At University for the High Holy Days? Rosh Hashanah right around the corner? Not sure what events to plan? Well, worry no more, as UJS have created the first in the series of A STUDENT’S GUIDE TO THE HIGH HOLY DAYS! Beginning with the Rosh Hashanah edition, this will give a brief introduction to the festival, as well as some great ideas of events to host on your campus. With a range of talking points, poetry, recipes and many more ideas, this is a great foundation to planning events for your J-Soc, that are as  cross-communal as possible.

By including ideas inspired by students across campuses, this has created an educational resource that is useful to every J-Soc, big and small.

It has also been made so that each J-Soc can tailor it to their own community and make every Rosh Hashanah event unique. Each J-Soc can utilise these guidelines and begin to foster further ideas on how to celebrate the High Holy Days. This is a resource that will keep on expanding and we are extremely excited about its release. This is a great addition to services on campus, and a great way to come together. With the Yom Kippur booklet on its way, use this resource to its full capability!

Last night saw more than 150 UJS alumni and friends attend the #UJS100 Exhibition Launch at JW3. A truly memorable, nostalgic and inspiring evening was shared with past and present UJS team, members and supporters.

UJS have taken the difficult decision to cancel the first official London event on Sunday (30^th June) to celebrate UJS 100. We have had a huge amount of interest in our centenary celebrations, but unfortunately many of our alumni are unavailable on that date and therefore we’ve taken the decision to focus our limited resources on creating wider and further reaching events for UJS 100. We will still be holding many events throughout the year, including an exciting exhibition launch on September 18^th at JW3 – put the date in your diary! Please also note the event in Israel continues as planned!

The Universities Minister Chris Skidmore said today in a letter to Vice-Chancellors that universities must do more to stamp out antisemitism on campus.

Apply now to be part of the permanent team at UJS, for the role of Senior Executive Assistant

We are excited to announce the UJS Sabbatical Team 2019-2020!

After multiple rounds of interviews, we are so excited to have put together the team to work with your J-Socs over the next year. Everyone is looking forward to facilitate and support your activities on campus. Esther and all of the other officers can't wait to continue leading, defending and enriching Jewish life on Campus in UJS' 100th year and beyond. Keep reading to find out more about the new team!

UJS President Hannah Rose and Campaigns Organiser Daniel Kosky met with Universities Minister Chris Skidmore along with the Jewish Leadership Council, CST and the Antisemitism Policy Trust. Topics discussed included recent incidents on campus, challenges facing Jewish students and the ways in which the government can support Jewish students.

The Union of Jewish Students welcomes the University of Essex Vice-Chancellor’s condemnation of antisemitism. We commend the swift, strong and supportive action taken, including suspension of the staff member in question and a full investigation. We look forward to seeing the progress of a review into support for Jewish students and staff. Assurances of the establishment of a Jewish society regardless of the vote are most welcome.

We are deeply disappointed by the significant proportion of students who have voted against the establishment of a Jewish society at the University of Essex. Jewish societies, of which over 60 exist on UK campuses up and down the country, provide a space for Jewish students to celebrate their culture and identity. The fact that some students at the University of Essex deem it fit to vote against that is quite simply shocking.

It is very troubling that the CST 2018 report demonstrates a rise in antisemitism on UK campuses, following two years of declining reported and recorded antisemitic incidents on campus by the CST in 2017 and 2016. However, due to continued under-reporting, as with most types of hate crime, we are aware that the scale of the problem is not fully revealed.