(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, especially, created a gruesomely divided campus climate that lingered for months, culminating in the necessity for Jewish students to write a...

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 will need to provide proof of four additional vaccinations, plus a tuberculosis screening, to the current Hepatitis B requirement —...

This week we celebrate the festival of Passover. If asked on the spot what the point of the holiday is, you would probably respond "to commemorate the redemption from Egyptian bondage." This interaction is reenacted on the Seder night: The children ask why this night is different from other nights, and we quickly respond with "We were slaves in Egypt...

Clipse, arguably the greatest coke rap duo of all time, has a Jewish problem. In their successful single “Wamp Wamp,” the pair uses an unfortunate metaphor to describe a step in the process of cooking cocaine: after they remove the coke-filled pan from the oven, “It cools to a tight wad — the Pyrex is Jewish.” The “cheap Jew” stereotype...

Passover is just around the corner, which means Jewish Bruins may be the hungriest students at UCLA for those eight days. Thankfully, UCLA has an amazingly supportive Jewish community that makes sure its students eat heartily. Hillel, Chabad and JAM all offer meal plans -- check out your options below. Hillel: Hillel offers two options for the first night Seder....

Imagine you are living in a land where you must tuck away your kippah or Magen David necklace in public in fear of putting your life in danger, simply because of who you are. This has been an unfortunate reality of the Jewish narrative. Despite establishing successful lives for themselves in foreign nations, many Jews in the diaspora have grown...

Unlike the spoken word, which is formidable in its own right, the written word is powerfully enduring and persistent. In general, people’s perception is that the written word — having been meticulously chosen — is usually well thought-out and therefore more authoritative. Thus, the written word, with all its alter egos -- books, newspapers, magazines — can become a very...

As the story of Purim goes, the Jewish people had to conceal their Jewish identities, thus explaining one of reasons why we adorn ourselves with costumes on Purim. Regardless of the reason, who doesn't love a good dress-up party? On Wednesday night, many of UCLA's Jewish students gathered at the Westwood Chabad House for their annual Purim celebration — and...

Last Monday, a US jury ordered the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization to pay over $218 million to the victims (and their families) of terrorist attacks in Israel that the PA provided material support for. The trial provided retribution for attacks that took place between 2002 to 2004, which killed 33 people and injured over 450. The fine...

Hinduism has been compared to the Ganges River, for it has been flowing and evolving over many centuries. In order to extend this metaphor to Judaism, one would need to alter it slightly. Judaism is best compared to the river described in Genesis 2 which flows through Eden and parts into four separate paths. While there is some form of...