The Role of the Jewish Encounter in Programs

          The Jewish nature of the programs is important because you are the JCSC who represents Hillel, The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.  Throughout the course of the year you will be doing programs that are associated with the Jewish holidays. The holidays are the best times to incorporate Jewish content and learning into the programs.  During Chanukah, you can eat latkes and tell the story of the Maccabees, while during Purim you can eat Hamantaschen and read the Megillah.

Throughout the remainder of the year, adding Jewish content can be a tricky aspect of the job.  Here at Tulane, most of the Jewish students who you will be engaging aren't looking to do things outwardly Jewish.  Getting Jewish students together for a social event is a Jewish activity. When you get a bunch of Jewish students together, it's inevitable that there will be conversations with Jewish themes. This year, I didn't focus much of my energy on incorporating Jewish themes into the social programs although I wish I had done more.  At the same time I didn't see the demand for very Jewish programs.  I would, however, talk with many guys about Jewish athletes in sports.  We would also have conversations regarding Israel, terrorism and the War in Iraq.  Just getting Jews together adds the necessary Jewish element to making the program successful.  There is a demand on this campus for talking about Israel although there isn't fervent political controversy about the Israeli Palestinian conflict.           

We tried having a Rap with a Rabbi learning session during lunchtime, but we had a difficult time attracting students to hear the Rabbi speak about topics related to Judaism.  Tulane is a very engagement oriented campus, where most of the Jews know that they are Jewish, but they don't care about the religious elements of Judaism.  They also don't want to appear different or act differently than the other students on campus.  Because there are so many Jews on this campus, the JCSC faces the challenge of giving the students something other than the ability to meet Jewish friends.