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鈥淚n February, I volunteered at 鈥楽pread Cream Cheese, Not Hate鈥, a campus event organized by Hillel of Broward and Palm Beach to raise awareness about antisemitism and other forms of hate. Alongside Hillel students and professionals, I asked members of our community to sign a pledge to combat antisemitism, and in return, gave out fresh bagels and cream cheese.
More than 2,500 Jewish teens gathered in Baltimore from Feb. 17-20 for BBYO鈥檚 International Convention (IC), the organization's first global in-person event in two years. IC serves as the keynote event of the year when teen leaders from 40 countries join together along with educators, thought leaders, philanthropists, and others to celebrate, dream, and take action.
There鈥檚 a running joke in my family: We breed oranges because we bleed orange. The mascot of Syracuse University 鈥 where my mom, uncle, and brother all went to college 鈥 is an orange named Otto. Since I was a kid, I鈥檝e wanted to go to Syracuse University.
When I started college in 2020, social isolation and Zoom calls were the norm. Finding community seemed impossible. Then, I learned about Koach, an egalitarian, Conservative-style minyan and community for students at Columbia/Barnard Hillel.
On December 7, 2021 more than 40 Hillel stakeholders, staff, and students came together in New York City to celebrate Jewish life in Latin America and recognize this year鈥檚 esteemed honoree, Georg Lipsztein.
I came to college not expecting to be that Jewish. But, I realized your identity and your culture will follow you, and in my case, Judaism followed me. And no matter how I practice at any given time, I'm going to be Jewish and involved in Judaism.
I was raised by my mom who is a strong Jewish woman, and her influence helped me become who I am today. She is the reason why I鈥檓 so connected to my Judaism. She made me feel empowered as a woman and fall even more in love with Judaism.
I was born in Mexico City into a Jewish family that included my parents and grandparents. For my entire life, I鈥檝e had a Jewish support system in Mexico, not only with my family, but with the Jewish community there.
But the beauty of Hillel is that everyone is welcome, no matter how 鈥淛ewish鈥 they feel. Through my experiences, I realized that Judaism was a lot more relatable than what I learned in Hebrew school. In general, I started to feel more proud and more excited to be Jewish.
There are definitely moments within the LGBTQ community where I don鈥檛 feel accepted as Jewish, and within the Jewish community where I don鈥檛 feel accepted as queer. But what I think is really special about Hillel鈥檚 Nice Jewish Queers (NJQ), is that at the same time I鈥檓 really able to be accepted as both.
