By Leonard Saxe, Michelle Shain, Graham Wright and Shahar Hecht According to Hillel’s College Guide, if you are a student looking for a university with a large Jewish population, your #1 choice is the University of Florida (UF), flagship campus of the Florida state system. Hillel lists UF as having 6,500 Jewish undergraduates, nearly 20% of the total undergraduate population at the Gainesville campus. But in a study we conducted this spring of … [Read more...] about How Many Jewish Undergraduates?
Taglit-Birthright Israel / Birthright Israel Foundation
Getting Back to my Roots
By Nikita Rotin When I turned 16, my father told me I was Jewish. This isn’t uncommon in Russia, where I was born and raised. Many people discover their Jewish roots later in life. But I just didn’t think I’d be one of them. I spent the next few weeks poring over family documents - birth certificates, passports, letters. They reaffirmed the story my father shared with me: my paternal grandfather was Jewish. I had no knowledge of … [Read more...] about Getting Back to my Roots
Birthright Israel and #MeToo
This article was reported by Jewish Currents in partnership with The Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, with support from the Puffin Foundation. By Sarah Seltzer As the #MeToo movement unfolded, Jewish Currents spoke with more than 50 Birthright Israel participants and staffers about their experiences with the often-fraught sexual and gender dynamics on the trips, uncovering the case above along with eight other alleged incidents … [Read more...] about Birthright Israel and #MeToo
Birthright from the ‘Sabra’ Side: The Israeli Perspective
By Eliana Rudee (JNS) While it is well known that Birthright trips provide American participants with a transformative, often life-changing experience, it is perhaps less known that the young Israelis who accompany the participants on the trip often have similarly transformative experiences. Young Israelis Ayelet,* a 23-year-old computer scientist, and Racheli, a 22-year-old speech therapist, accompanied a Mayanot Birthright trip from March … [Read more...] about Birthright from the ‘Sabra’ Side: The Israeli Perspective
Coffee for Closers
Many Jewish organizations and professionals think selling, outside of fundraising, is taboo. By Adam Grossman “Put that coffee down! Coffee is for closers only.” A mantra made famous by Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross, the one-liner shaped the idea that sellers are pariahs, who would do whatever it takes including aggressive, dishonest and unethical tactics to gain the all mighty dollar. Yet, this Hollywood archetype, personified in … [Read more...] about Coffee for Closers
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