About Leviathan

Being Jewish at UCSC in 2026 is… far from a single experience. In the past two years we’ve seen the creation of 5 new Jewish clubs (Jews Against White Supremacy (JAWS), the Jewish Student Union (JSU), Adamah, Mishpacha, and J Street U), arguably in response to the polarization Jews have felt amongst one another as a result of the varying responses by Jews and Jewish Organizations to October 7th and Zionism as a whole. Jews on the same campus think of one another as racist Zionists and self hating anti-Zionists. But, when we’ve had discussions in Leviathan about what being Jewish at UCSC is like right now, polarizing is only the second most popular response, after fulfilling. Because of the Jewish community’s inability to come together, not despite it, there are now more Jewish spaces at UCSC to call home than ever before. Jewish students didn’t abandon Jewish spaces when they stopped feeling at home in the existing spaces; they created new ones where they could. Like always, we (the Jews of UCSC) have different intersectional identities that mean that home to one Jewish student is not automatically home to another. No one can say for sure whether it would be better to have one all-encompassing Jewish space or a billion specific ones. But, today we have 8 (the 5 above plus US! Leviathan Jewish Journal, Hillel, and Chabad). And among these 8, we think you can find at least one home too. 

As a politically and religiously diverse team of editors who often disagree with one another, we hope to encourage discourse within the Jewish community on campus. In this time of polarization, we encourage all who have an opinion to voice it here in Leviathan. More than a simple soapbox for our own perspectives, we hope to be a conduit for Jewish culture and discourse here at UCSC and represent as much of the varied and quarreling bunch that we are as we possibly can. 

When we think about what we publish, we think of YOU, the reader. We want to give back to you by telling you everything, no strings-attached funding, no filter, and then to let you publish your criticisms of those same pieces in our journal, no filter. Tell us what you hate about Leviathan in the next issue. We love to hear your criticisms, and we’d love to broadcast them to the campus community. Our mission, as always, is to keep the spirit of Jewish discourse and debate alive. 

Best,

Your politically and religiously diverse team of editors, who often disagree with one another 🙂