Pictures of Jews
In which we introduce you to some of our readers. Images by Leah Tepper-Byrne
The Crunchy Jew
Renna Khuner-Haber, 22 Barnard College ’08 List College at the Jewish Theological Seminary ’09
We caught up with Renna in a park near JTS. She was about to catch the train to Connecticut to spend Sukkot at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, where she spent the summer with ADAMAH, an organic farming fellowship.
Did ADAMAH change you?
I can’t live in New York anymore. My experience at ADAMAH pushed me to think about why I choose to do what I do. In New York there’s a lot of doing what everyone else is doing, being so busy with your life that you don’t know how to do anything else. I’m trying to slow down, think about my decisions, and find ways to make myself happy.
Are you a “crunchy Jew”?
In New York people think I’m crunchy because I’m passionate about vegetables and the farmers market and I own a worm bin for composting. At Isabella Freedman, I felt mainstream compared to everyone else. I shave. I wear deodorant. I want to get married and have kids and live in an urban environment.
Tell us about your outfit.
My roommate dressed me. I was supposed to wear jeans, but she wasn’t up when I left so I switched back to gauchos. I own three pairs of Crocs now. I just ordered my fourth online.
The Modern Orthodox Jew
Alissa Estreicher, 21 Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University ’09
We visited Alissa at her apartment in Manhattan’s Murray Hill. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Alissa is a Modern Orthodox marketing major in a joint program at Stern and the Fashion Institute of Technology.
How do you fit in at Stern?
Most of the girls here are Orthodox. Our outlook and observances are different. I’m more modern. You feel like you fit in because it’s a group of Jewish girls, but I’m definitely an oddball in the school.
So you don’t always wear skirts?
No, but we have to at school. Modern Orthodox girls struggle. Pants, skirt, pants, skirt. It’s hard.
Why did you decide to come to Stern?
Because I missed out on my Jewish education in middle and high school. I thought it would be good to integrate myself into a Jewish community. Here you have to take classes in kashrut, Shabbat, parsha, the holidays. Also, I’m not a campus girl. I always wanted to live in New York.
How about being a blond Jew?
Not a positive, not a negative. I don’t get any more attention.
