College life

Although students may plan to maintain their Jewish observance while in college, their locations may prohibit them from doing so.

Bass is a freshman at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. While Bass has been heavily influenced by her parents’ love of Conservative Judaism, both the JDS Irene and Daniel Simpkins Senior Capstone Israel trip and her independence in Charleston have allowed her to discover how she wants to practice Judaism on her own.

“Over the Israel trip and earlier I realized I, myself, am a very faithful person, but one of the ways I prefer to express that is through prayer and song….the Conservative Judaism song style is so heavily ingrained in my Judaism that it’s really difficult to deviate from that,” Bass said.

Even after discovering this about herself, Bass was still willing to try out the Reform and Orthodox synagogues that are walking-distance from campus.

“I wouldn’t have discovered that [Reform style davening is not for me] if I hadn’t tried,” Bass said. “I was very open at first to going to all these styles of synagogues because I wanted to and I’m trying as an adolescent to build a Jewish identity separate from the one my parents and my school and my upbringing gave [me].”

The pluralistic ideas with which JDS and her family had raised Bass’ pushed her to be open-minded, which allowed her to discover more about her own Jewish identity.

“Over my first semester I got a tattoo and my mom still loves me. Part of that freedom of expression is from JDS, it’s from that pluralism, and had I not had that opportunity, I wouldn’t have been able to discover that the way I connect to God through prayer happens to be a more Conservative style of prayer,” Bass said.

Similarly to Bass, Brian Shorr (‘16) strengthened his connection to Judaism due to his life-changing experiences after JDS.

Shorr took a gap year at a yeshiva in Israel before attending Emory University, and later transferring to New York University (NYU).

While in yeshiva, “I took on things [mitzvot or commandments] gradually and consciously, and I analyzed and appreciated everything that I got into; I asked questions, and I started fights,” Shorr said. Although Shorr’s experience in Israel sent him down the religious path that he has now chosen to follow, his Jewish identity was even further developed while attending Emory.

Having gone to JDS his whole life, Shorr had never had the experience of attending a secular school. At Emory, Shorr felt like he had the option to either join a fraternity or remove himself from the typical college experience to maintain his level of observance. While attending Emory, Shorr witnessed a wall that was put up by anti-Semitic groups outside of the Hillel and Chabad. This was done to resemble the border wall that currently stands between Israel and Gaza. “They ran their members through makeshift border patrol, and checkpoints, which was definitely harsh and frightening,” Shorr said.

Shorr is now in his junior year at NYU, and he feels drastically more comfortable living as a Jew in New York City.

“I think JDS has prepared me, but what’s sad is that I think JDS can and should do more. It presents all opinions and all Jewish identities, but … a lot of my friends aren’t in touch with their Jewish identity,” Shorr said. “Oftentimes, it was their family and their home that maintained them, but now that they’re out of the house and at college, nothing is keeping them on track.”