for college students by college students

AGRICULTURE AND
JUDAISM from page 27

ROAM from page 27

cise/nutrition program called
Market Walk, where eastside
citizens record walking miles
and exchange their miles for
market tokens, which work
the same as money at the
market. Additionally, I helped
organize Community Soup,
a monthly cooking work-
shop for eastsiders. I've also
worked with the market man-
ager on general organizational
tasks involved in operating
the main market and the mini
satellite market at Sparrow
Hospital in Lansing.
All are important programs
and services for this commu-
nity. The programs certainly
embody the principles and
lessons regarding sustain-
ability and social justice
embedded in Judaism, which
Plotkin organized Food Chatter as an
educational program this year at the
I learned at Oz. I carry these
Lansing farmers market.
principles with me each day.
This spring, in collabora-
tion with the Jewish Student Union, Hillel and Lansing's Garden Project, several students and
Zachary Colman of Bloomfield Hills is a graduate of Michigan State University and is now a
I hope to organize a community garden and promote programs that teach students the relation-
graduate student in public affairs reporting at University of Illinois-Springfield.
ship between Judaism, food and the environment, while also educating them on tzedakah and
tikkun olam as they relate to agriculture as well as to sustainability and social justice in food
systems.
The goal is to maintain sight of human-
kind's innate connection to nature and
reliance on the soil-plant-animal-human
food chain. As Jews, our holidays are
structured around the fall's harvest and
the changing of the seasons, among other
aspects of our dynamic environment.
Too often our link to the natural world
and our food is fettered with cell phones,
iPods and the stress we encounter in daily
life. Food is a link to nature, and Judaism
presents a unique medium for exploring
our relation to our food and the sustain-
The Oakland Academic Summer Israel Study program of Oakland University offers current
ability and social justice components that
and guest students a four-week study abroad experience in the Central Galilee region of Israel.
are interwoven therein.

ers around the time I left the city.
(And yes, Omaha has a Jewish community.)
My dad is hardly religious — in fact, the distinction he made between my generation and
his is almost laughable, considering the source — but he does have a point. We didn't grow
up with the concept of neighborhood, where people hung out on porches and your own block
was your community. The synagogue was more important when our communities were more
confined.
My generation finds its Judaism through culture, and it's a well-documented fact. Look
around Michigan and the nation and you'll see that synagogues are actively trying to recruit
young people because my generation is disconnected from the synagogue.
And that's perfectly fine.
No, I don't go to shul. I'm actually one of the least religious Jews you'll ever meet. I even
make bacon in my home, and you can ask my three Jewish roommates from college how
much they enjoyed that.
You can call me a bad Jew, and maybe some rabbis would agree. But I don't define my
Judaism by whether I wear a yarmulke or if I'm in the presence of a Torah on Saturdays. I live
as I was taught in Hebrew school every Sunday growing up and by the values my parents
instilled in me.
And if that's really a bad Jew — well, then there are a lot of us out there in my generation.
Unfortunately, many people from my generation will have to leave Michigan, at least for a
little while. I think we all want to come back at some point, but we all know our chances of
landing a job in the state are about as good as Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu
going on a wine tasting tour together in the Golan.
So we move to places where we don't know anyone, or know very few people. It's tough
to start over in an unfamiliar place, and it's something that I will likely have to do several
more times.
But bad Jews or good Jew, I know there's always a Jewish community that will accept
me. ©

July 5-August 5, 2011

Participants will earn college credit while assisting in the education of sixth-grade Israeli students
in an English-language summer camp.

Sam Plotkin of Huntington Woods is a senior at
Michigan State University in East Lansing. He's
still majoring in social relations and policy, with a
specialization in sustainable agriculture and food
systems.

This unique opportunity will include:
Home hospitality for each student with a host family

Workshops and field trips
Special interest tracks of study
Tours to sites such as Jerusalem's Old City, Tel Aviv, Masada,
the Dead Sea, Tiberias, Yad Vashem, Caesarea and more

2011 Alternative
Spring Break
Opportunity

APPLICATION DEADLINE is February 1, 2011

For more information, please contact:
Jan Baker I (248) 370-4074 I jmbaker@oakland.edu

MSU Hillel is working with City Year
to organize a program exploring the
relationship between social justice and

Or visit the International Education website at oakland.edu/ie

UNIVERSITY

This program is offered in conjunction with

College of Arts and Sciences
Judaic Studies Program

lioJewish
Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit

Cost is $200 plus travel to and from
Los Angeles. Questions? Contact

Ezt=
PARTNERSHIP

eirnim

1632390

28

November 11 • 2010

CA 54046_ 10. 1 0

11
0
Oakland

Judaism in Los Angeles.
The trip is open to students from
MSU, CMU, GVSU and Albion College.

Audrey Bloomberg at Audrey@msuhil-

lel.org .