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JULY 28 • 2022 | 7

every Friday, which were not
even allowed in my dorm.
Or maybe it was the need to
find what I stood for when
everyone else seemed to
already have it figured out.
My freshman year of
college I found myself
wanting to become more
religious. That year I started
with the small commitment
of not eating pork and trying
to avoid mixing meat and
dairy. It was challenging, but
not impossible in my dining
hall with a wide variety of
choices. Then, I stopped
eating shellfish and decided
to go to the shul on my
college campus for the High
Holidays. It was right around
the block from a fraternity
village, and I recall seeing a
football match take place in
the front yard of a fraternity
house as I was going to a
Shabbat dinner.
I remember my first time
explaining what it meant to
be Jewish to a non-Jewish
friend and feeling happy
with my explanation. I told
her being Jewish is believing
in only one God, and that
you should do good deeds
whenever possible. Though
she was not very religious
herself, I could tell that she
was intrigued by what I had
said. That made me want
to explore my own religion
further.
Throughout college, some
of my fondest memories
included lighting the
Chanukiah in my apartment
with my roommate and
accidentally having a candle
fall out, and her grabbing it
off the table in the nick of

time. Or going to one of my
favorite ramen restaurants
on campus and always asking
the server to switch out the
pork broth in my ramen
with miso or fish broth and
to substitute the pork belly
with fried tofu or chicken. I
remember eating my dessert
first, followed by the main
course, because dairy can be
eaten before meat in Jewish
religion, but dairy cannot be
eaten right after meat.
Though college life might not
have made it as convenient,
I’m glad I walked through
the rain to hear the shofar on
Rosh Hashanah and fasted on
Yom Kippur in my dorm.

FRIDAY NIGHTS
After college, I decided to

make Friday nights a time
when I unplugged from
technology, spent my time
at home with the people
close to me or had a game
night with friends instead
of going to bars and clubs.
Clearing my Friday evening
schedule from work proved
to be a bit more challenging
than I thought it would be.
For starters, my boss looked
at me funny when I tried to
explain to him that Friday
evening was my religious day
of rest and that I wasn’t just
using that as an excuse to
party.
After I explained to him
that I was Jewish and couldn’t
work Friday evenings, he
still wasn’t convinced that
my observance was the

reason that I couldn’t work.
This made me realize how
especially important it was
for me to uphold my beliefs
when celebrating a holy day
that has been observed since
the beginning of my religion.
I found a different job
and continued with my goal
of observing Shabbat in a
society where my religion
is in the minority. Every
week I do my best to make
Friday evenings a time for
conversation, board games
and relaxing, or spending
time in nature. I can’t say
the people close to me have
found this easy, but everyone
who has joined me has found
it rewarding in some way. To
me, showing someone else
the benefits of taking Friday
nights to rest from the trivial
tasks of this world is worth
standing by my beliefs a
million times over.
I have been asked many
times, mostly by my Jewish
friends, how observant I
am when it comes to my
religion. I haven’t been able
to give them an answer. In
this world where we use so
many labels on everything
we do, why not see being
Jewish as an opportunity
that exists each day for every
Jew regardless of level of
observance. An opportunity
to try a new recipe, to walk
into the nearest shul or
Jewish gathering or to simply
rest. An opportunity to try
a new experience at one’s
own level of comfort, free
of judgment and
expectations.

Rachel Lanis lives in Metro Detroit.

The Chanukiah
the author lit in
her apartment
in college.

Ramen
served up
without
pork.