y’er. At the same time, however, I really don’t like how much of the conversation about how to engage my peers is fundamentally had…
SermonSlam Rocks Brooklyn with Torah
“Sanctuary.” That was the theme the roughly 135 energetic young Jews of all backgrounds and beliefs huddled together in a wallpapered synagogue ballroom on a below-freezing late January night in Brooklyn to hear sermons about. Better, to hear sermons slammed about. SermonSlam is as it sounds: Slam poetry, but for sermons. Each participant gets exactly…
New Years 2013 Was a Lifetime Ago
Well, by the Gregorian calendar, we have officially lived in the year 2014 for a week. For one thing, this means I will spend about three more weeks dating assignments “2013,” only to see autocorrect bluntly demonstrate the error of my ways. For another, this means that both the Jewish and secular seasonal winter holidays…
Pew Survey Conversation (Part 2)
Part 2 of a 3 part series. Part 1 is here. 4. Are the survey’s categories of denomination a useful marker of determining true religious affiliation/practice in today’s Jewish world? Dr. Steven M. Cohen, sociologist: Yes. Denominational identities can be meaningful for people as many are strongly attached to Orthodoxy, Conservatism, Reform, and Reconstructionism. But…
An Inter-Everything Conversation About the Pew Survey
Part 1 in a 3 part series. We might just be the last Jewish organization to respond to the big bad Pew Survey and we’re fine with that. It seems like every response so far is other people telling us what how we need to feel about it, whether we should be scared, take…
Are You Sexy Enough for the JTA?
“How would you rank the attractiveness of female Jews on your campus?” Does this question bother you? It certainly would bother me, regardless of the circumstances. What if it were being utilized as a question to determine the “Best Jewish Campus” in the country? Would it bother you more? For me the answer is a…
BuzzFeed’s Kosher Kick
BuzzFeed, that random website that sort of just shows up in your Facebook newsfeed from time to time, apparently has a bit of a thing for the Jews. From 31 Reasons Why Bar & Bat Mitzvahs Were The Best to 25 Delicious Ways To Use Matzoh (and believe me, they get pretty creative in that…
Five Jewish Dating Sites Whose Names Don’t Rhyme With Day Jate
Though the Yelp-like app Lulu, which invites women to publicly review and rate men in a number of categories, has yet to be adapted to a Jewish version, we Jews have no shortage of creative ways to meet and mingle with the opposite gender using our smartphones. Everyone knows about (the many, many) classic Jewish…
Never Been a Better Time to Be a Jew in College
We hear it all the time: The American Jewish community is in decline. Interest is lacking, affiliation is down — and Jewish babies are popping out less frequently than we would like. If members of the Jewish establishment are correct, the future of American Judaism is in great peril, and if we don’t do a…
Jewish Pranksters Take Hot or Not to a New Level
Guess what? Not only does the Internet provide you access to how Jewish your favorite celebrity is, it now also lets you know how anti-Semitic ze might be. Modeled after everyone’s favorite (read: disgusting) Facebook game, Hot or Not, the website AntiSemiticOrNot.com offers up people and events for viewers to rate on an anti-Semitic scale of…