Five years ago, after publishing my first big piece, I received an email.    How dare you? You’ll be hearing from my lawyers. Or something along these lines.    I’d written a basic coverage piece about a local high school party, where red solo cups had been arranged to look like swastikas in a game of cup pong. The original pictures of the party had gone viral on social media and I knew a few kids from the area.    However, the parents of the guilty parties didn’t appreciate my coverage. Despite the public Snapchat name of the girl who originally posted the swasti ..read more

Who has the right to define Jewish identity? Most will agree—it’s hard to agree. For converts like me, the truth is that more often than not, it’s easier to conform to the dominant narrative than it is to define Jewish identity for ourselves. When I joined a Sephardic Jewish community as a young convert, the limitations and complexities of a Jewish identity defined by that narrative became apparent—a narrative I would come to know as a toxic, trauma-laden mix of Zionism and Arab nationalism. Within the Jewish community at large, there exists a palpable tension around the intersection of Jewish ..read more

The role of the Jewish artist, as Sasha Jonah Lazer once wrote, is to make diaspora irresistible. Onward.   I wouldn’t come to know entirely what this meant until my junior year of college when I enrolled in a Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) language course at Penn, my home institution. I had already grown my fervor for Yiddish throughout college — in the throes of Western Massachusetts, online, at school, and in the Borscht Belt — but became extolled and, in ways, disillusioned with the often singularized meaning of “the diaspora.” What is the use of a diaspora if you cannot love it evenly? If “A ..read more

I. Looking  “The right to look is not about merely seeing. It begins at a personal level with the look into someone else’s eyes to express friendship, solidarity, or love. That look must be mutual, each inventing the other, or it fails.” – Nicholas Mirzoeff, “The Right to Look”  Growing up, I hated davening. The women’s side of the mechitza positioned me as a passive actor, overlooking the men’s prayer. When I was younger I would insist I wanted to be on the men’s side so I could be a part of the action. The high barrier, erected from wood with curtains drawn shut, meant I could hear ..read more

This essay is part of Gufim: Our Jewish Bodies, a 2024 series by New Voices writers that explores embodiment, physicality, and our relationships to our bodies through a Jewish lens. Gufim focuses on disability & chronic illness, eating disorders and body liberation, queer/trans experiences, race/racism, and more. Our writers explore these issues through writing, art, and Torah.   Shechita: Butchered Butch and His Shochet My shochet approaches Soon butchered butch Her skillfully selected chalif Illustration by Orev Kaim Sharpened with such dedication That in the instance Her thumb was ..read more

As long as I remember, I have maintained a belief in the Evil Eye. To me, this boils down to the simple idea that the way you speak, whether about yourself, other people, or future events, can have an effect on what comes to pass. In addition to this, I believe in the power of a glance. One furtive look, one searing glare, sensing someone’s eyes burning into the back of your head, the feeling of someone sliding their eyes across your face, or getting “looked up and down:” all of these can have profound effects on our state of mind. It may sound far-fetched, but I believe that the way we speak ..read more

In my whole childhood I broke two nutcrackers, the first of which succumbed in a trinket shop in Woodstock, New York. It was the weekend after Thanksgiving, and we were in town visiting family. My brother, inflamed by something I’d said or done, shoved me hard enough that my back bumped a table full of porcelain and glass. The toy soldier nearest the edge wobbled and then fell, its tall hat cracking in half upon impact. Our dad shot us bothered glances as he passed the cashier fourteen dollars for a broken doll commemorating a holiday, a tradition, a religion that isn’t ours. On the way out th ..read more

As protests have taken hold across the country, we have read and heard many generalizations about students. But when people talk about “Jewish students” on campus right now, who and what are we referring to? With some attending and organizing protests and others leaving campus altogether, it’s impossible to put Jewish students in a box – they, like the Jewish community as a whole, are far from monolithic. So, in May 2024, Lilith Magazine and New Voices Magazine partnered to collect photographs from Jewish students on college campuses. We asked students to share what their Jewish campus life lo ..read more

Calling Jewish students on campus: What does your Jewish campus life look like this spring? Tell us with an image. This is a chance to document and share this moment in history through YOUR lens. Lilith and New Voices Magazine are partnering to collect submissions of photographs and captions under 100 words. This prompt is open to interpretation but we are looking for submissions only from current students, including grad students. We will be accepting photos on an ongoing basis through Friday, May 17. Send your photo at the link below for a chance to be published and receive a Lilith subscrip ..read more

Ashton Macklin, the 2023-24 Judaism Unbound/New Voices Magazine Jewish Media Fellow, created a beautiful and deeply moving Passover resource. Check it out at www.judaismunbound.com/sederfortwo, and you can find printable and accessible versions at the links below. Ashton: Passover, like many Jewish holidays, has over time molded its practices to contemporary conditions. Some notions of it have become the norm, and there can be a danger that we expect every Jew to experience holidays in that particular manner. Being one of those Jews who does not experience Passover via a classic family seder ..read more