Few things bring more delight to me than festivities in the Jewish tradition. Among them, Purim nestles itself comfortably as the chief party animal, and I think it achieves this with the wonderful inclusion of costumes. Dressing up as your…
The Call for Accessible Kosher Eats at UCLA Finds Answers in O.K.T.
An interview with Hillel caterer Ruth Hurwitz reveals that her company, Our Kosher Table (O.K.T.), was the food provider UCLA needed to catch up with other universities that offered Kosher meal options on campus. OKT came to UCLA during a…
Kabbalah: An Offshoot or a Staple of Judaism?
An often mentioned but little explored concept in Judaism is mysticism, or as Jews refer to it, Kabbalah. Literally translated as “tradition,” this school of thought builds its theology off an ancient prolific text called the Zohar, which focuses entirely…
An Ethical Kashrut Certification—Tav HaYosher: Where Are They Now?
Discourse around labor circles in California has, in the past decade, been stung with major shifts in equity. This change has even seen local light on UCLA’s campus, specifically in regards to boycotts from the custodial staff who felt they…
Ladino: How a Romantic Jewish Language is Preserved at UCLA
Little is known about the traditional Mediterranean language of Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, aside from its association with Jewish life and history. The popularized and often cited representative of Ladino is probably the familiar “Ocho Kandelikas” Hanukkah song, and even that…
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…