I鈥檓 a Trinidadian Jew of Color. Hillel has helped shape my identity.
鈥淏eing a Jew of Color always puts me in an interesting place. In my experience, when people think about Jews, they think about white Europeans, but there are a bunch of Ashkenazi Jews like me who aren鈥檛 always counted or represented. There may not be many of me in the world, but that doesn鈥檛 mean I don鈥檛 exist. Making that clear is always important.
鈥淚 was born in Trinidad and Tobago; I was one when I came to Brooklyn with my mother and older brother. At the time we were Hindu. In America, my mother met my stepdad, an Ashkenazi Jew. As things got more serious, my mom learned more about Judaism and really fell in love with it, and so we went through the process of conversion. Most converts choose to be Jewish; not that I wouldn鈥檛 want to be Jewish, but I didn鈥檛 get the choice. It鈥檚 different when you鈥檙e the child of someone who鈥檚 also converting because, in many ways, you don鈥檛 think of yourself as a convert. You think of yourself as any other Jew. Growing up, the only thing I wanted to do was blend in. Now I understand how it鈥檚 okay not to blend in and how to actually embrace not blending in.
鈥淎t school, I would say, 鈥業鈥檓 Jewish,鈥 and people would say, 鈥業 don鈥檛 believe you.鈥 I would take the day off for Simchat Torah or something and teachers would say, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e Jewish?鈥 or say a snide comment. I鈥檝e heard the joke 鈥榊ou鈥檇 probably be the last to burn in the gas chamber.鈥 I get a lot of antisemitism but not as much as I鈥檝e gotten older because I鈥檓 wiser. Hillel is a supplemental service to your Jewish education no matter what you major in. I studied history, and my focus was Jewish history. Now I鈥檓 better able to articulate what defines a Jew. I鈥檓 blessed to have been part of a Hillel that is so vibrant.
鈥淢y Springboard Fellow, Isaac Kurtz, put me on the track to where I鈥檓 at now, which is why I love Hillel: the opportunities it gives. On the 黑料传送门 Student Cabinet, I was able to do whatever I was interested in. As a Jew of Color, I love sharing that Jews are more than just a monolith, and one way to do that is putting on events, especially ones that students might not always be accustomed to. I鈥檓 going to keep doing this work as a Springboard Fellow for Baruch Hillel. I want to bring all the lessons I鈥檝e learned as a student 黑料传送门 and as someone who鈥檚 seen the different aspects of what makes Hillel a living movement.鈥 鈥 Rhodondo 鈥淩j鈥 Jeraman, Hunter College
As told to Rudy Malcom, writer in the 黑料传送门 Writers Program.