Perhaps no holiday tests the Jewish imagination to the same extent as does Passover. Each year, irrespective of locale, Jews are asked to explore their ancestral heritage by recreating the Passover story that traces the Jewish excursion from bondage to…
Committed To a Good Time
For the generic college bro on campus, nothing is as terrifying as the concept of commitment; even the occasional bout with alcohol poisoning or the gnarly digestive feedback from old and crusty pizza is no match for the fear of…
Is Israel’s tourism industry poised to take off?
As Passover slowly ebbs into its remaining days, it is worth noting that on three specific Jewish holidays — Passover, Sukkot, and Shavuot — Jewish law dictates that one should pilgrimage to the city of Jerusalem. For many contemporary Jews,…
Too little, a millennium too late? A right of return for Iberian Jewry
July 5, 1950 marks a historic day for the Jewish people. Eager for new immigrants, the government of the nascent Jewish State, Israel, granted the right of return to all Jews. In a historic first, Jews could now obtain citizenship…
The hidden implications of BDS
The facts are pretty straightforward: after 12 hours of public deliberation on a resolution to divest from companies operating in the West Bank, USAC rendered a 7-5-0 vote against the suggested resolution. By virtue of the polarizing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one…
A confrontation: the Israeli Rabbinate and Democracy
Perhaps no Israeli institution has garnered as much criticism lately as the Israeli Rabbinate. In the last several weeks, a series of scandals and controversies have left the Rabbinate reeling under intense public scrutiny. Among several recent controversial decisions is…
The changing dynamics of Jewish education
The perpetuation of Judaism throughout the millennia has largely relied on one of its most important tenets: education. The Talmudic tractate Kiddushin (“Consecrations”; 29a) dictates that a father is obligated to teach his child three things: how to earn a…
Canorah at UCLA
Judaism is a religion rich in celebrations and holidays. As the old Jewish joke goes, a formula unifies the many disparate Jewish holidays: our enemies wanted to kill us, we prevailed, we celebrate. And while most Jewish communities revert to…
Losing Their Religion: American Jewry
In his 1997 work “American Pastoral,” novelist Philip Roth depicts the tragic decline of an assimilated Jew, Seymour “Swede” Levov, and his family in a New Jersey suburb. In doing so, Roth underlines a recurring theme throughout American Jewish literature…