Hanukkah Gift Guide

As Hanukkah fast approaches (Dec. 22 this year), there arises the annual question of what gifts to get for your friends and family. If you’re tired of giving and receiving socks, gift cards, or body wash, you’re not alone. With…

From Rap to Rock: Top Ten Modern Hanukkah Songs… Besides Adam Sandler’s

“Hanukkah is The Festival of Lights Instead of one day of presents We have eight crazy nights!” – Those are the words famously sung by Adam Sandler on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update on December 3rd, 1994. By that point,…

JoJo Rabbit Review: The Nazi Comedy That Will Have You Laughing and Crying

Writer and director Taika Waititi, best known for his work on Thor: Ragnorak, brings us his satirical dark comedy-drama based during the time of World War II. In the movie, a 10-year-old Nazi-obsessed boy discovers a Jewish girl hiding in…

Ha’Am’s Introductory Hanukkah Guide

What is Hanukkah? Hanukkah comes every year and can be described as a holiday for showing praise and appreciation for the Maccabee’s glorious overthrowing of their Syrian-Greek oppressors. The story highlights their recapturing of Jerusalem and their realization that they…

Dear Rabbi: What advice do you have for someone who has lost connection with their Jewish faith but wishes to regain it?

“Dear Rabbi” is Ha’Am’s advice column. Every month, Ha’Am will ask one question posed by our readers to five UCLA Jewish leaders: Rabbi Aaron Lerner, Rabbi Alex Kress, Rabbi Naftali Hanfling, Rabbi Dovid Gurevich, and Sharona Kaplan. Their answers will…

Historical Ha’Am: “Just Another Day” by Jared Black and Joe Levin

This week’s Historical Ha’Am article criticizes the hatred espoused by 1996 UCLA students toward Zionism and, arguably, Judaism. Selecting this as a Historical Ha’Am article was difficult because as UCLA students, we are proud of our university and struggle with…

Disloyal: A Diatribe on Campus Evangelism

“No thanks, I’m Jewish.” In case you’re not already aware, this is the single least effective way to brush off someone eager to trap you into a conversation about Jesus and the good news for your immortal soul. These four…

The Real Rabbis of Westwood: An Interview With Rabbi Dovid Gurevich

This series is named after the popular TV franchise known as the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. We have a bit of a different mission, though. Whereas the Real Housewives series aims to highlight drama between its subjects, the Real…

Historical Ha’Am: “Strange Bedfellows” by Nathaniel Wyckoff

A note from the Editor: “When searching for an archived article to share online this week, the following article on intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews caught my eye. As the child of a Jewish woman and non-Jewish man, I was…

Staff Member Sarah Fields on the AntiSemitism She Has Endured and How it Has Shaped Her

California’s San Francisco Bay Area is a progressive hub. However, it was the Bay Area where while growing up, Ha’Am’s own Sarah Fields’ Jewish identity was pushed away from her due to vicious acts of antisemitism.  A young Sarah Fields…