In light of week four’s Palestinian Awareness Week, in which Students for Justice in Palestine set up their annual “Apartheid Wall” comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to South African apartheid, Students Supporting Israel (SSI) teamed up with StandWIthUs on Feb.…
Can Hillel really be the center of Jewish student life for all Jewish students?
The Zionist (and anti-Zionist) public eye has recently been focused on the Open Hillel movement. Open Hillel is an organization that promotes pluralism of ideas and political opinions within the Jewish community and encourages organizations, such as Hillel, that lead…
Interfaith Shabbat and confronting dialogue
This past Friday night, February 5, Hillel at UCLA hosted “Interfaith Shabbat,” an evening with programming for non-Jewish visitors interested in learning about Judaism and Shabbat and/or building rapport with Jewish students. The evening began with a choice of Orthodox…
Dr. David Menashri’s must-attend Lecture: Iran, the US, and the changing Middle East
This past summer’s nuclear accord between Iran and the superpowers of the United States, France, China, Germany, Russia and the United Kingdom has spurred a multitude of opinions among members of the UCLA community. Some see the deal as a…
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…
Chinese-Hebrew Cafe provides an evening of education and cross-cultural interaction
This past Thursday, UCLA’s Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies held its first-ever cross-cultural event, the Chinese-Hebrew Cafe, at which attendees gathered to learn about Chinese and Jewish societies as well as learn some Chinese and Hebrew. The event…
Israel: a values discourse
“The Shalom Hartman Institute is a pluralistic center of research and education deepening and elevating the quality of Jewish life in Israel and around the world. Through our work, we are redefining the conversation about Judaism in modernity, religious pluralism,…
Profile on Dr. Saba Soomekh: the newest administrator of Leve Center for Jewish Studies
With the advent of a new academic year, innovations are practically inevitable for an ever-evolving campus such as UCLA. One novelty at UCLA took place earlier this fall at the UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies (CJS), when…
An open letter to the UC Regents working group for the Principles Against Intolerance
Dear Eddie Island, Norm Pattiz, John A. Pérez, Bruce Varner, Avi Oved, Linda Katehi, Dan Hare, and Yvette Gullatt: Your most recent task as regents, chancellors and university leaders is to debate, revise and re-construct the UC Statement of Principles…
Our democratic fight
As a student who grew up in a democratic and liberal environment, I was constantly told to be proud of myself and to stand up for who I am and what I believe in. Earlier this week, the student government…