Last week was not easy for Lama Abuarqoub, a Palestinian from the West Bank who has worked for years to build understanding between Israelis and Palestinians.

A teacher and mother of five, Abuarqoub speaks regularly with Jews through Encounter, a group that brings Jewish Americans on tours of the West Bank to meet Palestinians. She also been active in efforts to bring Jewish and Palestinian women together to push for peaceful coexistence.

For Barstow senior Susanna King, making a difference in the world is part of her DNA — literally. Susanna remembers volunteering at the Jewish Family Services food pantry as a young child when she would come with her mother, Amanda Morgan, to lend a hand.

A group of KU students recently participated in a special graduation celebration. Unlike many other events at this time of the year, which mark academic achievements, this one was a celebration related to their personal growth. More than 50 students gathered to celebrate a semester of Torah learning as part of the JewishU program at KU.

Jesse Wilks had a bar mitzvah — just not a religious one.

His parents raised him in a secular home in New York City but still instilled him with a strong sense of Jewish identity. His mother — who worked for the Workers Circle and is now on the editorial board of the left-wing Jewish Currents magazine — hosted holiday dinners, minus the religious prayers. Instead of attending Hebrew school at a synagogue, Wilks grew up going to a “shule,” or non-religious school that taught him Yiddish.