2013 Top Schools Jews Choose

NOTE: Vassar does not register in the top 30 in any list. Hmmm....

The top school lists are collaboratively published in Reform Judaism magazine’s RJ Insider’s Guide to College Life, in partnership with Hillel.

by Hillel News |Aug 21, 2013|

Choosing a college is about finding the place that is right for you. The best place to start is by deciding which factors are most important to you.

Hillel’s College Guide offers information on hundreds of large and small colleges and universities around the world. It features information on Jewish populations, Jewish studies, fun clubs and initiatives, kosher dining options, religious life, and more. Once you have narrowed down your college choices, contact the local Hillel professional on campus and ask to be put in touch with a current Jewish student.

Visit Hillel's College Guide to:

• Discover Jewish life at each college in text, photos, and videos
• Learn about student engagement and social action initiatives, Israel study abroad programs, Jewish Agency Israel Fellows to Hillel, religious services and kosher dining options
• Compare/contrast Jewish life at up to three schools simultaneously
• Connect to social media and event calendars
• Access every local Hillel and directly connect with staff and students there— the key to knowing what a school is really like.
• Begin your search here.
• Please CLICK HERE to keep reading

Fact checking J Street and its critics

by Ami Eden May 2, 2014 jta.org


NOTE: A calmer look at the recent events.

1) Claim: J Street is beyond the communal pale

J Street might not have rounded up the votes, but in defeat it put to bed the argument that the group falls outside of the communal mainstream. If the Reform movement, the Conservative movement, the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Council of Public Affairs (a body bringing together the largest synagogue movements, several national organizations and scores of local community relations councils) say you belong in the Conference of Presidents, then by definition you are operating within the communal tent. You got a problem with that? Don’t shoot the messenger — take it up with all of the above, not to mention the prominent Jewish and Israeli figures associated with the organization.

2) Claim: J Street is more left wing than the other dovish members in the Conference of Presidents

I’ve heard the arguments, but I don’t see it. Other groups in the conference have pushed for the U.S. government to exert pressure on Israel. J Street hasn’t endorsed a settlement boycott, or even sort of endorsed settlement boycott in contrast to Americans for Peace Now. And in sticking by the Obama administration’s side on Iran through various policy shifts, J Street has at times found itself to the right of some of those on the left in the Conference.

3) Claim: J Street is just like any other left-wing group Please CLICK HERE to keep reading

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2014/05/02/news-opinion/the-telegraph/fact-checking-j-street-and-j-streets-critics#ixzz30abBOA3p

Can Brooklyn Jews Talk Civilly About Israel?

By Elisheva Goldberg in the Forward at blogs.forward.com April 8, 2014 

NOTE: from little acorns might oaks grow... 

This past Sunday, in the high-beamed, chilly Brooklyn Lyceum, a group of 20- and 30-somethings tried to talk about Israel — no small feat.

The program, called “Resetting the Table,” was designed to allow young people to get together and go really deep, really fast. Guided through the rough waters of this conversation by Eyal Rabinovitch and a team of Facilitation Fellows trained by him and Daniel Silberbusch, the 50 or so young people who showed up were held to communication guidelines that asked, among other things, that they honor confidentiality, listen with resilience, speak with respect and avoid generalizations. Essentially, it asked them to be civil.

And it’s no wonder: this iteration of “Resetting the Table” was funded by the UJA Federation of New York, and is generally part of a broader initiative at the Jewish Council on Public Affairs (JCPA)’s “Civility Initiative.” The model includes two organizing cadres: a group of “Facilitation Fellows” and a group of “conveners.” The Facilitation Fellows, who facilitated Sunday’s conversations, are trained over a period of months to hold these kinds of sessions. The “conveners” are the organizers on the ground, and, coached over many months, are meant to gather their associates at various institutions (from Yeshiva University to Hazon) with the goal of holding facilitated conversation on Israel internally.

The event unfolded unhurriedly: folks trickled in, picked at the marvelous display food from Brooklyn’s new kosher eatery Mason & Mug, heard an introduction from Rabinovitch, participated in an icebreaker, and only then chose their discussion topics, which ranged from “What is the responsibility of American Jews towards Israel?” to “Should there be red lines around who speaks in Hillel, JCCs, and other Jewish institutions?” Then they sat down in sectioned-off corners of the room for facilitated conversation that would last an hour and a half. KEEP READING HERE

Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/196162/can-brooklyn-jews-talk-civilly-about-israel/?#ixzz2yLNzEdlW

3D Tours of Jerusalem

NOTE: Although I feel like I'm walking through a computer video game, these are wonderful, narrated 3D tours. Enjoy! 

