By Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, Co-Director of the Jewish Leaning Initiative on Campus at UCLA This week’s Torah portion, Behar, introduces us to a most fascinating commandment: Shemitah, the Sabbatical year. The mitzvah of Shemitah mandates that Jews in Israel cease and desist of all labor to fields for the entire seventh…
Israel
House of Cards: the Israel episode
Israeli politics can best be described as a volatile and tumultuous show. Recent events have provided yet more evidence of this phenomenon and have cemented president Benjamin Netanyahu’s reputation as Israel’s Frank Underwood. The current saga began several months ago,…
Response to Daily Bruin submission: Israel Independence Week is a celebration of survivors
An Israeli response to the Matan Neuman’s plea to allow UCLA’s pro-Israel community to celebrate Yom Ha’Atzmaut, and the important concepts it conveniently overlooked I appreciate and agree wholeheartedly with Matan Neuman’s words regarding Yom Ha’Atzmaut celebrations: the Israeli community…
Photo Essay: Yom Ha’Atzmaut 2016
Today Bruins came from across campus to celebrate Israel Independence Day in Bruin Plaza. This is a yearly event organized by Bruins for Israel where students celebrate with great music, food, and world class dancing.
Zikaron BaSalon: The Holocaust survivor who left me speechless
We are the next generation. We are the generation that will live to see days without Holocaust survivors. They are disappearing, and with them, their stories, if not shared, will be gone forever. We are the next generation. It is…
The roots of BDS
In the summer of 2014, the Gaza-based terrorist organization Hamas fired thousands of rockets at Israeli civilians and used its terror tunnel network to launch attacks in Israeli territory. In response, Israel launched the defensive Operation Protective edge to eliminate…
Trouble in the Tribe: an event and discourse
The UCLA Law School lecture hall hummed with chatter as attendees carried their tea and cookies to their seats, awaiting the event speaker. Couples and friends flipped through the fresh pages of their newly purchased books, and shared commentary on…
Persian-Hebrew Cafe
The intoxicating aroma of Persian foods such as kebab filled the room, and the attendees were eager to learn Persian and Hebrew conversational skills. Jews came, Persians came, and even some who were neither participated. Today, Iran and Israel are…
Good Deeds Day: Another Israeli startup taking over the globe
On April 10th, 2016, do-gooders in 70 different countries set out on mission: do a good deed. This year the “Good Deeds Day” organization celebrated its 10th anniversary of making the world a better place, one project at a time.…
“Night of Unity” draws connection between American and Israeli veterans
Three Israelis and two Americans sat before a crowd of eager listeners in the Bruin Reception Room for a “Night of Unity,” an event hosted by Students Supporting Israel (SSI) and co-sponsored by nine other UCLA-affiliated organizations. Though different in…