Have you ever had difficulty trying to find the right words to say? Language allows us to communicate with one another but also tends to limit our ability to say what we mean and mean what we say. It is…
Twitter terrorism: a stab in the back
Barely two weeks have passed since a catastrophic wave of terror shook Paris, leaving 17 people dead. The impact of the attacks was felt across the world — the media overcome with expressions of shock. As day faded into night,…
Racism anywhere is racism everywhere
In an eye-opening lecture at Hillel this week, Paul Von Blum spoke to students about his life of social activism and unshaken secular Jewish identity. A second-generation Holocaust survivor, he claims his experience in civil rights began before his birth…
Thought Lounge: resuscitating a tradition of dialogue
One of our richest cultural inheritances is the Talmud. Its roughly 6,200 pages consists of rabbinic folklore, customs, history, ethics, philosophy and law, oftentimes moving between these topics in the span of a sentence. Since I went to private Jewish…
A “frank and open” conversation with Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Lau
This past Sunday afternoon, current students and alumni of UCLA, USC, CSUN, and SMC gathered to ask questions about American Jewry and the State of Israel to Rabbi David Baruch Lau, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, during his first…
Debate Table: Is Israel a Jewish State?
Is Israel a Jewish State? No. But it can be. by Ha’Am Contributor Groups like Bruins for Israel love to tout the idea that Jews, like all other national groups, deserve a state. That would be a good argument if…
Anti-Israel media bias around the world and around campus
An American woman and her husband tried for three years to have a child before their daughter, Chaya Zissel Braun, came into the world four months ago. To show their gratitude to G-d for this precious gift, they traveled to…
Is protesting enough?
Protesting is quite a common subsequent reaction for Los Angeles Jews when an unfavorable incident occurs in Israel. This past summer especially, my Facebook blew up with event invites to the Federal Building or to the Israeli Consulate to protest…
Are we breeding a society of takers?
Roughly 12% of UCLA’s student population is Jewish, and these 3,000 or so students may be the luckiest across the nation. They are not only supported by a vast network of Jewish Bruins, but also by various organizations that exist…
Compromise or get compromised — targeting Jewish leaders on campus
Do political motives — no matter the fire that drives them — vindicate attempts to violate the right to privacy?