EJC Celebrates Community
Every Friday night at 6:00, students from the Exeter community gather around the dining table in the basement of Phillips Church to meet with their friends and celebrate their religious heritage. It begins with a time of reflection as members recite prayers and songs from the Jewish tradition. The evening culminates in a dinner made by the students to honor the Shabbat. Through this famous on-campus feast, Exeter Jewish Community, or EJC for short, unites the Exeter community while giving students, both Jewish and non-Jewish, a chance to explore the Jewish tradition.
One of the main goals of EJC is to connect Exonians through faith. According to senior Michael Tuchler, religion can be a binding force that allows people to connect with each other on many different levels.
“The goal of EJC is to create a really strong community at Exeter, and, within that community, be able to teach people about Judaism,” Tuchler said. “We want this club to be a comfortable part of the entire Exeter experience, and [we] put lots of effort into making it a friendly atmosphere.”
Many members of the club believe that they have succeeded in creating a comfortable environment. Club advisor and religion teacher Rabbi Marx Asch described the atmosphere as the Yiddish word “hamish”, meaning a “warm, welcoming, familiar and comfortable environment with a nice sense of community.”
Senior Jordan Cynewski agreed with Rabbi, saying that to him, the club is not only a great way for him to keep in touch with his religion, but also another tight community in which he feels comfortable and at home.
“As a Jewish person, the rituals and celebrations that we do are things that I have done since I was a little kid. It was really comforting for me to be able to come here and find other people who I can share my faith with.”
To help create the warm environment of the community, students of any beliefs are invited to attend. Whether they identify themselves as a devoted Jew or not Jewish at all, everyone is invited to participate in the fun and accepted with open arms. In fact, according to Tuchler, many of the Jewish members are proud that a large portion of the club does not follow the Jewish religion and are happy to have the opportunity to celebrate Judaism.
Like Tuchler, Marx Asch believes that the club’s warm atmosphere makes it a great place for non-Jewish students or Jews exploring their faith to learn about Judaism and the different ways in which it can be celebrated.
“I think this is a very safe space for kids to come in, no matter how they identify themselves, and see authentic Judaism in a very welcoming and non-judgmental way,” she said. “We try to accommodate people by showing a range of Jewish traditions and celebrating the religion.”
Along with the typical Friday night Shabbat dinners, EJC celebrates Jewish traditions by honoring holidays through special events such as Saturday services and unique dinners. Some of the clubs most memorable holiday celebrations are Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Hanukkah and the chocolate Passover Seder where the club replaces the more traditional food of wine and bread with more friendly items like chocolate milk and cake. The club also holds occasional “fun nights” to watch movies, play board games or barbecue out on the Exeter lawn.
While Exeter Jewish Community has now evolved into a fun, popular and open club, it was not always that way. A few years ago, meetings were only attended by about 10 fully Jewish members. Now, each Shabbat dinner consists of around 40-60 people, and the club is well known by the entire Exeter community.
“I feel proud to be a co-head at this time in the history of EJC because I’d heard stories about before my prep year when Exeter Jewish Community was a very small club only for Jews,” upper and co-head Jacob Pressman said. “It used to be kind of like a secret society, but now its grown into this thing where people are proud of their Jewish faith and want to share it with their friends. It’s Exeter Jewish Community for a reason.”
Club members such as Pressman hope to keep on improving the club and increasing its popularity by planning more additions for the future. Recently, the club has been looking into incorporating more social action projects. According to Marx Asch, “Part of being Jewish is working on fixing the broken world.” She would like all of her club members to understand that being Jewish is not just about “having Shabbat dinner or celebrating holidays,” but also about trying to make the world a better place.
So whether you would like to know more about Judaism, get involved in changing the world or you just want some good food, EJC is a great place to spend a Friday night.