There's a New Hillel in Town

by Gabi P. Remz For a newly arrived freshman seeking a Jewish community on campus, the choice used to be obvious. There was just one place to go, and while it might not have been perfect, it was Jewish. When the first Shabbos at college came around, you would mosey on over to Hillel for dinner and maybe even some services. But times have changed, and while Hillel is still an extremely popular and vital source of Jewish life on campus, alternatives are popping up all over the country—and thriving. Most notably, Chabad has developed an extremely strong presence on many campuses, sometimes eclipsing attendance figures of Hillel and being considered the primary source of Jewish life on campus. But lately, smaller communities and movements have created names for themselves. Perhaps the strongest of these is a group called...

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There’s a New Hillel in Town

by Gabi P. Remz For a newly arrived freshman seeking a Jewish community on campus, the choice used to be obvious. There was just one place to go, and while it might not have been perfect, it was Jewish. When the first Shabbos at college came around, you would mosey on over to Hillel for dinner and maybe even some services. But times have changed, and while Hillel is still an extremely popular and vital source of Jewish life on campus, alternatives are popping up all over the country—and thriving. Most notably, Chabad has developed an extremely strong presence on many campuses, sometimes eclipsing attendance figures of Hillel and being considered the primary source of Jewish life on campus. But lately, smaller communities and movements have created names for themselves. Perhaps the strongest of these is a group called...

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This Week's Links

Yeesh. A radical Muslim leader threatened to have Paul McCartney killed on his upcoming trip to Israel. Come on. His solo albums aren't that bad. Finally. We've defined a "Chassidishe tuna beigel." Yael Larer is conflicted about his work translating recently deceased Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish's poems into Hebrew. "There is a wine revolution going on" in Israel right now. Sounds good to me. I guess I no longer have to buy Israeli wines just to feel like I'm supporting the homeland. Now, who's got an opener? Germany's federal archive made a list of some 600,000 Jews who were harmed by Nazis. The hippest hebrew magazine, Heeb, has its super hip fall music preview out. Did I mention how hip it is? 900 rabbis were on a conference call with Barack Obama the other...

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This Week's Links

Lindsay Lohan is looking to convert to Judaism in order to get closer to her girlfriend. Says her father, "She's explored the Church of Scientology, she tried Kabbalah, and now this. I think it's just another phase. But either way, she's involving God in her life, and I'm happy about that." Dr. Efraim Zuroff writes about Australia extraditing World War II war criminal Karoly (Charles) Zentai to Hungary as an "unprecedented, historic victory for Holocaust justice in Australia." Israel finally medaled at the Olympics—a bronze in sailing. Photos of some of the "campus style" housing for Agriprocessors workers are unsettling. Have you swam in the Mediterranean recently? How 'bout those jellyfish?! The "cockroaches of the open water" are getting more intrusive. Was Kafka a pervert? "Choosing a religious school program for your child is a...

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