Browsing All Posts filed under »Jewish Society«

Eco-pollution: Israel’s silent threat

November 8, 2012 by

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Israel is advertised as one of the most environmentally conscious countries in the world. Perhaps most well known is the Israeli irrigation drip system, which involves a hose that slowly drips water directly to the root of the plant, strategically improving efficiency. Even more dramatic is the Project Better Place, a company currently planning to […]

Election night: a look at a congressional legend

November 6, 2012 by

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From 7 a.m. today until 8 p.m. tonight, millions of Americans will engage in their ultimate civic duty and vote for the president of the United States and various other local politicians and initiatives. While it would be foolhardy to project the results of the presidential race prior to polling results, the local congressional race […]

First Farsi Holocaust text connects Iranians to Jewish history

November 1, 2012 by

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On October 14, I was privileged to be a student delegate at 30 Years After’s 3rd Biennial Conference. 30 Years After is the civic and political voice of America’s Iranian Jews, the first and only organization of its kind. The group seeks to educate, inspire, and mobilize the Iranian Jewish community through civic action conferences, […]

Israel and apartheid: a lesson in the risks of media bias

October 28, 2012 by

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For Israel, a country trapped under the brutally judgmental microscope of global scrutiny, public image is everything. A recent poll published on October 23, 2012 by Haaretz (a leading Israeli news source), and its accompanying piece by Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, is undoubtedly a leap in the wrong direction. The survey, reportedly conducted by the […]

Anti-Semitic graffiti “un-Kiwi?”

October 25, 2012 by

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Sprayed in black, the swastikas show up clearly against the pale gray tombstones in a historic Auckland, New Zealand cemetery, where vagrants drift and troublemakers lurk. The Hebrew words meaning May his/her soul be bound into the bond of life identify the graves as the resting places of Jews. Over twenty stone-pillared monuments were vandalized […]

Blurring democracy: the Orthodox vision of respecting women

October 21, 2012 by

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It was my first time at the Western Wall. It should have been a beautiful and emotional moment, one that allowed me to connect to the history of the Jewish people. And yet, something irked me. Perhaps it was the shoulder and knee coverings I was required to wear in the brutal heat. Perhaps I […]

Check out our Winter 2012 issue on Issuu!

June 10, 2012 by

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>>Ha’Am Winter 2012: Difficult Questions<<

The Jewish Casualties of Adler’s Assassination Comments

January 29, 2012 by

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The Atlanta Jewish Times is looking for a new owner. The reason? Its founder and original publisher, Andrew Adler, is facing investigation by the FBI and United States Secret Service. In a piece dated January 13th, 2012, Adler decried the endless terrorist activity of Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as the United States government’s malaise […]

Orthodox Judaism in the western world: a harmonic business deal

January 24, 2012 by

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Businessmen Steven Spira and Paul Cohen address a roomful of students at the JAM building at UCLA. (photo by Tessa Nath) Observant Judaism and the modern world are not always seen as a completely cohesive pair; people often equate the relationship to that between water and oil. However, last Wednesday evening, the Jewish Awareness Movement […]

Comments on retraction of Israeli expatriate ads

January 17, 2012 by

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Last month, a set of advertisements aimed at encouraging the return of Israelis living abroad, were removed from the Israeli Ministry of Immigrant Absorption’s YouTube channel. As a part of a resolution adopted by the government in 2010, these advertisements feature images like the young girl who disappoints her Israeli grandarents when she reveals her […]

RCA repudiates position on reparative therapy for queer Jews

December 28, 2011 by

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Rabbinical Council of America president Rabbi Schmuel Goldin issued a statement on Monday dispelling allegations that the RCA has taken a stand on reparative therapy for Jews with unwanted same-sex attraction. The RCA website has previously listed an organization called JONAH (Jews Offering New Alternatives for Healing) as a therapy resource for Jews with unwanted […]

The Day the Buses Stood Still

December 19, 2011 by

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Israel needs America – financially, diplomatically, and militarily. It’s a fact. So when U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton makes an observation, even about a relatively minor point of domestic policy, Israelis tend to sit up and listen. That is not to say that the point in contention is minor to everyone. Secretary Clinton, speaking […]

Rabbinic Authorities Flex Muscles in Response to “Gay Orthodox Wedding”

December 13, 2011 by

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Last week, over 100 Orthodox rabbis around the world added their signatures to a declaration condemning a recent event that the media identified as an “same-sex Orthodox wedding.” On November 6, Yeshiva University-ordained Rabbi Steven Greenberg, known to many as the first openly gay Orthodox rabbi, officiated at a marriage ceremony between grooms Yoni Bock and Ron […]

Fear & Loathing in Washington Heights

December 12, 2011 by

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The winds of scandal were blowing in full force across the Jewish world last week. An article printed in an online publication run by Yeshiva University students became the centre of controversy, and the school demanded that the article be removed. The ensuing debate was covered by Fox News and later even in some other news sources and […]

Rabbi Chaim Addresses Trends In Jewish Academic Success

November 4, 2011 by

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“Parents’ Weekend at UCLA” revealed many of the intimate details of Jewish life on campus. One of these details was the extent to which our leadership takes note of our involvement and progress within the greater UCLA community. On Friday evening, moms and dads accompanied their Bruin progeny to Shabbat dinner at the UCLA Hillel […]

Halloween and Judaism: a contradiction or a coalition?

October 30, 2011 by

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Halloween—the night of disguised merriment and childhood dreams. The night where it doesn’t matter if you were an all-star on your high school baseball team, genius enough to discover the theory of relativity, or had the body of an angel—you could don a mask or a leotard or some face paint and you’d leave your […]

Plaskow’s feminist theology lacks one thing — Theology

October 26, 2011 by

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Welcome back to Steiner’s Two Cents — the section in which I probe the interaction between feminism and Judaism as it is filtered through traditional text. Last week, I assessed Moshe Meiselman’s “Jewish Woman in Jewish Law,” which, in my opinion, neglects the deeper feminist criticisms of Judaism — namely, the impact of patriarchy on the […]

Jewish Ideals Stand Strong Amidst Occupy Wall Street Anti-Semitism

October 20, 2011 by

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What began on September 17th, 2011 at Zuccotti Park in New York City as a protest against purportedly greedy Wall Street executives has become a global mutiny of epic proportions. As of October 20th, demonstrators in nearly one thousand cities throughout the world fill the streets, demanding equality and retribution for their financial woes. The […]

The Jewish Vote, Reappraised

October 19, 2011 by

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With the coverage of the election season saturating nearly every media outlet, we cannot escape discussion of partisan politics. Politicians from across the board are working long and hard to earn your vote. They’re assembling teams of image consultants, speechwriters, and advisers to effectively communicate with their specified targeted audience. Each candidate systematically tailors rhetoric […]

Meiselman Revisited: reflections on Orthodox feminist literature

October 17, 2011 by

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Meiselman’s 1978 book Recently, during my never-ending search for relevant information for my senior thesis, which explores recent feminist and queer Jewish theology, I happened upon Moshe Meiselman’s Jewish Woman in Jewish Law, an early traditional Jewish response to feminism.  While the book is nearly 35 years old now, it remains a reference text for […]

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