As someone who was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family and environment, attended Jewish kindergarten and day school from age two to 17, and then attended a learning-intensive girls seminary (also known as midreshah) for a year before starting UCLA, I…
Taste of Torah: A lover’s eyes
This week’s Taste of Torah is written by Micah Hyman, a sophomore at Yeshiva University, studying computer science. Hyman spent two years at Yeshivat Sha’alvim in Nof Ayalon, Israel, studying Torah. One morning, as Rav Levi Yitzchak of Berdetchiv was…
Jessica’s Corner: Halva
Sweeten up your spring quarter with this recipe for halva, a tasty dessert Persian families often prepare for special occasions such as weddings, engagements, and conclusions of various Jewish holidays. Perhaps one of the tastiest parts of Persian cuisine is…
Photo Essay: Yom Ha’Atzmaut 2016
Today Bruins came from across campus to celebrate Israel Independence Day in Bruin Plaza. This is a yearly event organized by Bruins for Israel where students celebrate with great music, food, and world class dancing.
Jews and Bruins United: A parasitic relationship
Last week, the UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) elections resulted in a huge victory for the Bruins United “slate,” or campus political party, which secured nine of 14 spots on next year’s student council table. Bruins United has long benefited from…
Zikaron BaSalon: The Holocaust survivor who left me speechless
We are the next generation. We are the generation that will live to see days without Holocaust survivors. They are disappearing, and with them, their stories, if not shared, will be gone forever. We are the next generation. It is…
Taste of Torah: Making it count
Written by Sharona Kaplan; Co-Director of Jewish Learning Initiative at UCLA “Teach us to count our days, that we may acquire a heart of wisdom” (Psalms 90:12) is a beautiful prayer acknowledging the art of counting time and the tremendous…
Rabbi Kaplan: My optimal rabbi
There are times when simple words are not good enough or sharp enough to get across a message. How can you thank a person that has given so much of himself, not only to a community, but especially to you?…
Jews in Politics: Bad for the Jews?
Several months ago, one of my uncles called me out of the blue. My uncle is one of the few red blooded conservatives who still dares to reside within the increasingly liberal New York City. He, like most of my…
The roots of BDS
In the summer of 2014, the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians and used its terror tunnel network to launch attacks in Israeli territory. In response, Israel launched the defensive Operation Protective edge to eliminate…