for college students by college students
SEPTEMBER 8, 2011 / 9 ELUL 5771
Ask Big
Questions
Israel For All
EMU multicultural
student finds
herself among the
peoples in Israel.
MSU initiative
creates a trusting
atmosphere to
probe differences.
By Miriam Shabazz
By Lauren Blazofsky
When I first received an email
from Michigan State University
Hillel asking me to be part
of a new program known as
AskBigQuestions (ABQ), I was
overwhelmed with excitement.
I jumped at the chance to take
part in something new that
has great potential to make a
difference.
The AskBigQuestions
initiative, which began at
Northwestern University, helps
diverse groups of people
explore the questions we all
share — the deep questions
at the heart of life. ABQ is
designed to create open and
honest spaces in which college
students can ask the "big"
questions in life. Questions
can range from politics to
social change, from science to
religion.
A few examples: How does
technology change what it
means to be human? Who
are we responsible for? What
should we sacrifice to change
the world?
As an ABQ fellow, I attended
the first national training at
Washington University in St.
Louis as part of the Hillel
Institute. I took part in this
training with four other MSU
fellows, 44 fellows from North
American universities and 14
supervisors from 13 campuses
nationwide.
With facilitation from
the Center for Courage and
Renewal, we deepened our
listening skills, identified and
managed polarities and para-
doxes, brought attention to all
forms of diversity and, most of
all, learned how to facilitate
conversations.
ABQ is about more than
simply guiding a conversa-
tion, it's about asking the
right questions, creating a safe
environment and exploring the
questions that make people
think on a deeper level.
MSU Hillel has partnered
with the MSU Office for
Inclusion and Intercultural
Initiatives to help develop and
Ask Big Questions on 36
A group photo of Albion students in front of Schindler's factory in Krakow,
Poland, near the plague that Albion College donated
Holocaust Studies
Albion's Poland trip provided one Jewish student
with a new perspective on the future of the Jews.
By Tsiporah Davis
I
was filled with nervous excitement as I prepared to
travel more than 4,000 miles away from my home to
a place stained in blood and loss. As soon as I heard
about Albion College's Holocaust Studies Service
Learning Project (HSSLP) in Poland, I knew that I had to
go.
Not only was it a nine-day trip to a foreign country and
the chance to get another stamp on my passport, but it was
also my chance to continue my education in Holocaust
studies and the opportunity to honor those of my Jewish
family who had suffered and perished so unjustly.
Albion, thanks to its dedicated faculty and staff, has
abundant resources for students who wish to study the
events of World War II and the Holocaust. Aside from mul-
tiple classes offered on the subject, Albion brings speakers
in to tell of their experiences and to share their stories. In
the spring of 2011, Miriam Winter spoke to an auditorium
packed with students of all ages about her memoir, Trains,
and the struggles of being a Holocaust survivor. In addi-
tion, the HSSLP trip (offered every other spring to the stu-
dents at Albion College) takes a chosen group of students
to Poland to expand their knowledge through service and
remembrance.
Over the course of the trip, students participate in
academic discussions as well as hands-on activities. The
first week is spent in the city of Wroclaw working in its
overgrown, forgotten Jewish cemetery and learning about
the history of the city and its Jewish population. Next,
the group visits old synagogues, views traditional relics
of the Jewish faith and tours Oscar Schindler's factory in
Krakow. Lastly, participants spend an emotional day visit-
ing Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Of course, each participant takes something unique and
different from the experiences of the HSSLP trip; yet, as
one of the few Jewish participants in the 2011 program,
I am comfortable claiming that my experience was quite
singular.
Working in the Jewish cemetery took on a whole differ-
ent meaning to me. As my classmates dug out and lifted
head stones, pulled ivy off of graves, cleared paths and
uprooted trees, I worked to uncover the names and identi-
ties of my brethren, which for too long had been hidden
and forgotten. Because many of the gravestones were
etched in Hebrew, and I was one of the only individuals
who could read Hebrew, I took it upon myself to identify
as many people as I could. I seized the opportunity to
remember and bless them. At the end of each day in the
Holocaust Studies on 36
iN
Before leaving for my Taglit
Birthright trip, I reviewed the
trip itinerary with my mother.
When I told her I would be
celebrating Shabbat at the
Western Wall, she began to cry.
My mother has never been to
Israel and, for her, my going on
this trip had intense meaning,
some of which was lost on me
at the time.
I was excited, but I was
also nervous, not just about
the political situation in the
Middle East, but also about
the level of acceptance I would
experience from my fellow
Jews. I am not your typical
Jew. I am bi-racial and multi-
cultural.
My father, who passed away
when I was young, was African
American and had converted
from Christianity to Islam.
There are Catholics married
into my family, and I am part
Native American, so I consider
myself a kind of a melting pot.
Aside from my diverse
background, I was raised as
a Secular Humanistic Jew,
and I was nervous that on
my Birthright trip, I might not
know what was going on dur-
ing religious ceremonies and
customs.
My experiences with Secular
Humanism instilled in me
plenty of enthusiasm, but not
a lot of details. This was all
on top of the fact that I was
going to be the oldest person
on the trip. But, I decided,
"Well, it's a free trip to Israel.
I guess it won't matter if I feel
left out. It's still an experience
of a lifetime."
What I could not have
predicted was the feeling of
belonging I would experience
while in Israel, and among
my peers. On my trip, there
were many Jews who were the
products of mixed marriages
and, like me, they were all
hoping to develop a greater
connection to our Jewish
heritage.
When we arrived at the
airport, the trip organizers
greeted us by welcoming us
home, and that was the feeling
Israel For All on 37
September 8 • 2011
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