I'm live from Greensboro, North Carolina- home of the American Hebrew Academy- America's Only Jewish Pluralistic College Prep Boarding School! Working here sometimes makes me feel like I'm a scientist conducting some bizarre Jewish pluralistic experiment. What an incredible place to go to high school.
After reading my friend David's (http://davidsaysthings.wordpress.com/) latest blog post, I started to think about my own college experiences with KESHER, and what I've learned by working here at AHA thus far. KESHER in college was one of the most frustrating aspects of Binghamton. I got to campus , so sure of my Reform Jewish identity, eager to jump right in. After attending my first Shabbat service I was excited to see that the group lacked strong leadership- it was my chance to make my mark with Hillel early on! By the second week of college I was leading services, and continued to lead regularly during my first semester. I was chosen to be the official KESHER chair for the following year, and found myself eager to change KESHER and the Reform Jewish presence on campus.
I spent a summer at Kutz, excited to be a part of a vibrant Reform Jewish community after struggling to create one in Binghamton. Refreshed and anxious to head back to campus, I became intrigued by an e-mail from someone from Binghamton. His name was Rabbi Shalom Kantor (yes, I too thought this must be a joke- who would have a name like that?!) Little did I know that this was going to be the start of my incredible Jewish journey at Binghamton.
This innocent sounding e-mail from the new Hillel at Binghamton Rabbi intrigued me. Looking back on it now, I did not realize how important it was that Hillel had hired a Rabbi. There are probably about 8 Orthodox Rabbis working in some capacity on Binghamton's campus, and we finally hired one liberal Rabbi. There is a much larger non-orthodox Jewish population than Orthodox, so clearly these numbers do not match up. He was told that I might be interested in helping to lead High Holyday services. Me being me, I of course jumped at the chance! Before I knew it I was back at school running around like a crazy person getting ready to lead services. We had one service ( a combined Reform/Conservative service.) It was definitely a Conservative service with some English readings...and with me, the Reform Jew calling page numbers. I laugh looking back on this because I feel like Shalom and I came so far in our understanding of pluralism and the Reform movement. Pluralism is NOT Conservative Judaism with some English readings!
The high holydays passed, and Shalom and I began to meet regularly to discuss Reform Judaism on campus, and how we could work to improve it. My frustrations began to grow as I realized that being involved in leading Reform services was not enough for me. I was searching for something else. I wanted to grow, learn, and find a good group of Jewish friends. I began to explore elsewhere. I spent a very short time trying out Maimonides, and realized that while it was cool to explore my Jewish identity and get paid for it, it was just silly to do things like go to Tuvia's in Monsey with kids from school because I'm from there. I also quickly realized that I had a strong Jewish identity, and didn't need someone else to show me what they thought was the only way to be Jewish.
I realized that I wasn't just looking to explore my Reform Jewish identity, I was just looking to explore my Jewish identity. I suddenly found myself a part of a group of friends who were a lot more observant than I was. It had never occured to me that I might like being more traditional. I was quickly introduced to the world of being shomer shabbat and found myself trying new things every week. While I still loved the style of a Reform service and found myself to be most comfortable with a Reform siddur in my hand, I liked all of the new Jewish experiences being thrown my way. What was musaf? What's with all of the mumbling during services? Why did it seem like they did the Amidah 12 times?
I suddenly found Reform Judaism to be very limited. I considered myself to be a very educated Reform Jew, able to take part in almost all ritual aspects of synagogue life. For the first time in my life, I wasn't able to be the leader I wanted to be. At Shabbat dinner I suddenly couldn't lead Kiddush or Birkat Hamazon because the traditional versions weren't something I learned growing up. This was the beginning of my journey of Jewish learning at Binghamton. My first time leading Kiddush was a big Shehecheyanu moment for me. This past Shabbat I led the full Birkat Hamazon as well- not as exciting, but its nice to know that college taught me something!
Something I've observed about AHA-
They have a requirement for all kids called 'synagogue skills.' I get to help teach it. Each kid gets assigned to one of the minyan leaders and is required to study synagogue skills each year. Each level of synagogue skills teaches ritual aspects of synagogue life that an educated Jew should know. The kids are divided up by Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox. I wonder if these kids are missing out by being labeled early on. In a place like AHA, I would think that it would be an incredible learning experience to bring students out of their religious comfort levels and encourage them to learn from each other.
This job is incredible- I hope that all of my friends who are newly employed are lucky enough to continue to learn and grow like I am.
Shanah Tovah-
