My Jewish Life on Campus

When I first started out at Vassar college, I kept hearing how anti-Semitic they were. My mom was especially concerned and spent a lot of time reading about the Antisemitism at Vassar and then some time worrying about it. My mom was worried about how I’d be able to keep my Jewish identity and traditions while at Vassar without getting hurt. For some reason, I was confident. I looked up the college and chanced upon an article where a girl writes about her experience at the college. The girl was Jewish and she told of her first Shabbat experience and how she felt part of the Jewish community at Vassar. She wrote about how they decorated Mezuzah cases and she was not ashamed to put it up on her dorm room. Reading that gave me hope for a positive experience on campus. It also gave me the courage to finally hang up my Mezuzah that I had in my suitcase. I took a deep breath, reached for my Mezuzah under the pile of clothes in my suitcase, and held it in my hand. I knew that this Mezuzah would protect me and keep safe during my stay at college. I put it up. Having my Mezuzah on my doorpost was a constant reminder that GD is watching me and holding my hand through all of my endeavors. It happens to have also been a nice Mezuzah that made my doorpost unique. It was perfect for my college room as it was adhesive only and I didn’t have to make holes in the wall to put it up. Thankfully it worked out for me so far to live here as a Jew. I keep praying for continued peace for the rest of my stay.

Here is a link to some fabulous college Mezuzah’s https://www.mezuzahmaster.com/mezuzah-cases/?gclid=CIyA6IqSkssCFdgPgQoddbEBcA&features_hash=8-244

This is the beautiful mezuzah I hung on my door: https://www.mezuzahmaster.com/purple-polymor-clay-mezuzah-case-by-adina-plastelina/