Americans and Israelis compared and contrasted their college experiences, they discovered that overall—regardless of different experiences such as the Israelis’ mandatory pre-college military service—the students themselves had a lot in common. By the evening’s end, both the Americans and the Israelis had made new friends, uninvolved Jewish students began thinking more about Israeli issues, and one UPenn student was inspired to pursue a Birthright Israel trip. Responding to the Boycott Divest Sanction conference held on Penn’s campus, I also hosted an interfaith and interdenominational student dinner and discussion on the relationship between the United States and Israel. Attendees continued the conversations after the event, and one Jewish participant later told me that the experience led him to realize that being educated is the best way to defend Israel. He has since researched Israeli policy and history in order to become a more informed Jew. As a CEI intern, I have learned that Jewish conversations do not necessarily need to be about Judaism, and that is one of the key reasons why this program is successful. When students do not feel “forced” to converse only about Judaism, they are more likely to welcome the encounter and the opportunity for introspection it provides. Sometimes conversations about life, philosophy, and integrity can all involve Jewish concepts indirectly. For example, when talking about summer plans with a friend, the conversation casually moved to a discussion of what it means to be “successful.” This led us to the notion that self-evaluation is a profoundly Jewish ideal which we contemplate every year during Yom Kippur. We agreed that money is not the ultimate indicator of success; many other things, including family, personal satisfaction, and being a just person, are far more important. When I engage uninvolved college students by exploring issues that matter to them, what may follow is a reconception of Jewish identity they can build upon for the rest of their lives. —Andrew Abrams, sophomore, University of Pennsylvania and member, Congregation M’kor Shalom, Cherry Hill, NJ
COLLEGE LIFECAMPUS LIFE Campus Life 201:
Being Myself as a Reform Jew
A
djusting to life in college is not easy. You’re thrust into a world where you’re expected to be an independent being. I remember hugging my family goodbye outside the gate to my quad, waving cheerily as the car drove off, turning to open the door and start my new life—only to discover I had locked myself out. Coming to terms with one’s Jewish self-definition at college is no easier. I had to shift from my familiar Reform congregation to a Jewish campus community whose most active members were predominantly Conservative and Orthodox. In the beginning I kept wishing for a translator. “He’s frum,” one girl would say, and I’d long to ask, “From where?” Hearing a group of three commit to “learn together” struck me as odd— weren’t we in college to learn every day?—until I found out that the expression meant to “study rabbinic texts.” Just as in figuring out any new language, immersion worked wonders. The more time I spent with other kinds of Jews, the more fluency I gained in the language of their Judaism. And, I realized, this was a positive way to develop my Jewish self-identity on my own terms. My peers and I were eager to educate and help one another. Within days I was learning from one friend how to properly chant the Ten Commandments in that week’s Torah portion, teaching another basic Hebrew grammar, conversing with a third about the existence of God, and participating in a group discussion about the meaning of commandedness. A Jew was someone who asked serious questions of herself and of the tradition, and my new friends would help me answer them. Still, I struggled. How was I to explain to Conservative and Orthodox Jews that keeping kosher is integral to my Jewish identity when the way I eat isn’t what they deem kosher, or that I observe Shabbat by calling my parents reform judaism
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HERE I AM (FRONT, CENTER) WITH FRIENDS AT YALE UNIVERSITY.
and drawing in my sketchbook? That goes against their way of being Jewish. How was I to maximize my ability to learn in a traditional Jewish environment without feeling lost in the definitions and rhetoric of others? I learned that being myself as a Jew required that I bring a measured level of confidence to the table—not so confident that I became complacent about what I should be learning, but confident enough not to defer to the rules and opinions of others. I found this level of self-assurance hard to achieve, but attainable. It helped that in the Shabbat evening prayer group I attended and sometimes led, I had found a deeply dedicated group of Reform Jews who spoke my language. It also helped to realize that Reform Jews were not the only ones who sometimes felt marginalized or insecure in their Jewish self-definition. Some of my Orthodox friends feared people would see them as unthinking religious fundamentalists. Some Conservative friends feared for their Movement’s future. I learned how to add my voice on campus—by speaking in the language of learning and not labels, by seeking understanding rather than stereotyping, and by offering answers as well as a long list of questions. —Emily Langowitz, Yale Class of 2012; member of Temple Beth Elohim, Wellesley, MA; and now HUC-JIR rabbinical school student
fall 2012
7/20/12 5:52 AM