UCLA is a very diverse campus with numerous religious and cultural groups. There has been a recent struggle to unite these groups in a peaceful manner and to engender collaboration. Within this campus and beyond, the necessity for inter-religious relations…
The “AVIous Choice”: Jewish Bruins take on USAC
We’ve heard a lot about Bruins United. According to their website, they were “formed in 2004 when only 50 student groups could apply for funding from USAC,” not including “religious, pre-professional, political, and Greek groups.” They successfully advocated for the…
Ha’Am Winter 2013 Print Issue: A Look At Jewish Traditions at Home and Abroad
In case you missed Ha’Am’s Winter 2013 Print Issue, you can now read all the articles and see the complete PDF online. Enjoy!
A memorial to Daniel Pearl and democracy, featuring lecture from Condoleezza Rice
A gentle nudge in the back, a graceful shuffle forward past the competing person to the right — exciting muttering and the loud patter of feet eagerly moving toward two open doors filled the entrance to Korn Convocation Hall in…
The SodaStream controversy: should we boycott settlements?
Israel has long prided itself on being an environmentally conscious, technologically advanced nation. SodaStream is therefore exactly the kind of product Israel wants to promote: a machine which carbonates tap water, relegating fizzy drinks in a can as unnecessarily expensive…
New York City seeks parental consent on brit milah’s practice of oral-genital suction
Eight days after every male Jew is born, a part of his flesh is cut off and buried in the earth as a reminder of the covenant Abraham made with G-d and as a sign that the man will help…
Very superstitious: Sephardic practice driven by tradition or faith?
To the puzzlement of my roommates, I have a peculiar habit of scouring our apartment and obsessively closing every single one of our closets before going to bed. It is like an inexplicable intuition that itches and nags at me…
“Srugim:” Modern Orthodox Israeli singles on TV
Last year, when I studied abroad at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, I became aware of the then-popular Israeli television drama, “Srugim” (Hebrew for the knitted kippot or head coverings, normatively worn by Modern Orthodox men), which premiered in June…
How Israel can change a Jew’s life
America is a melting pot of cultures, and it is undeniable that the distinctions setting apart each culture are slowly deteriorating. According to the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus, Jews make up approximately 10% of the UCLA population. Surrounded by…
The Jewish Museum in Munich: an attempt to reconcile identities in conflict
Munich. For many Jews, the first name associations may be the 1972 Olympics, or the destruction of the main synagogue during Kristallnacht, or the concentration camp Dachau. However, a city that once was a hotbed for anti-Semitic activity is now…