The recent, controversial Undergraduate Student Association Council vote to divest from American companies that profit from alleged human rights violations in Israel's West Bank raised tensions among undergraduates. It also inspired a great deal of Ha'Am coverage. While many undergrads closely followed the USAC vote, most are unaware of a similarly-inspired vote coming up this Thursday with the graduate labor...

In this day and age, the vast amount of information available at our fingertips leaves no excuse for anyone to be unaware of the Holocaust's atrocities. There is a myriad of films, books, and museums depicting the horrors that Jews and other targeted minorities endured under the reign of Nazi Germany. Nevertheless, the brutality and gross human rights violations that...

On Tuesday, Nov. 18, the Undergraduate Student Association Council — the governing body of UCLA's undergraduate population — voted to approve a resolution calling on the UC to divest from companies that allegedly profit from the violation of Palestinian human rights. The council passed the resolution overwhelmingly, with eight members affirming the vote, two opposing, and two abstaining. With such...

Written by Kerry Chaplin, rabbinic intern at Hillel at UCLA. My wife and I adopted an almost entirely black puppy recently. His name is Charlie (our last name is Chaplin). When we adopted Charlie, we steeled ourselves for the house training and the shoe eating and the general running amok. We weren’t prepared for Charlie’s diagnosis of megaesophagus. As much...

On Tuesday night, Nov. 18, the UCLA Undergraduate Student Association Council held a public meeting to discuss, and ultimately pass, a symbolic resolution calling for UCLA to divest from companies that do business with Israel. In order to not grant legitimacy to this unilateral and nonconstructive maneuver, the Jewish student leadership of UCLA decided to “boycott the boycotters,” so to...

There’s an old joke that less-affiliated Jews tell a lot. “I’m Jewish. Well, I’m Jewish.”This joke is supposed to be funny because, as the suffix ish denotes, they only share some characteristics of a Jew. But what exactly are those characteristics? What is a Jew?The English word “Jewish” carries no information. It identifies our group without implying anything at all...

The recent terror attacks that took place in a synagogue in Jerusalem have led me to reflect on my own experience in witnessing Israel's resilience to terrorism this past summer. Tragically, these innocent people were killed simply for being Jewish. Their lives were brutally taken away from them while they were reciting their daily prayers in synagogue. Despite all these...

In a surprising turn of events, the Undergraduate Student Association Council President Devin Murphy announced Friday that he would be resigning from the position effective immediately. This move follows weeks of deliberation regarding the parameters of this coming Tuesday’s divestment hearing, in which the USA Council will consider “A Resolution to Divest from Companies Engaged in Violence Against Palestinians.” For...

Written by Danielle Natelson, director of engagement at Hillel at UCLA. This Taste of Torah goes out to all my friends in the Jewish Bruin class of 2015, so if it’s coming across your news feed I suggest you keep reading. You’d think this week’s parsha was all about the great life of Sarah, and perhaps Abraham as well, with...

So here's the deal. I've never fully kept Shabbat before. A shame, I know. But this past Shabbat, I decided to give it a try. After a stressful week, a day of rest would be nice. Let's just say, I'll never view Shabbat in the same way again. I'll start from the beginning: Friday afternoon. The first thing I did...