(Graphic courtesy of Madeleine Isaacs / Daily Bruin Senior Staff) ______________________________________ Following recent events surrounding the Undergraduate Students Association Council and the Jewish community, many Jewish students have felt marginalized and unrepresented by their student government. Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions,…
Universality of the hamsa
In today’s world, we are engulfed by symbols that hold significant meaning, and some that are connected to beliefs and traditions that date back to thousands of years. The Hamsa, better known as “the hand,” serves as a universal symbol…
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…
Sorrow to festivities: the abrupt transition between Memorial Day and Independence Day in Israel
On Wednesday morning, the citizens of Israel woke up, drank their morning coffee, put on white shirts, and glanced at the candles their mothers, wives, or they themselves lit the night before. Perhaps the picture of the young soldier or…
From proxy to president: concerns about USAC Presidential Candidate Morris Sarafian
Photo courtesy of Austin Yu / Daily Bruin Senior Staff ____________________________________________________ Ha’Am, as well as many major national media outlets, have discussed ad nauseam the anti-Semitic comments and/or troubling voting record of USAC council members Fabienne Roth, Negeen Sadeghi-Movahed, Sofia…
Yom HaShoah with the Holocaust survivors
April marks the seventy year anniversary of the allied liberation of Jews and many other peoples from concentration camps all over Europe. During the Holocaust, German Nazis killed approximately twelve million people, six million of whom were Jews and one…
Honey, I vaccinated the kids: Jewish bioethics of vaccinatons
In December 2014, “The Happiest Place on Earth,” Disneyland, was plagued by a measles outbreak. In all, 131 people were infected — the majority of whom were unvaccinated. Shortly after, the University of California announced that beginning in 2017, students…
If you like your nuclear program, you can keep your nuclear program
On April 2, President Obama strolled triumphantly across the Rose Garden in the White House and proudly announced to the world that the United States and its allies had reached an agreement with Iran that would prevent it from obtaining…
Taste of Torah: moments of silence
Written by Soof Hacohen Yesterday, April 16, 2015, was Yom Ha’Shoah — Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day. At around 11:00 a.m., millions of Israelis across the nation stood in silence for approximately 60 seconds to commemorate the six million Jews who…
Shmuel Rosner talks about the Israeli elections and Iran
On Monday afternoon, shortly after 4:30 pm, the mostly middle-aged to elderly audience members — armed with cookies, pastries and beverages — shifted in their seats as more places were set out to accommodate the large number of attendees to…