Tu B’Shvat celebrates the New Year of the trees and traditionally marks the date on which farmers began calculating the tithing of their fruit crops. Today we celebrate Tu B’Shvat through eating 15 fruits and the Kabbalistic custom of Tu B’Shvat sedarim is becoming popular. However, it can also serve as an important reminder of our Jewish duty to care for the natural world.

You can’t not go

When you go somewhere people always ask ‘how was it?’ And words can never express the intensity of what you’ve experienced. This is a trip too important to miss and my words can only carry so far.

I went on March of the Living for the first time as a student; the following year I went as a member of UJS staff, and I would go again. I have to.

Shakira Martin, President of the National Union of Jewish Students, joined us at Conference to reinforce her commitment to combat anitsemitism through her platform within the NUS. 

Lord Eric Pickles, Chair of the Conservative Friends of Israel and co-Chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation Advisory Board, spoke of the need to learn the lessons of history in order to eradicate hatred today.

‘When you have hope, you can put up with almost everything, but when there is not hope, it’s really terrible. We want to give them hope.’

One week and 80 years after the first arrival of a Kindertransport to the UK, Lord Alfred Dubs addressed Jewish students at this years conference talking about his experiences as a Holocaust survivor and working in the UK Parliament, as well as working to support unaccompanied child refugees.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid MP and UJS President Hannah Rose discuss politics, prejudice and policies.

The Home Secretary Sajid Javid MP joined us at UJS Conference 2018. In conversation with UJS President Hannah Rose, Sajid Javid addressed questions on his commitment to honouring the memory of the Holocaust, supporting Syrian Refugees, and the difficulties of identity politics.

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms which belong to every person. I recently graduated from the René Cassin Human Rights Fellowship, a programme that provides insight into human rights through a Jewish lens.

Yesterday saw Esther Offenberg announced as the winner of the election to be UJS President for 2019-20. Esther will take over in June 2019. Until then current President Hannah Rose and the team have plenty to put into practice after another dynamic day of debate and democracy as students shaped their union.

VOTING CLOSES AT 12PM TODAY!

This weekend marks the 80^th anniversary of the first Kindertransport. This is an important time to commemorate and thank the UK government for the important work done for refugee children in the 1930's.