Yakira Cohen

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Sep 6, 2019, 2:55 AM

“Flipping Out” in the Tel Aviv Nightclubs

Bedbugs are like questions; you never know when they’re going to bite. Bedbugs, like questions, transformed by my summer in Tel Aviv from hostel to hostile when they appeared, then proliferated and then became an epidemic. People asked if I...

Nov 14, 2018, 10:27 PM

Swipe Right for the Real Deal on Orthodox Living

Before most Orthodox college students even begin “roommate dating,” they know their type: shomer. Shomer shabbat and shomer kashrut, that is. Like in many Modern Orthodox circles, shomer negiah doesn’t always make the cut. The cool kids even use the...

Sep 19, 2018, 2:09 PM

Wake me up when September ends: the extreme Chagim

This Saturday, the University of Maryland football team geared up for a match against Temple University. Wafts of music and alcohol from the tailgate parties clouded the air, and excitement was abuzz. They were ready for what they knew...

May 8, 2018, 6:22 AM

On Wednesdays we wear pink, on Shabbat we have fun

Three weeks ago, Emma had a flawless Friday night at Hillel. During “Israel Shabbat,” she was joyous as she washed each hand, twice, before eating challah. She tapped her foot in rhythm to Lecha Dodi during Kabbalat Shabbat. Most...

Mar 29, 2018, 4:47 PM

Breaking news: Shtick is Shark at College

First comes the whistle. Once its shrill cry jumpstarts the battlefield, sneakers from opposing sides pound the floor of the arena as they race to the patiently waiting balls in the middle. The winners arrive first and immediately hurl the...

Mar 1, 2018, 8:01 AM

Noodles and poodles and drama (oh my)!

Erev my second Shabbat of college, a stranger added me along with 10 or so other strangers to a Facebook group titled “Noodles, Poodles, and Dinner.” I panicked. Not just because I suffer a severe a fear of dogs...

Jan 31, 2018, 5:48 PM

This weekend, I rushed. But I started slowly. Anyone who has been to the University of Maryland on a Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday night, #terptuesday night, or really any night at all, knows that the Greek life, is, well,...

Jan 25, 2018, 5:39 AM

Friends: Familiar or Foreign?

There are two ways to approach a new semester: you can either retreat to what’s familiar or you can push yourself to the foreign. For me, “familiar” is cloaked in bar mitzvah kippas and Hadaya rings. And “foreign” refers...

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About Me

Yakira Cohen is a twenty-two-year-old Modern Orthodox Jew. She is an SAR High School graduate (2016), Midreshet Lindenbaum alum (2017), and is a junior studying journalism and psychology at the University of Maryland.