Web Exclusives | I Know What It Feels Like to be Mother |
|
|
| Written by Meira Levinson | |||||
|
Eastward and Upward for a Jewish Thought Magazine I know what it feels like to be a mother. Some people might contest this, seeing as I am twenty-two, single, and have never been pregnant. But I can assure you that I know what it feels like. Two weeks ago, when I saw my newborn babies – all 2,000 of them – for the first time, I felt a rush of pride and a piercing of joy so sharp I almost cried. Okay, so maybe it’s not quite childbirth, but seeing 2,000 journals come all the way from conception to glossy-covered, smoothly bound, fresh-press smelling reality has to be some kind of milestone. Almost exactly a year ago, a friend and I sat down in her dorm room to sketch out the rudiments of what would become a more all-consuming project than either of us had anticipated. Ten months, 40-something drafts, countless hours of work, and countless cups of Starbucks later, that friend – my co-editor – and I saw the fruit of our labors: a journal called Kedma. We started Kedma (which literally means “eastward” in Hebrew, but also connotes the idea of forward-motion) because we felt there was a need on campus for a journal articulating the current issues, questions, and experiences of the Jewish and Israeli communities. Jewish life thrives at Penn. Yet, up until now, there was no purely intellectual outlet for our community. There was no venue through which students could discuss where the Jewish world was headed, no space for all of these minds, coming from various cultures and backgrounds, to meet. Kedma, we hope, will fill that space. Our vision was for this journal to act as a forum for students – Jewish and not Jewish alike – to express their views, display their talents, engage each other in conversation, and challenge ideas about Judaism and Jewish culture through creative, critical, and journalistic media. Like any mother, we had our nausea, back-aches, and bloated-ness. We stayed up all night editing, went for weeks without speaking to our families, sacrificed our GPA’s. I can count on the fingers of one hand the total hours of sleep I got the week of the launch party. But there were also rewards. Watching throngs of students walking through campus with copies of Kedma tucked under their arms. Receiving emails from students and professors, enthusing about the journal and asking to be involved. Overhearing heated debates in my dorm building regarding specific pieces. We are currently witnessing the next step of the process; readers’ reactions to the journal, their positive and negative critiques. As I see students reading Kedma, however – Jewish students in the Hillel building, non-Jewish students in the library or the dining halls – I realize that the main purpose of Kedma has been accomplished: students are reading, students are thinking. I could not be more proud.
Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.12 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved. |
|||||
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|