Thursday, February 5 2026

Hanukkah 2025

Hanukkah 2025 will not be remembered for latkes or that incredible dreidel spin. In the last 24 hours, Jews have watched a series of events unfold that are difficult to ignore: a deadly attack at a Hanukkah gathering on a beach in Australia, a shooting reported inside a Jewish Studies classroom at Brown University, and

Jewish Joy Found in Oxford

After a long first semester filled with new friendships, meaningful moments, and the slow but powerful feeling of finding home in a new place, Hillel at Miami University (Hillel at Miami) students are finally taking a well deserved break. This semester, we built something special. We shared Shabbats that felt like family dinners, holidays that

Israel Experiences and Learning Opportunities at the University of Cincinnati

CINCINNATI – Amidst the study sessions, last-minute cramming, and stress the end of semester may to students who face exams, the University of Cincinnati’s (UC) Israel Initiative Committee (IIC) opened a space for two hours, offering students a break, dinner, and an opportunity to hear about what UC can offer in the upcoming semester.  The

Raising Light in a Dark Season

This time of year always feels louder than it needs to be.  As the days shorten and the nights stretch, the world seems to respond by turning up the volume. Christmas music grows more insistent. Lights multiply. Schedules fill. The noise swells just as the darkness deepens. I’ve started to notice that pattern more clearly

Pattern of Anti-Semitic Graffiti Being Addressed at Miami U

Recently, Miami University experienced repeated antisemitic graffiti incidents, including comments and a swastika. The university responded quickly, involving various departments. Jewish community leaders emphasized the need to address antisemitism while acknowledging a growing reluctance among students to report incidents due to fears of dismissal or scrutiny. Reporting is crucial to combat hate.

Being a Young Dad in the Cincinnati Jewish Community

“What did the stuttering quarryman say to the dump truck?” my six-year-old asks, barely containing his giggles as he practices telling the joke we made together. “Ba-dump-dump!” This is what fatherhood looks like for me these days: crafting incredible and terrible jokes with my son, watching my toddler charm everyone with what’s commonly described as

Meet Jonah Snyder

I have known Jonah Snyder for a while now. Officially, we’ve been in each other’s lives since we began 5th grade at Sycamore Greene school together, but we really only became friends our senior year of high school, when I returned from my semester at Alexander Muss High School in Israel. I was selling a

What They Got Right: Lessons From the Tree of Life Gala

Downtown Cincinnati was buzzing on Wednesday night. Babysitters were booked solid, dinner reservations were impossible to get and Music Hall became the center of gravity. Some people were dressed up for the Nas concert; others — myself included — were headed to the Jewish National Fund’s (JNF) Tree of Life Gala. This year’s gala honored

Community Life within UC’s Jewish Frat AEPi

Wake up, hang out with the brothers, go to class, come back, hang out again, prepare for the event that day, host the event, clean the event, go to sleep, repeat. The day in the life of a member of Alpha Epsilon Pi is filled with spending time with friends, attending classes, and hosting events.

Holding Hope Together

When the Jewish Federation announced “Holding Hope Together as the Hostages Return,” people came. Because we needed to be in a room with other Jews who get it.

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