Written by Sharona Kaplan, Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus at UCLA “So, what are you doing next year?!” A simple, yet potentially dreaded question for so many graduates who have yet to concretize their future plans. Silently detracting from the…
Taste of Torah: stand up and be counted
Written by Rebbetzin Elisa Gurevitch, Chabad at UCLA The holiday of Shavuot, which commemorates the giving of the Torah, is always preceded by the Torah portion of Bamidbar (the first chapters of Numbers) — “In the desert.” The reason for…
Taste of Torah: breaking free of the materialistic pursuit
Written by Gil Bar-Or It has been over 3000 years since we were freed from the bondage of slavery in Egypt, but it appears that today we are still bound by another set of shackles. The culture of materialism that…
Taste of Torah: Lag Ba’Omer Video
Video by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus ______________ This article is part of Ha’Am’s Friday Taste of Torah column. Each week, a different UCLA community member will contribute some words of Jewish wisdom in preparation for Shabbat.
Submission: Sofia Moreno Haq still fails to recognize her own anti-Semitism
(Photo courtesy of Daniel Alcazar / Daily Bruin) _____________________________________________ Written by Tammy Rubin, fourth-year human biology and society major, and Elyssa Schlossberg, fourth-year psychobiology major. Sometimes, the best response is a simple apology. On February 10th, 2015 in one of…
Taste of Torah: Rich man, poor man
Written by Akiva Nemetsky In the second of this week’s two Torah portions, Parashat Metzorah, we begin by reading about the purification process a metzorah (someone who is punished for speaking lashon ha’ra, denigrating speech) must undergo before being allowed…
How my Jewish community stood by me in my darkest hour
Written by David J. Chernobylsky “David, isn’t this beautiful? Look at the sun, the sky. It’s so clear today. The water, it’s like crystal. I couldn’t have ordered better weather today myself! David? David! Stop playing with your Batman cape…
Taste of Torah: Building the mishkan of life
Written by Kerry Chaplin, Hillel at UCLA Rabbinic Intern Anyone else looking for a job right now? A post-university job? A summer job? An internship? Me too. And it’s hard. Each position requires research, writing a cover letter, and reworking…
Taste of Torah: the ultimate leader
Written by Rabbi Jacob Rupp, Jewish Awareness Movement at UCLA In this week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, Moses’ name is not mentioned. The Talmud explains that after the sin of the Golden Calf in next week’s Torah portion, G-d was prepared…
Taste of Torah: Money on fire
Written by Rabbi Dovid Gurevich, Chabad at UCLA This week’s Torah portion of Mishpatim contains a dramatic transition from last week’s climactic revelation at Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments to the seemingly mundane civil laws, torts, crimes,…