Copyright 2014. Shelley Gazin. All Rights Reserved._______________ Some would start a farewell address to Rabbi Chaim in this fashion: “Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller will be retiring this year from his position as Executive Director of the Hillel. As an educator, his greatest achievement lies in the countless students he has taught and inspired. Although he will no longer be present in...

I wear this dot on my head because I exist in an ever-elapsing ellipsis which began on the head of that mountain Sinai when we heard Moses sigh n’ I cried ‘I will do and I will listen’ and we heard ‘Do this and Don’t do that’ and dot dot dot when God’s voice trailed off and we trailed through...

Our Torah reading this week is the combined parshiyot of Acharei Mot and Kedoshim. Acharei Mot begins by recalling the tragic death of two of Aaron’s sons, which was recounted a few chapters prior: “And the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron's two sons, when they drew near before the Lord, and they died." (Vayikra 16:1) By...

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...

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...

A history of symbolic violence It does not appear coincidental that a recent rise in rhetoric leveled against Jews across the world has coincided with a devaluation of the term anti-Semitism. Jews often use the term not only to describe violent action motivated by extreme prejudice against Jews, but also symbolically damaging actions for which negative feelings toward the Jews...

Written by Moshe Kahn, Ha'Am staff writerThis week’s Torah portion, Terumah (Exodus 25:1 - 27:19), recounts the instructions for the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). This portable sanctuary was the focal point of Jewish communal activity until the permanent sanctuary — the Holy Temple (Beit Ha'Mikdash) in Jerusalem — was built. According to our tradition, that which is recorded in...

One of our richest cultural inheritances is the Talmud. Its roughly 6,200 pages consists of rabbinic folklore, customs, history, ethics, philosophy and law, oftentimes moving between these topics in the span of a sentence. Since I went to private Jewish day schools my entire life before coming to UCLA, I spent many hours poring over the cryptic texts written in...

As much as I hate to admit it, I am an urbanite. I enjoy spending time away from the city, but going on a hike is somewhat of a hassle. So when my friend told me about a nature film she was screening at UCLA with the help of the Campus Events Commission, I jumped at the opportunity. I got...

Many Yiddish words have crept their way into the English vernacular, which poses many potential problems: ­If you consider Yiddish a galus language, you may see its survival as undesirable.­If you consider Yiddish an extremely sacred language, then you may not want goyim using the holy words.­If you want to boycott all Jewish-related entities, you are definitely not worthy of...