26 | AUGUST 6 • 2020 

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YAEL EICHHORN EDITORIAL INTERN

Jews in the D

A

s someone who has 
had many different 
Jewish experiences, it 
is always reassuring to find a 
sense of community wherever 
I am. The Jewish 
Studies minor at 
Michigan State 
University has 
given me the 
opportunity to 
find that and more, making 
such a big campus easier to 
navigate. 
I have gotten to know the 
staff and program while work-
ing as an assistant in the office 
at the Serling Institute for Jewish 
Studies and Modern Israel, 
which oversees the minor. There 
is no one way to be a Jewish 
Studies minor; the program is 
personalized for each student 
depending on their interests. 

Students choose 20 credits 
from 39 classes that count 
toward the minor, with eligi-
ble classes going beyond the 
humanities to include other 
subject areas like business and 
entrepreneurship, making the 
program quite versatile. 
The minor started as early 
as the 1980s with classes on 
anti-Semitism and gradually 
evolved into a full-fledged 
minor in the ’
90s. Donations 
from Michael and Elaine Serling 
over the years have helped MSU 

grow the Jewish Studies minor 
and become the sixth univer-
sity in the country to have an 
endowed chair in Israel studies.
My own Jewish background 
is a unique one. I have lived 
in three countries and several 
states and have been part of 
a small Jewish community 
in Idaho, as well as a Jewish 
majority in Israel. Therefore, my 
Jewish identity has been built 
and borrowed from many dif-
ferent cultures and practices. 
I didn’
t know that MSU even 

had a Jewish Studies minor 
when I first started school, but 
I happened to take a Jewish 
Studies class as an elective and 
had such a positive experience 
that I decided to add the minor. 
The Institute has helped me 
shape my own Jewish identity 
by showing me how many dif-
ferent aspects of Judaism there 
are, and that there is always 
going to be a Jewish topic I find 
interesting.
I’
m not alone in feeling 
this way. “Minoring in Jewish 
Studies has enhanced my expe-
rience at MSU,
” said Hannah 
Margolis, a Jewish Studies 
minor who is highly involved 
in the campus Hillel. “Whether 
it’
s the small classes, interesting 
courses or passionate professors, 
I have gained new perspectives 
on Judaism in my own life and 

MSU students pose for a selfie 
with a Bedouin guide on a 
study abroad trip to Israel.

“I have gained new perspectives 
on Judaism in my own life and 
the world.”

— HANNAH MARGOLIS

Finding My Jewish 
Identity at MSU

The Serling Institute 
for Jewish Studies and 
its unique minor allow 
students like me to 
explore our own paths.

COURTESY OF MSU

Yael
Eichhorn