Parashat Vayetze: Yaakov, the master of a silent art form

The pen is more powerful than the sword, yet there is something more powerful than the pen: We live in talkee-talk world. We have talk radio, tv talk shows, news-talk and various other channels of people talking or communicating in…

New Kosher Restaurant Review: Supa Coffee, A Cafe for The “Urban Hustler”

In the midst of the third wave coffee movement, coffee shops around Los Angeles are becoming increasingly seen as hipster, pretentious and even intimidating. Supa Coffee, a newly certified kosher coffee shop in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood, seeks to break this…

In Unanimous Vote, UCLA Student Association Backs NSJP Conference

In a unanimous vote, 11 members of UCLA’s Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) voted in favor of a resolution which affirmed the 1st Amendment right of National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) to hold a conference at the UCLA…

UCLA’s USAC Passed a Resolution in Support of the 2018 NSJP Conference. Here’s the footage:

USAC meeting on November 13th, 2018 discussing A RESOLUTION IN FAVOR OF EQUALIZED ACCESS TO UCLA FOR NON-COMMERCIAL SPEECH EVENTS; SPECIFICALLY IN REGARDS TO SJP. Part one. USAC meeting discussing policy and NSJP at UCLA. Part 1. Posted by Ha'Am News…

The Mizrahi Project: The next generation of Jews are Mizrahi

When one feels like “the other” it is a surreal experience. Even more surreal is to feel like an outsider in a space that is so familiar. This is the Mizrahi experience in Ashkenazi Jewish communal spaces. It is to…

Isaac: A biblical introvert

We know less about Isaac than any of the other patriarchs.  In the major events of his life he is acted upon – being bound for the Akedah and having Jacob steal the birthright by fooling Isaac in old age.…

Finding female empowerment in Judaism, Part I: The stories of the Bible

Judaism comes with a set of beautiful morals, including everything from making the world a better place to giving and donating. Another value I recently learned is very Jewish is female empowerment. Many tales of the Bible embody and exemplify…

D’var theory: The ancient and contemporary polymath

It often seems like one’s academic major in higher education is a blood-bound oath, and America’s culture of specialized labor promotes that stoicism in kind. Judaism by contrast touts the polymath, a person of wide-ranging knowledge or skill, as the…

Apple updates icon for key diet element

Bagels are an integral part of my diet and identity and I truly feel that no bagel is complete without lox and cream cheese. This is a fact that I finally understood when Apple released the bagel emoji. When Apple…

To name a thing is to call it into being: A reflection on the Pittsburgh tragedy

To name a thing is to call it into being. In the beginning were the heavens and the earth. And darkness was on the face of the deep. “Let there be light.” And there was light, and it was good.…