In October of last year, President Donald Trump, a non-Jew, accused Rep. Ilhan Omar of ‘virulent antisemitism’ for characterizing the State of Israel as ‘hypnotizing’ the world to hide its evils, implying that Zionists are motivated by ‘the Benjamins,’ and…
Response to Daily Bruin Editorial on the Poway Shooting
A young self-avowed white nationalist walks into a synagogue in Poway with an AR-15 rifle. Yelling anti-Semitic slurs, he shoots and kills Lori Gilbert Kaye, the mother of a current UCLA student. He wounds but does not manage to kill…
They tried to kill us. We survived. Let’s eat.
Many of our holidays deal with this same progression of events. Jews were confronted with an existential threat, we surmounted it, and now we indulge in symbolically relevant dishes. But what does this continued retelling and celebration of our near-brushes…
A Nation Within A Nation: Divided Loyalties
When U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar tweeted that Americans’ support for the state of Israel was “all about the Benjamins,” many Jews took offense, and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) published a rebuttal criticizing Omar’s perpetuation of the stereotype that Jewish money…
The Bund: Hereness and Resistance
Doi’kayt– a Yiddish word signifying “hereness.” For decades, this was the central principle of the General Jewish Labor Bund, a multinational and decentralized labor organization of Yiddish-speaking Eastern European Jews. Founded in 1897, the Bund and its various branches was…
Justice in Memory
Past injustices can never be undone. For millennia, the Jewish people have been persecuted, exiled, confined to the margins of society. None of that can ever be changed. But, it would be wrong to think that we can only strive…
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.…
U.S. Representative Brad Sherman on Israel and SJP: Interview by Grayson Peters
Congressman Brad Sherman is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing California’s 30th Congressional District. Congressman Sherman is Jewish, a member of Encino’s Valley Beth Shalom synagogue, and a strong advocate for Israel. As a Congressman,…
Jewish Community Should Move Westwood Forward
Last quarter, my colleague Zev Hurwitz argued persuasively for UCLA’s Jewish community to renew its commitment to social justice. Soon, Jewish Bruins will have an opportunity to do just that by voting for the formation of a new North Westwood Neighborhood Council…