I was brought up Jewish in Long Island, New York. If you’ve ever lived in Long Island, it wouldn’t take you long to understand why, growing up, I thought that almost the entire United States (and maybe even the world) celebrated the eight “crazy” nights of Hanukah.
My parents dragged me to temple on most of the Jewish holidays, made me eat matzo on Passover, and even helped me become a “woman” by paying for my Bat Mitzvah. Although I participated and even enjoyed many of these events, there was one thought that never even crossed my mind: What does this all mean to me?
As both my height and my mind grew, I began to wonder if I truly believed in Judaism, God, and religion in general. I didn’t believe in practicing a religion’s traditions without completely having faith in the meaning of them. Today I remain both a cynical skeptic and an individual who’s questioning the place of religion in college life.
While eating lunch at Warren Towers, I frequently find my friends and I discussing our views on religion and God. One friend was raised Atheist and still is today. Another friend was brought up Christian, but found herself disenchanted as she spent more time in college and away from home. Perhaps it’s my surroundings, or maybe it’s my upbringing, but I find myself wondering: where is the origin of faith.
I’m wondering if many college students who do still practice their religion’s traditions do it as a sense of comfort. If, for every year of your life, you gave up something naughty for lent, then it makes perfect sense to continue that tradition in college. If your family got all dolled up and went to church every Sunday, then why not find yourself at Marsh Chapel once a week? Maybe it’s a sense of comfort and ritual like eating chocolate is for me.
Perhaps it’s my disillusioned mind, or maybe its my “I gotta see it to believe it” attitude, but I just don’t understand how someone who wasn’t raised with any religious influences could go away from home and find faith. Where does the sudden revelation stem from? Must it come from a tragic event, an extremely joyful and shocking occasion, or just from out of the blue?
Maybe there should be some FAITH101 class I could fit into my schedule in between U.S. History and Creative Writing. Not just a class about God and the various aspects of religion, but more about finding a way to believe in the unknown. Maybe that would help me to understand how college and the belief in the holy fit together. How many skeptical college students does it take to get to the center of faith? The world may never know.
