After receiving all the nominations, we are delighted to announce this year’s nominees for the 2021 UJS Student Awards!

Sign up to join us for this wonderful evening here!

The annual UJS Student Awards is the opportunity to recognise everyone who has contributed and dedicated themselves to Jewish life on campus. It’s a time for students from all over the country to come together and celebrate their work and their achievements. 

Work Avenue in conjunction with UJS are hosting a fabulous opportunity for students and grads to network with professionals in different industries, ask questions and gain valuable insights. 

Every month I have tried to speak to students about some thoughts and what UJS have been getting up to. This month I thought I would do something different and talk about the weekly Torah portion, Vayakhel-Pekudei, the last portion in the book of Shemot, the book of Exodus.

A blog by Amanda Sefton, UJS Sabbatical Officer

This year for International Women’s Day, UJS brought together Jewish female leaders to share some of their top tips, and inspire young Jewish women to be brave and #ChoosetoChallenge.  

This year, UJS is partnering with HIAS to mark Refugee Shabbat, which is a moment for congregations, organizations, and individuals around the world to dedicate a Shabbat experience to refugees and asylum seekers. This is part of our wider commitment to campaigning for refugee rights following overwhelming student support for such initiatives in the 2020 Conference.

As 2021 rings in a new national lockdown, your UJS team have been preparing fresh new ways full you to engage with Jewish life on hey digital campus.

Tu B’shvat is an annual Jewish festival that is celebrated on the 15^th day of the month of Shvat. This year, this falls on the 28^th January. A different name for the festival is Rosh haShana la’Ilanot, or the new year of the trees. For us at UJS, this name captures the beauty of Tu B’shvat, as we welcome spring, and the Earth begins to regenerate. 

Today is 76 years on from the liberation of Auschwitz, and the day that the global Jewish community comes together to remember the 6 million Jews who were murdered. This day is not just about commemoration, but also about looking back and learning the lessons from this time to make sure it never happens again.

Though the past six months at the helm of UJS have certainly been anything but normal, I have been blown away by the tenacity and perseverance of Jewish students across the country. Whilst many saw this year as being a write-off for Jewish life on campus, the reality could not be further from that, and I am proud to represent the 8,500 Jewish students in the UK and Ireland and their J-Socs who have not just been surviving, but thriving, creating new and more innovative ways than ever before to engage with their Judaism.

Being a student now is not easy, but the determination of Jewish students to see Jewish life on campus booming has been admirable.

Do take a read to see what our amazing team have been doing to support Jewish students during these unprecedented times to ensure that “more Jewish students [are] doing more Jewish things” digitally.