Written by Yair Vardi, Israel Fellow at Hillel at UCLA This week, we read parshat Shelach Lecha — שְׁלַח לְךָ. This is the famous parashah of the spies. Moses chose twelve men, leaders from the twelve tribes of Israel, to scout Eretz Israel, while they were wandering "in the desert" (Bamidbar במדבר — the Hebrew name of the book of...

In honor of my Prodigious Babes series, I wanted to write this week's Taste of Torah with a focus on the female protagonist of Behaalotecha (Numbers), Miriam. The parashah concludes with a rather bizarre incident: G-d punishes Miriam with tzaraat (a skin affliction) for "[speaking] against" her brother Moses (12:1). To better understand the peculiarity, let's provide context: Miriam gossips...

When you think of Shavuot, you might be reminded of staying up all night learning or eating cheesecake. A lesser known custom is reading the Book of Ruth. There are many reasons for this custom, the first being that Shavuot is a festival of harvest, and the setting for Ruth is harvest-time. Furthermore, Ruth was the great-grandmother of King David,...

While the official school year is nearing its close, many students are making plans for the future. For some, this means preparing for a study abroad program and/or traveling to other countries during their much deserved “break time.” As someone who is studying abroad both this summer and next fall, I began to ponder: will I be able to continue...

Two weeks ago I wrote an article about Jerusalem, its vibrant energy, and the stubborn distance between its different groups. I ended with a suggestion, a hope, and a recycled Lennon lyric: let us recognize that despite the differences, we are all the same. "You may say I'm a dreamer." Maybe coming together despite the enormous, irreparable pain caused by...

"Shabbat!" performed by Soof Hacohen and AJ Goldsman, lyrics by Ellie Fridman__________________________ We do not own the rights to the original music. Music credit: "Uptown Funk" by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars __________________________ Ellie Fridman's original parody lyrics can be read h...

“Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” by Gustav Klimt, Public Domain ____________ The Holocaust was one of the worst events in human history, and people keep it in their minds so they should never forget. Never forget the infiltrations of Nazis to and evacuations from the ghettos. Never forget the death camps and crematoriums. Never forget the millions who died for...

Illustration by Jordana Attias __________________The print version of this article contained an error and has been changed. See the bottom of the article for more information. If you were to take a walk around the UCLA campus, you would see a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds. People choose to express themselves and their perspectives in different ways based on...

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...

Illustration by Rivka Cohen ________________Assuming all other suitable conversation topics have been dealt with, sitting around a bar table, one might wonder aloud what the role of Jewish Studies is at a large public university. Is it to provide Jewish students with a religious foundation from which they can build their Jewish adulthood? Or is it more aligned with other...