Israel is advertised as one of the most environmentally conscious countries in the world. Perhaps most well known is the Israeli irrigation drip system, which involves a hose that slowly drips water directly to the root of the plant, strategically…
Election night: a look at a congressional legend
From 7 a.m. today until 8 p.m. tonight, millions of Americans will engage in their ultimate civic duty and vote for the president of the United States and various other local politicians and initiatives. While it would be foolhardy to…
New man on campus: Rabbi Avner Engel, JAM’s latest addition
The pitter-patter of tiny feet thundering upon a polished wood floor — socks and little legs moving as fast as the laws of physics can carry them — sound in the sparsely-furnished room. Little trains chug soundlessly on the left…
First Farsi Holocaust text connects Iranians to Jewish history
On October 14, I was privileged to be a student delegate at 30 Years After’s 3rd Biennial Conference. 30 Years After is the civic and political voice of America’s Iranian Jews, the first and only organization of its kind. The…
Deflection of political criticism leads to unfriendly international neighborhoods
Many of Israel’s ardent defenders would sooner point to injustices taking place in other Middle Eastern countries than entertain the idea of having a discussion about what the Jewish State is doing right and what it is doing wrong. Israel…
Israel and apartheid: a lesson in the risks of media bias
For Israel, a country trapped under the brutally judgmental microscope of global scrutiny, public image is everything. A recent poll published on October 23, 2012 by Haaretz (a leading Israeli news source), and its accompanying piece by Israeli journalist Gideon…
Anti-Semitic graffiti “un-Kiwi?”
Sprayed in black, the swastikas show up clearly against the pale gray tombstones in a historic Auckland, New Zealand cemetery, where vagrants drift and troublemakers lurk. The Hebrew words meaning May his/her soul be bound into the bond of life…
Kosher Korner: Pumpkin Spice Latte
Despite the sweltering LA weather, it is indeed fall. What better way to usher in autumn than with a delicious pumpkin spice latte? Although many coffee shops offer tasty fall drinks, it’s often difficult to find kosher options and even…
Blurring democracy: the Orthodox vision of respecting women
It was my first time at the Western Wall. It should have been a beautiful and emotional moment, one that allowed me to connect to the history of the Jewish people. And yet, something irked me. Perhaps it was the…
Inked: a living Holocaust memorial
In Zakhor, the famous commentary on Jewish history and memory, historian Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi writes, “Only in Israel and nowhere else is the injunction to remember felt as a religious imperative to an entire people.” Confluent with that statement is…