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I Had to Transfer Colleges, You Shouldn’t Have To: My Advice to Jewish Students and Applicants
Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Photo Credit: John Phelan/Wikimedia Commons.
I pressed my forehead against the cold window of my hotel room, staring at the Emerson College campus just a few blocks away. The chants of “Long live the Intifada!” and “We don’t want no two-states, we want 1948!” echoed throughout the campus, reaching me even in the hotel room the administration had placed me in after practically admitting they couldn’t guarantee my safety on campus.
That night, as I scrolled through my phone, I saw videos of the very same protestors, blocking entrances to our residential buildings and defacing our campus with chalk using phrases such as, “F*ck Zionists” and “From the river to the sea.” I had never felt so displaced in my own city.
Being on my campus felt like residing in enemy territory. I wasn’t abroad. I wasn’t in a war zone. I was in Boston, at an American college, where my tuition dollars had paid for a school that ultimately betrayed me and my Jewish peers.
I was the only person in our student-run newspaper covering pro-Israel rallies and events, and one of the few open Zionists on our campus.
It felt isolating, knowing that I was standing up for Israel when so few were willing to do the same. I found myself constantly defending my beliefs against insidious misinformation in the classroom, and engaging in fierce debates with both professors and students daily.
Unfortunately, the hostility didn’t stop when classes ended for the day. Every time I opened my phone, I was met with hate messages on Instagram from fellow students — for posting something in memory of Oct. 7 or even for sharing a picture from a past visit to Israel. The pressure was relentless, suffocating even, and it felt as though the weight of defending the thing I cared about most — Israel — fell solely on my shoulders.
When I decided to transfer schools shortly before the encampments took our campus by storm, I had a new set of criteria for my next school. I ultimately chose The George Washington University (GWU) — a place many consider just as, if not more, hostile toward Jews. But this time, I wasn’t looking for an oasis. Instead, I was looking for something more: a community where I wouldn’t have to fight for Israel alone.
Looking back, the most impactful lesson I learned is one that Jewish college applicants today need to understand: you can no longer afford to settle for a campus where your presence is tolerated, but your voice is silenced.
It’s no longer enough to just pick a “less antisemitic” school. You need to find a place where you can stand up, speak out, and fight back — where you can be part of a Jewish community that refuses to be passive, one that will stand shoulder to shoulder with you when things get difficult.
Jewish College Applicants: Don’t Overlook What I Did
Since Oct. 7, the climate on campuses has only grown more hostile, and Jewish applicants must now ask themselves a new set of questions:
Administrative Response to Antisemitism: How has the school handled past incidents of antisemitism? If an encampment were to arise tomorrow, where would the school’s leadership stand?
Jewish Student Life: Does the campus have an active Hillel, Chabad, and other Jewish organizations? Are there Jewish faculty members advocating for students?
Classroom Climate: Are professors known for pushing anti-Israel rhetoric? Are Jewish students comfortable voicing their opinions in class?
Campus Security: Are anti-Israel protests commonplace? Does the campus apply adequate security measures to protect Jewish events?
Media Bias on Campus: How did the student newspaper cover the encampments and anti-Israel protests on campus?
Jewish students have a choice: spend four years hoping to be quietly tolerated, or spend four years surrounded by a community that will stand up, push back, and make their presence known. Don’t just look for a place where you can be Jewish in silence. Look for a place where you can be Jewish — loudly.
Margaux Jubin is a student at The George Washington University with a passion for national security, foreign policy, and education. She aspires to work for a pro-Israel nonprofit or lobbying group, using her writing and political communication skills to strengthen the US-Israel relationship, combat antisemitism, and expose misinformation.
The post I Had to Transfer Colleges, You Shouldn’t Have To: My Advice to Jewish Students and Applicants first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really?
JNS.org – If I asked you to name the most famous line in the Bible, what would you answer? While Shema Yisrael (“Hear O’Israel”) might get many votes, I imagine that the winning line would be “love thy neighbor as thyself” (Leviticus 19:18). Some religions refer to it as the Golden Rule, but all would agree that it is fundamental to any moral lifestyle. And it appears this week in our Torah reading, Kedoshim.
This is quite a tall order. Can we be expected to love other people as much as we love ourselves? Surely, this is an idealistic expectation. And yet, the Creator knows us better than we know ourselves. How can His Torah be so unrealistic?
The biblical commentaries offer a variety of explanations. Some, like Rambam (Maimonides), say that the focus should be on our behavior, rather than our feelings. We are expected to try our best or to treat others “as if” we genuinely love them.
