Dearest Readers of Fig and Vine, You’ve made it through another February...

As a result of ongoing conflict surrounding Israel, the concept of “Zionism” is constantly being defined and redefined to fit different agendas...

“Has anyone visited Israel?"  That was the question my professor asked to the class as we were discussing  cultural differences. The question seemed innocent. Academic. In good faith.  Then someone laughed.  Not loudly. Not aggressively. Just enough. A few others joined in.  I was hesitant to raise my hand. but I did anyway.  I was the only one in my class that did. Maybe the laughter didn’t mean anything, I thought to myself. Or maybe it did. Even though I knew I was safe, I

We own two bookshelves that have inspired two homes. The mahogany stretches from the floor to the heavens, decorated with classic English novels...

The sky was unnervingly clear after four days of nothing but fog and clouds. I wandered the ship's halls, learning and relearning the passages that wound through and around the heart, like veins pumping blood...

I recently attended UCSB’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show Shadow Cast production, which UCSB’s Creatures of the Night Production Company puts on once every quarter...

ICE is attacking the American dream, politicized AI burner accounts are arguing with each other on X about it, all the while the president promises to find the gold from Fort Knox.

President of UCSB’s Jewish sisterhood, Achayot, and board member of just about every Jewish organization at UCSB and beyond, Corelle Gabay got together with Fig and Vine to tell our community about her experience in Israel at the Mayanot Institute for Jewish Studies over Winter Break...

In the early hours of Shabbat morning on Jan. 10, the UC Santa Barbara residential AEPi house was trespassed on and vandalized with a swastika on a bathroom mirror...

Endless rolling hills, refreshing swimming holes, ancient volcanic geology, and centuries of history. The Golan Heights is a stunning breath away from the hustle and bustle of Israel’s center, and a place I am lucky to call home. While my family has been settling into our new house on Kibbutz Kfar Haruv, I have been exploring the southern Golan and embarking on as many hiking trails as I can. Though I am thrilled to report back with sights of impressive basalt columns and tow

Food and Judaism have long been connected — from latkes and matzo brei, to jachnun, and yes, even gefilte fish....

Winter Quarter is famously the quarter in which everyone’s immune systems fail in tandem and the inevitable flu or cold makes its way around campus and takes out the entire student body...