For most of my life, I have been surrounded by other Jewish people, especially throughout high school. When I applied to Sonoma, I never even thought about my religion. It wasn’t until I began my first week at Sonoma that I realized a part of me felt as though it was missing.
Being Jewish has always been a big part of my life. I grew up going to Hebrew school during the week, celebrating Jewish holidays with my family, and preparing for my Bat Mitzvah. Like many Jewish teens, I believed that I would never go back to my temple once I was finally finished with my Bat Mitzvah, but the friends I had made drew me back to my temple. Through my temple, I was able to find a community where I felt I belonged.
(My sisters and me celebrating Hanukkah.)
After my Bat Mitzvah, I took on a leadership role in my temple for two years and even went through the confirmation process. Along the way, I started going to weekend retreats with my youth group at my temple. At these retreats, hundreds of other Jewish teens from Southern California would meet and spend a weekend learning more about our Jewish community and culture.
(At one of the weekend retreats)
When I decided to come to Sonoma State University, I had never thought about the Jewish population I would be met with at this school. It never crossed my mind that I may not be around as many Jewish people as I was used to. It wasn’t until move in day that my dad asked me about the Jewish population at Sonoma.
Sonoma State University has a 10% Jewish student population, a much smaller population than my old high school. Not being surrounded by other Jewish people is an abnormal feeling for me. Back home, I was used to going to temple every weekend and seeing some of my best friends there. During my first week at Sonoma, it was different to not be surrounded by people who are Jewish. At first, it felt as though a part of me had disappeared. Suddenly not being involved with a local temple or going to Friday night or Saturday morning services was something I was not prepared for when I got to Sonoma. It had never occurred to me that I wouldn’t be able to drive to the temple I had been at for the past seventeen years of my life. Instead of being ten minutes away from my temple, I am now at least eight hours away.
Even though I have been at Sonoma for a month now, not being around Jewish people is still weird to me. But as the weeks have come and go, I have learned that being in an area with a small amount of Jewish people does not mean that my Jewish identity is completely gone. Instead, I have seen my Jewish identity completely transform over the past month.
(Rosh Hashanah 2015 at my temple.)
Realizing that there may not be as many Jewish students here has made me realize how special my religion is to me. Being Jewish has always been important to me, but I know have a new respect for Judaism. Judaism is a big part of me and it is a part of me that I could never get rid of. I may not know where the closest temple is and I may not be going regularly to Friday night and Saturday morning services, but that will never mean that I am not Jewish.