Much A-Jew About Nothing

Hi, I’m Sam Green and I’m a junior history + religion major at Swarthmore College. This semester, I’ll be writing about my experiences trying to incorporate the Jewish calender cycle into life at an irreligious liberal arts college. 
Topics for analysis may include, but are not limited to: do hipsters dig klezmer?, how the #@)$ do I build a sukkha?, would my campus Chabad shliach prefer me to take the college shuttle to his house for Shabbos dinner or just be shomer?, and how un-kosher is it to throw a party in the Beit Midrash?.  As I’ve become more interested in the Jewish religion and culture, I’ve noticed that every Jewish community has its own very specific idiosyncrasies and points of contention, and my tiny Hillel is no exception.  Making the switch from spending 9 wonderful weeks at Camp JRF (Jewish Reconstructionist Federation) in the Poconos this summer—where I enjoyed using Hebrew on a daily basis, discussing the eroticism of Zohar, and constantly being told that I’m a girly-man by my Israeli co-counselors—to attempting to run a smoothly-functioning Hillel at Swat—should prove an interesting challenge.  This year I’m going to make an increased effort to observe the Jewish calender along with my normal life as a secular college student- we’ll see how that goes.