This past Sunday afternoon, current students and alumni of UCLA, USC, CSUN, and SMC gathered to ask questions about American Jewry and the State of Israel to Rabbi David Baruch Lau, the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Israel, during his first trip to the West Coast. Chabad at USC hosted the event, modeled as a town hall meeting, during which students...

This past weekend, the Jewish nation celebrated Lag Ba’Omer. For the average American Jew, Lag Ba’Omer may be a bit of a mystery — there is no Christian equivalent, it is not commercialized in any way, and pop culture has not poked fun at it, yet. In my quest to understand the holiday, it became obvious why Lag Ba’Omer shies...

LA's winter season hasn't been much of a winter so far, with characteristically sunny days and warm, dry winds. Since it feels like summer, aside from classes, a light, summery dessert would be the perfect conclusion to Shabbat dinner or simply a delicious and relatively low-cal snack. You can also use up any leftover fruit from a Tu B'Shvat celebration...

There are many rabbis at UCLA. The Jewish Awareness Movement has two, Chabad has one, and Hillel has three full-time rabbis and one rabbinic intern. Each of these people brings his or her unique perspectives to prayer services, learning groups, and student interactions. Some rabbis are also more famous than others — everyone is familiar with Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller’s intensely...

When word got out, I braced myself for some interesting reactions (and lots of questions). They ranged from “Wait, are you serious?” to “That’s weird, but cool I guess” to one of my personal favorites from a guy pal, “Ah, so you think my hugs are too intense, huh? Too shmexy?” As I tried articulating an explanation for my newly-adopted...

León, Spain: a young man out with some friends decides to indulge in the tradition of drinking spiked, carbonated lemonade during Holy Week (the week preceding and culminating in Easter). “Let’s go get some lemonade,” he suggests. “Let’s go kill Jews.” It is very unlikely that our Spaniard truly meant what he said; after all, matar judíos is, in addition...

Perhaps no holiday tests the Jewish imagination to the same extent as does Passover. Each year, irrespective of locale, Jews are asked to explore their ancestral heritage by recreating the Passover story that traces the Jewish excursion from bondage to liberation. In fact, nearly all Passover rituals serve to commemorate the process of liberation, such as the abstention of leavened...

d

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...