At UCLA, Jewish Life Is What You Make of It

Image by Hillel at UCLA / Facebook

By Alexandra Kukoff December 27, 2016

We certainly have to take steps to defend our identity against the BDS activism that percolates across many college campuses, but rather than hiding behind faces of nonchalance and indifference, our Jewish students work that much harder to connect with resources on campus to change the narrative.

As someone deaf in one ear, I was initially hesitant to explore our campus’ boisterous Hillel, but when I did, I was surprised — and pleased — to find a variety of introspective, spiritual services available to Jews of all creed and political affiliation. It’s these Jewish students who regularly get involved in community outreach events, baking challah for underprivileged Jews through Challah for Hunger, discussing the weekly Torah portion over delicious kosher cuisine through Parsha and Pizza, and spouting ruach through Chillel Coffeehouse. Plus, regular lectures with faculty in UCLA’s Israeli studies program and Holocaust survivors ensure none of our Jewish students forget what they’re here for, and Jewish Learning Fellowships are offered regularly throughout the year which concentrate more on the intellectual aspects of our rich history, artistry, and philosophy.

The influence of UCLA’s richly varied Jewish life truly made itself apparent to me at my sorority. At Theta Pi — UCLA’s chapter of the national Tri Delta (which finds its roots in Christian ideology) — I taught my sisters the story of Chanukah at our annual holiday party and found that all of them were eager to boast Dreidels and gelt in their Santafied selfies.

Even better, I connected with a girl I’d never known particularly well over our shared Judaism. I’d confided in her sheepishly that until I got involved, I’d thought I was the only Jewish girl in our sorority.

“Really?” she’d exclaimed. “Me too!”

And I never would have realized it — or all our campus’ Jewish life has to offer — had I simply accepted the public face of our university: an erroneous, inaccurate one perpetuated by the Algemeiner. To put it simply, any aspect of life is what you make of it, and Judaism is no different.

Alexandra “Alex” Kukoff is a half-deaf writer and journalist whose publication credits include Seventeen, Scholastic, Johns Hopkins, the New York Times Learning Network, Lean In, and Amy Poehler’s Smart Girls among others. Her advocacy for fellow members of the Deaf/hard-of-hearing community has been supported by ABC, AnnTaylor, and the Hillary Clinton-founded Vital Voices, and her creative work has been honored at Carnegie Hall. She’s currently pursuing her degree in English and Film as a first-year at UCLA, and contributes regularly to its nationally-recognized student publication The Daily Bruin.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO