As wintertime rolls around again, the most universally celebrated Jewish holiday —Hanukkah — will begin. When the average Jew is asked about the historical events leading up to this beloved holiday, he will claim the classic Jewish holiday line: “An…
Attending class during the holiday
There is perhaps no decision more representative of the difficulties of being a practicing Jewish college student than the quintessential question of whether or not to attend class during Chag. To me, this is not a question of grades or…
Taste of Torah: Not shying away
This week’s Taste of Torah is written by staff writer Daniel Levine. It would be very easy to write a nice Devar Torah about all of the nice things this week’s Torah portion teaches. The job of the Kohanim, the idea of Kidush Hashem,…
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?…
Taste of Torah: “So you think you understand what’s pure and impure?”
As we continue our trek through the book of Leviticus, we are continuously confronted with laws of tumah (purity) and tahara (impurity). These laws, which for some time in history made up the majority of Jewish practice, seem almost completely archaic and meaningless in…
Let My People Know: the historical reality of the Exodus
“You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Exodus 22:21) This aforementioned moral obligation, influenced by the events of Exodus, has arguably had one of the most positive effects on…
Of prophets and politics
Among all of the ridiculousness that is this years presidential race, this past week, Republican candidate Ted Cruz welcomed the support of televangelist Mike Bickle in a statement which can be read here. To be quite frank with you, this really…
Taste of Torah: Slavery and societal development
One of the many beauties of studying Torah is tracing an idea to its origins thousands of years ago and seeing its final effect in our society. This week’s parshah (Torah portion), Mishpatim, opens with the laws of treatment of Hebrew slaves. The…
Bible codes and bad religion
Walking through the old city in Jerusalem on a Tuesday afternoon, I arrived at the Aish HaTorah building overlooking the Western Wall — Judaism’s holiest site. It was about four years ago that I had gone, with about 50 other…
Why can’t we be friends? Religion and understanding
This past Tuesday, UCLA students gathered for an interfaith event in a small room on the third floor of the Humanities building to discuss many important topics. The event was relatively successful, but due to a miscommunication, there were no…