Jerusalem.com/tour

Freedom Begins Here

Recent news is full of examples of how freedom continues to be championed by the Jewish State, where the concept began.  NOTE: GREAT WAY TO START THE WEEK. VERY UPLIFTING

This is particularly appropriate at this time of year, in the lead-up to Passover – the Jewish festival of freedom.

Every week, Israeli discoveries and developments gives freedom to many suffering from deadly diseases.  March is Israel’s colon cancer awareness month, highlighting the decline of fatalities due to early diagnosis.  Genetic diseases Progressive Cerebro-Cerebellar Atrophy (PCCA and PCCA2) can now be detected in prospective parents thanks to a simple blood test developed by Dr. Ohad Birk of Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva.  And further breakthroughs in fighting neurological diseases are almost certain, with the establishment by the Weizmann Institute and the Max Planck Society of a new laboratory for Experimental Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurogenetics in Rehovot.

Arabs in Israel have more freedom than in any other country in the Middle East.  20 percent of students at Israel’s Technion are Arab. 100 have graduated from Technion’s NAM (Outstanding Arab Youth) program since 2006 and are now embarking on successful careers in hi-tech and engineering.  And as Chairman of “Druze for Israel” Mendi Safadi explains, Arabs, Christians, Druze and Jews are all equal in Israel. Mendi was born in the Golan Heights on the border with Syria and highlights Israel’s humanitarian aid to the beleaguered civilians of Israel’s neighbor.  CLICK THIS TO KEEP READING

At TED Conference: Kahane assassin’s son, Toscanini’s pants and other Jewish moments

By Danny KrifcherMarch 24, 2014 11:00am from JTA 

The super-hip New York architect launches into a brilliant review of the last 30 years of architecture, keeping a brisk pace pace to make the 18-minute format of the TED Conference. When he gets to the requisite biographical slide, the image of his teenage self is wearing a Camp Ramah T-shirt, entirely in Hebrew. A message hidden in plain sight.

The annual TED Conference, the original that spawned the viral phenomenon of TED Talks — altogether viewed online more than a billion times — and a global network of locally organized TEDx conferences, turned 30 this past week. The occasion was celebrated with a new, custom-designed pop-up theater at this year’s TED Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Though the speaker list changes every year, it’s never a surprise to see folks like Keren Elazari, an Israeli hacker and cyber-security expert; Moshe Safdie, the renowned architect; Larry Page, the CEO of Google; or Mark Ronson, the British DJ and rocker whose family name used to be Aaronson.

But like the architect’s T-shirt, it’s the unlikely stories and the underlying messages projecting from the TED stage that often catch me by surprise.

Read more: http://www.jta.org/2014/03/24/life-religion/at-ted-conference-kahane-assassins-son-toscaninis-pants-and-other-jewish-moments#ixzz2wzeCMUZi

The Story of the Jews on PBS Starts March 25, 2014

NOTE: This looks like it should be nothing less than awesome. 
READ ABOUT IT HERE  <--- CLICK THAT

HERE'S Something from Simon Schama's Wikipedia Page:

Israel[edit]

Schama was critical of a call by British novelist John Berger for an academic boycott of Israel over its policies towards the Palestinians. Writing in The Guardian in an article co-authored with lawyer Anthony Julius, Schama compared Berger's academic boycott to policies adopted by Nazi Germany, noting "This is not the first boycott call directed at Jews. On 1 April 1933, only weeks after he came to power, Hitler ordered a boycott of Jewish shops, banks, offices and department stores."^[24]

In 2006 on the BBC, Schama debated with Vivienne Westwood the morality of Israel's actions in the Israel-Lebanon War.^[25] He characterised Israel's bombing of Lebanese city centres as unhelpful in Israel's attempt to "get rid of" Hezbollah.^[25] With regard to the bombing he said: "Of course the spectacle and suffering makes us grieve. Who wouldn't grieve? But it's not enough to do that. We've got to understand. You've even got to understand Israel's point of view."^[25]