In my last newsletter, I highlighted the extreme polarization between certain factions of Zionist and anti-Zionist Jews on college campuses. The examples were intense. Each side literally thought the other side was trying to kill them. We see this polarization in the Jewish community outside of college campuses as well. On the extreme ends of the debate, one side thinks Israel can do no wrong, and the other side thinks Israel is a scourge on the Jewish people and the world at large. I’d...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Most people know that Hillel is basically synonymous with Jewish life at American colleges, but what you might not know is that the organization has caused a political uproar. Hillel has a clear stance on Israel. As they state in their controversial Israel Guidelines, “Hillel is steadfastly committed to the support of Israel” and “views Israel as a core element of Jewish life.” To put it in the reductive modern-day parlance, Hillel is a Zionist organization. Though many people perceive Hillel...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
International students have suddenly been thrust into “an environment of fear” because of dramatic and confusing federal policy changes. The Department of Education has been gutted. And the Trump administration is threatening elite universities with dire cuts to their federal grant funding. If they do not stand up to him, they will not be able to maintain their academic freedom. The norms I have long taken for granted in higher education are in limbo, and this impacts my students and me, thus...
2 months ago • 1 min read
I grew up in a strict household, and my parents gave me no choice but to live a Jewish lifestyle. We went to shul so consistently that I could chant the entire Musaf Amidah by heart. (The fact that our shul did a full repetition tells you how fun Shabbat services were.) By the time I reached adolescence, the limitations of my family’s observant lifestyle started to chafe. I was eager to explore other options. Whenever we would visit colleges, my mother would take me to check out the Hillel,...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Last time, we talked about the increase in pro-Palestinian campus activism and its excessive coverage in the media. Everyone and their mother is talking about antisemitism on college campuses, including those in the White House and the halls of Congress. There are some people who genuinely care about what is best for American Jews and others who view this moment as an opportunity. Let’s spend some time talking about the latter group. Congresswoman Virginia Foxx: A Case Study Though Jews are...
4 months ago • 3 min read
Since the wave of pro-Palestinian protests began after October 7, this has been a fiercely debated topic among American Jews. Are pro-Palestinian campus organizations a bigger threat to American Jews than Christian nationalists in the White House and the halls of Congress? Which side is more worthy of our attention and concern? This debate came to a head when Elon Musk gave a Nazi salute, and the Anti Defamation League (ADL) excused his behavior, calling it an awkward gesture. We know which...
4 months ago • 3 min read
I have read some excellent Jewish fiction as of late: Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner, The Netanyahus by Joshua Cohen, and my personal favorite, Worry by Alexandra Tanner. The premise is that our twenty-eight-year-old narrator Jules lives in Brooklyn, and her younger sister Poppy travels from their hometown in Florida to move in with her. That’s pretty much the entire plot. It is a character study and a portrait of their dysfunctional relationship. Both sisters are...
4 months ago • 2 min read
There has been alarming news from college campuses over the last year and a half. We have seen inflammatory rhetoric on social media, including from a Columbia student organization with extremist views. They have said a number of shocking things, but the most notorious was when they endorsed a member’s claim that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” There have also been a small number of violent incidents, including the time counterprotesters turned aggressive at the UCLA pro-Palestinian...
5 months ago • 1 min read