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, in his classic text called the Tanya, argues that the actual feelings of love are, in fact, achievable provided that we focus on a person’s spirituality rather than how they present themselves physically. If we can put the soul over the body, we can do it.
Allow me to share the interpretation of the Ramban (Nachmanides), a 13th-century Torah scholar from Spain. His interpretation of the verses preceding love thy neighbor is classic and powerful, yet simple and straightforward.
“Do not hate your brother in your heart. You shall rebuke him, but do not bear a sin because of him” by embarrassing him in public. “Do not take revenge, and do not bear a grudge against your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself, I am God” (Leviticus 19:17-18).
What is the connection between these verses? Why is revenge and grudge-bearing in the same paragraph as love your fellow as yourself?
A careful reading shows that within these two verses are no less than six biblical commandments. But what is their sequence all about, and what is the connection between them?
The Ramban explains it beautifully, showing how the sequence of verses is deliberate and highlighting the Torah’s profound yet practical advice on how to maintain healthy relationships.
Someone wronged you? Don’t hate him in your heart. Speak to him. Don’t let it fester until it bursts, and makes you bitter and sick.
Instead, talk it out. Confront the person. Of course, do it respectfully. Don’t embarrass anyone in public, so that you don’t bear a sin because of them. But don’t let your hurt eat you up. Communicate!
If you approach the person who wronged you—not with hate in your heart but with respectful reproof—one of two things will happen. Either he or she will apologize and explain their perspective on the matter. Or that it was a misunderstanding and will get sorted out between you. Either way, you will feel happier and healthier.
Then you will not feel the need to take revenge or even to bear a grudge.
Here, says the Ramban, is the connection between these two verses. And if you follow this advice, only then will you be able to observe the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor. If you never tell him why you are upset, another may be completely unaware of his or her wrongdoing, and it will remain as a wound inside you and may never go away.
To sum up: Honest communication is the key to loving people.
Now, tell me the truth. Did you know that not taking revenge is a biblical commandment? In some cultures in Africa, revenge is a mitzvah! I’ve heard radio talk-show hosts invite listeners to share how they took “sweet revenge” on someone, as if it’s some kind of accomplishment.
Furthermore, did you know that bearing a grudge is forbidden by biblical law?
Here in South Africa, people refer to a grudge by its Yiddish name, a faribel. In other countries, people call it a broiges. Whatever the terminology, the Torah states explicitly: “Thou shalt not bear a grudge!” Do not keep a faribel, a broiges or resentment of any kind toward someone you believe wronged you. Talk to that person. Share your feelings honestly. If you do it respectfully and do not demean the other’s dignity, then it can be resolved. Only then will you be able to love your fellow as yourself.
May all our grudges and feelings of resentment toward others be dealt with honestly and respectfully. May all our grudges be resolved as soon as possible. Then we will all be in a much better position to love our neighbors as ourselves.
The post Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself. Really? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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‘Nonsense’: Huckabee Shoots Down Report Trump to Endorse Palestinian Statehood
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee looks on during the day he visits the Western Wall, Judaism’s holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem’s Old City, April 18, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Saturday dismissed as nonsensical the report that President Donald Trump would endorse Palestinian statehood during his tour to the Persian Gulf this week.
“This report is nonsense,” Huckabee harrumphed on his X account, blasting the Jerusalem Post as needing better sourced reporting. “Israel doesn’t have a better friend than the president of the United States.”
Trump is set to visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The leader’s first trip overseas since he took office comes as Trump seeks the Gulf countries’ support in regional conflicts, including the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and curbing Iran’s advancing nuclear program.
However, reports citing administration insiders claimed that Trump has also set his sights on the ambitious goal of expanding the Abraham Accords. These agreements, initially signed in 2020, normalized relations between Israel and the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan. The accords are widely held to be among the most important achievements of the first Trump administration.
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US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria
i24 News – Unless significant progress is registered in Sunday’s round of nuclear talks with Iran, the US will consider putting the military option back on the table, sources close to US envoy Steve Witkoff told i24NEWS.
American and Iranian representatives voiced optimism after the previous talks that took place in Oman and Rome, saying there was a friendly atmosphere despite the two countries’ decades of enmity.
However the two sides are not believed to have thrashed out the all-important technical details, and basic questions remain.
The source has also underscored the significance of the administration’s choice of Michael Anton, the State Department’s policy planning director, as the lead representative in the nuclear talks’ technical phases.
Anton is “an Iran expert and someone who knows how to cut a deal with Iran,” the source said, saying that the choice reflected Trump’s desire to secure the deal.
The post US to Put Military Option Back on Table If No Immediate Progress in Iran Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.