[HANASHIR:13018] Re: Fw:Jewish Education, Jewish continuity...

[Joy Newman <joyzee...>]

I resent the fact that you assume that college students do not care about 
their Judaism.  How untrue that is.

As a college freshman I am hoping to double major in chemistry and Judaic 
Studies.  Every Friday night I am surrounded by over 80 Jewish students who 
show up for services and dinner, and for discussions about Jewish topics 
with other Jewish students.  We have Hillel programs several nights a week, 
and the number of students majoring in Religion and Judaic Studies, as well 
as those who choose to study Judaic subjects abroad, is overwhelming.  There 
are several Judaic culture groups on campus, for example Israeli dancing and 
an Israeli/Palestinian awarness group, Jewish a-cappela, and sporting 
events.  To top that off, my school is part of the national "Half Shekel 
Campaign" designed to get those students who maybe don't come to services 
every week to still stand up and be counted as a Jew.  There are Jewish 
Greek Events, and back in October we hosted a huge campus wide Shabbat in 
which over 800 students attended.   No, I am not kidding.  And my school has 
a little over 5,000 undergrad, with approximately 20% of those students 
being Jewish, so the turnout was amazing.

The difference between these students and students at a Jewish day school, 
is that they have chosen to get involved on their own.  The majority of 
these active students did not go to day school.  In fact, there is a 
feasible group of students who did go to day school, and are now "done".  
They've done the Jewish thing, and are finally free.  How sad a concept that 
is.

The Jewish students that are involved on campus come from a variety of 
backgrounds.  While yes, there are those from day schools, the majority 
aren't.  They are Jews who were raised with a strong sense of personal 
identity, or who maybe weren't but are looking for it on their own.  But the 
key is that they chose to belong. They find their way of fitting in, when 
they are ready.  For some, (like me) they found a connection to Judaism 
through social action, and music. (That's where we come in!)  Others found a 
Greek connection, or a club activity.  Or maybe they enjoy taking a Judaic 
class, or hanging out with Jewish friends they met at a Hillel party 
(reality is reality). But they did not have religion jammed down their 
throats every day all day at school.  More often than not, my day school 
friends feel as though for all of the Judaic that they learned, they missed 
out on the rest.  Because there is never time for everything.  Note the 
number of adult education classes springing up all over the place.  Many 
college students do care, and are interested.  But now, when the choice to 
learn and belong is theirs, not their parents.  And as for not knowing what 
to do, that's why Hillel is so amazing.  I participate in services every 
week, and am currently learning to read Torah.  Not because my parents can 
teach me, or because I learned in a day school, but because a friend who 
really likes services and learned from his Hazzan is teaching me.

I resent your assumption.  And at least from my experience, it is extremely 
extremely incorrect.  I have been to national conventions through UJC and 
otherwise where I have spent the weekend with hundreds of college students 
from around the country.  Everybody shares their campuses programs and 
successes, and believe me, there are significantly more successes than 
failures.

Good luck.  And maybe try getting involved in a Hillel near you.  Seriously. 
  If you really feel as though the college near you is lacking in Jewish 
involvement, which is quite possible not really knowing your area, try 
getting involved, and changing that reality.

~smile always~
-Joy Newman
proud student at the University of Rochester

P.S.  We are currently planning a Hillel trip to Argentina, a social action 
mission for spring break.  As we have started our networking for the trip, 
we are finding that many, MANY colleges send similar Jewish groups all over 
the world each March.  We look forward to working with other schools on our 
mission.  Just another way to connect...

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