Yesterday, it was the traditional Christian holiday of St. Valentine’s Day. This is a holiday that celebrates love and relationships. I’m sure that your social media feeds, like mine, were clogged with couple pictures, “Galentine’s” posts, and sweet pictures of pets. My Valentine’s Day was celebrated a bit differently, I attended my normal Monday class at Chabad. At Chabad on Mondays, there is a course held called JewishU, where a group of students come together and learn from Rabbi Levi Raichik. There is a different topic discussed each week, and the course is so popular that there are several different variations of it held throughout the week. I did not celebrate the holiday that so many others seem to have celebrated, but I would still like to express my love in the spirit of the day.
This is a love letter to Judaism. This is a love letter to the Jewish community, both the one that I grew up in and the one that I have been so lucky to be a part of since arriving at OU. Being Jewish is the most important piece of my identity and shapes my every waking moment. Judaism has brought me my closest friends and my dearest memories.
A few days after I was born, my parents took me to my synagogue where a “baby naming” was held. This was the first time I was out in public, and it was surrounded by the community that I would grow up in. I was named and given a blessing from my Rabbi. My name, Hadass, means myrtle. This is a Hebrew name, and I was not given an “English” name like other Jewish people living in the diaspora have. I have always been visibly Jewish because of my name, and I have always known that Judaism is the most fundamental part of my identity.
Being a part of such a large and strong global community has taught me so much about myself and about the world around me. I learned the importance of helping and loving your neighbor at a very young age and have always carried that with me. Because I attended weddings and shivas (visiting mourners) from an early age, I learned the beauty of shared joy as well as the beauty of shared grief. I was sent to a Jewish day school until the age of 14, and from that I learned about the knowledge stored within the Torah, as well as in the other books like the Book of Prophets and the Mishnah. Jewish law was instilled in me and taught me about precision and about looking at the bigger picture.
Because I have been a part of the Jewish community for so long, I know I am never alone. Wherever I go, as long as I find a synagogue or some other sort of community center, I know I will be welcomed with open arms. Although there can be many differences across cultures, I could still connect with any other Jewish person because of our shared identity.
The Athens Jewish community is the perfect example of this. I am from Cleveland, and I knew that Athens would be a big change for me. Cleveland has a plethora of synagogues, several kosher restaurants, and about 80,000 Jewish people in the greater Cleveland area. Coming to Athens was a large adjustment for me because there aren’t as many resources, but I was able to transition into the Jewish community of Athens because of our shared Jewish identity.
My love for Judaism is all-encompassing, I share it with everyone that I can, and I even write this column about it. The privilege of being raised in such special conditions is not lost on me, I know that there are many other Jewish people who did not grow up in places with large Jewish communities. But, I am so happy that so many students here at Ohio University still choose to embrace their Judaism and attend Jewish events and celebrate Jewish holidays.
Judaism was my first love, and sincerely is the love of my life. I am forever indebted to the religion and community, and I could not be more thankful to have been born into it.
Hadass Galili is a junior studying political science pre-law at Ohio University. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnist do not reflect those of The Post. Do you agree? Tell Hadass by tweeting her at @HadassGalili.
