In a society where most calendars only mark major Christian or national holidays, we often overlook the holidays celebrated by many people of other cultures and religions. If you walked through the center of campus this past week, though, you almost certainly would have noticed a small structure made of metal poles and white tarps beside Saylor-Ackerman that stood in observation of holiday very important to people who practice Judaism.
Called a sukkah, the makeshift shelter was put together by Capital’s Jewish Student Association (JSA) in observation of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Running from sundown on Oct. 16 to sundown Oct. 23, the holiday is based on the Israelites exodus out of Egypt when they were freed from slavery by Moses, and they wandered through the desert, Spencer Delk, a junior at Capital and treasurer of JSA, said.
“The sukkah is what they lived in,” Delk said. “We are bringing back the tradition like many people do during Sukkot…It’s a holiday where we remember the plight of the Jewish people coming from slavery to be able move forward with their lives.”
Spencer goes on to explain that in order to remember the difficulties the Israelites faced in the 40 years they spent wandering the desert, some Jewish people live in the sukkahs during the week-long holiday. While nobody from JSA did that, the symbolic shelter became a meeting place for members to get together during the week, to hang out, do homework, and get to know one another.
The openness the sukkah offered during the holiday week reflects JSA as organization, as JSA Executive Board Member Simon Nickels can testify.
“I’m not actually Jewish,” Nickels said.
Rather, he got involved with JSA during his sophomore year through his roommate, Austin Reid, the founder and current president of the organization. But Simon was motivated to get involved by more than just the encouragement of a friend.
“Definitely part of the thing I try to do for myself is try to learn as much as I can about things I don’t know about,” Nickels said. “I’m open and want to learn more about cultures and religions that I don’t experience.”
Being involved with JSA has proven to be a perfect way to do that.
“I still learn something from every event even though I help plan them,” Nickels said.
Nickels wasn’t the only one who took the opportunity to learn something about Judaism during the week of the Sukkot holiday. On Oct. 19, JSA held an event at the sukkah, inviting students to come stop by, enjoy some hot drinks and snacks, and learn more about the Jewish holiday.
The casual event ended up having a huge draw. Roughly two dozen students stopped by, along with several faculty members and a reporter for the Columbus Dispatch. With the exception of the JSA leaders, no one else spoken with was Jewish or had any connection to the religion. Still, many of them came away with deeper understanding and appreciation the faith.
Matt Thomas, a sophomore student, was one of those who left the event having learned something new.
“Before this week started, I had no idea what a sukkah was or anything about the holiday Sukkot,” Thomas said. “Now I can at least give somebody a basic rundown of what this holiday means and what it means to Judaism in particular.”
Austin Reid, the founder and president of JSA, is very happy with the turnout the event generated.
“Part of our goal is to educate and expose people to Jewish religion and culture,” Reid said. “There was another Jewish organization on campus that disbanded about two years before I came to Capital. I felt that, being located in Bexley, Capital students needed an organization to connect them with Jewish culture.”
Reid goes on to say that, even for people who don’t practice Judaism, there is still something to gain from learning about the religion and culture.
“I feel like the moral principles of [Judaism] are the foundation of western civilization. The sanctity of it can be applied to every aspect of your life,” Reid said.
One of the greatest things about attending college is the opportunities to broaden your horizons and expose yourself to different ideas and experiences. The JSA here at Capital offered an opportunity for a number of students to do just that over the course of the Sukkot holiday.
But students need not worry if they missed it, as Austin says the organization will be putting more events in the future.
“We try to have one event every month,” Reid said. “Our next one is Nov. 10; we are having an instructor come teach the basics of Krav Maga, [which is] the hand-to-hand combat training the Israeli military uses.”
The Columbus Dispatch published an article on the JSA event on Oct. 20 titled “Jewish students at Capital share significance of Sukkot holiday.” The online version of the article can be found at www.dispatch.com.
