Rosh Hashanah
Parents rest easier knowing students can find traditional services, meals at college.
Ronelle Grier
Contributing Writer
T
he High Holiday season is tra-
ditionally a time for observing
time-honored traditions and
enjoying sumptuous meals with family
and friends. For Jewish college students
and their families, observing the holidays
can be challenging, especially when Rosh
Hashanah falls during the week, as it does
this year at sundown on Wednesday, Sept.
24.
Most colleges and universities do not
suspend classes for Jewish holidays, so
even students that attend school in nearby
places, such as Ann Arbor or East Lansing,
must weigh the cost of coming home
against that of missing classes and assign-
ments.
For many students, attending services
and holiday meals at local Jewish organi-
zations, such as Hillel and Chabad, allows
them to observe their familiar traditions
with like-minded peers in a welcoming
environment.
University of Colorado students Zoe
and Jesse Frank of Bloomfield Hills will
be spending the holidays at the Chabad
House in Boulder. According to their
mother, Joan Solomon Frank, Jesse, a
senior, has spent previous holidays there
and is looking forward to sharing the
experience with his sister, a freshman. For
Joan, spending the holidays without her
children is a bittersweet experience.
"I hate not being with my kids for holi-
days:' she said. "I am very glad that they
will be together though. It makes my heart
feel good:'
Her feelings are shared by other par-
ents who are still adjusting to the idea of
spending holidays without their children.
Linda Levine Blumstein of West
Bloomfield has two college students: Dani,
who attends Michigan State University,
and Zach, who goes to the College for
Creative Studies in Detroit.
"Dani won't be able to come home this
year for Rosh Hashanah, and I will miss
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September 18 • 2014
fig
her:' said Blumstein. "I'm not sure what
she will be doing, maybe Hillel at MSU. I
know she has two midterms the first day,
so it's rough. Zach may be at dinner one of
the two nights, but again he has class one
of the nights. But, yep, I do miss them as
they start their own lives:'
While Stuart Sherman of Birmingham
will miss his daughter, Alex, a student at
Yeshiva University Stern College in New
York, he takes comfort knowing she will be
spending the holidays running a children's
program at a local Chabad house.
"I know my daughter is observing the
holiday, which is what we've raised her to
do:' Sherman said. "That's the beauty of
Judaism; you can go anywhere and fit right
in because the prayers are the same'
Tilly Shames, executive director of
University of Michigan Hillel, said she
expects to see more than 1,500 students
at meals and services during the coming
High Holiday season.
U-M Hillel brings in rabbis who lead
Reform, Conservative and Orthodox ser-
vices, and students participate in Torah
reading and blowing the shofar. In addition,
Shabbat services and dinners at the Hillel
facility draw an average of 280 students
each week, and programs are also offered in
various locations across the campus.
"We believe in offering diverse services
that bring a sense of comfort and familiar-
ity to our students, while also giving them
the opportunity to try something new:'
Shames said.
At MSU Hillel, more than 250 students
are expected to attend services (with a
Reform-Conservative slant) conducted
by Rabbi Dan Horwitz, MSU Hillel's
senior Jewish educator and a rabbi at
Congregation Shir Tikvah in Troy. Free
meals for the High Holidays are provided
as well.
Students at 10 affiliate campuses under
the Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan
(HCAM) sometimes travel to MSU
Hillel for meals and services, said Robyn
Hughey, assistant MSU Hillel director. At
nearly all the HCAM campuses, she said,
students are given free tickets for services
at local synagogues. For meals, students
often will run their own celebrations or be
offered home hospitality from synagogue
members.
Above: Students at MSU Hillel enjoyed a
Rosh Hashanah meal together last year.
Holiday Versus School
Finding a local place to spend the holidays
is only one of the issues faced by college
students during this season. Another
challenge is maintaining their observance
without missing important course work.
While it is technically illegal to penalize
students for religious observance, some
students feel missing classes will only
create more pressure when they have to
make up the work. Many public and pri-
vate schools include a list of all religious
holidays in their academic calendars, and
students are advised to contact professors
in advance if their attendance or classwork
will be affected.
"We provide a letter to our students
that they can give to their professors if
they need to be excused from classes:'
said Hughey of MSU Hillel. "This is typi-
cally sufficient enough, and we rarely run
into major issues. When students do have
issues, they typically come to us and we
will reach out to the professor directly.
"These letters, which have been circulat-
ing to our students since late August, are
made available to both HCAM and MSU
students. We encourage them to present
them to their professors at the beginning
of school to avoid any issues:' she said.
"It is challenging for students to
observe the holidays:' said Rabbi Alter
Goldstein of the Ann Arbor Chabad
House, whose literature invites students
to "spend the days of judgment in a non-
judgmental environment:'
In addition to offering religious services
and meals each Shabbat and during the
High Holidays, Chabad provides shofar
blowings throughout the campus so stu-
dents attending classes can still observe
the mitzvah as well as a tashlich service at
the Huron River.
Eve Lerman of West Bloomfield has
IA% I
Hannah Pszenica is studying kung fu in
China; she will share apples and honey
for a sweet new year with her family via
Skype.
come up with a creative way for her
daughter, Hannah Pszenica, to observe the
holidays this year. The recent high school
graduate is spending a gap year studying
kung fu at the Kunyu Mountain Shaolin
Martial Arts Academy in a remote area of
the Shandong Province in China.
When they arrived, Lerman bought
Hannah a large jar of honey in prepara-
tion for Rosh Hashanah."I'll remind her to
buy apples, and call her on Skype during
our family's meal so we can all dip apples
in honey together and wish each other a
sweet year:' Lerman said.
❑
To find a local Hillel, visit www.hillel.org and
click on the College Guide link. For a directory
of Chabad centers on campuses and elsewhere
in the world, visit www.chabad.org .