Sponsored and funded by the Pamela and Randol Schoenberg Foundation, the Fine Art Show located at Hillel on May 21 drew dozens of applicants and 150 viewers, and left the winner with $1,000 and the Philliss and Lou Mann Prize…
L’Chaim to Rabbi Chaim: Celebrating 40 years of service to Hillel at UCLA
Portrait of Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller in his Hillel office at URC, a selection from “Looking for a Rabbi: Photographs by Shelley Gazin, 1999-2001.” (Copyright 2015. Shelley Gazin. All Rights Reserved.) _______________ Some would start a farewell address to Rabbi Chaim…
The path from Hebrew major to the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies, 56 years in the making
Illustration by Rivka Cohen ________________ Assuming all other suitable conversation topics have been dealt with, sitting around a bar table, one might wonder aloud what the role of Jewish Studies is at a large public university. Is it to provide…
Jewish wanderlust: Jewish destinations outside of Israel
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” — Marcel Proust As a graduate embarking on a ‘year off’ before law school, I find myself curious to see the world while the…
Recovering the plundering of the Holocaust
“Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” by Gustav Klimt, Public Domain ____________ The Holocaust was one of the worst events in human history, and people keep it in their minds so they should never forget. Never forget the infiltrations of Nazis…
What is SWANA?
Cartography by Simone Dvoskin _________________ A new paradigm has been gradually emerging at UCLA. Iranian students, Armenian students, students from Arab countries and others are coming together to create a new, broader identity. SWANA, which stands for Southwest Asia and…
Reconciling Judaism and Atheism
Judaism is an ancient faith that remains strong even to this day, with over 12 million “members of the Tribe” and its own Jewish-majority state. Atheism, on the other hand, is the lack of belief in the existence of G-d…
Is marrying Jewish still relevant?
Illustration by Angelina Ellyason ________________ With its many laws and customs, Judaism has always valued the sacredness of marriage. Consequently, marrying Jewish has prominently been seen as non-negotiable for many in the Jewish community. The apprehension of assimilation and having…
A New Kind of Israel Advocacy
Illustration by Rivka Cohen _______________ The end of the year marks an unexpected beginning for our Jewish community: a new pro-Israel group. Students Supporting Israel has been growing internationally since 2012, recently embarking on a chapter here at UCLA. The…
Judaism: healer of all Wounds?
How does traditional Judaism define mental illness? What remedies does it prescribe to treat it? Is adhering to the halachah and espousing the ways of G-d itself a treatment, in the halachah’s eyes?