 |
|
 |
Students Experience Shabbat at Security-Conscious West Point
November 05, 2001Comments (0) | Add | E-mail this to a friend
"Their Morale was Unbelievable."
Planned since June, Queens College Hillel's recent Shabbaton with Jewish cadets at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point – themed "The Jewish Warrior" -- took on a whole new character after September 11. "We definitely felt a sense of solidarity with the cadets," said Queens College senior Kate Grossman.
"The cadets told the students that they were the reason they were learning how to defend the country," explained Queens College Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Moshe Shur.
With West Point at a heightened state of security, the program nearly didn't take place at all. "We waited for a decision on whether they would allow visitors day by day," said Shur. In the end, the administration allowed the trip, but students wore identification badges at all times. "When we visited West Point before they just pointed us toward the Jewish chapel and waved us in," explained junior Orit Benet. "This time at the gate they did a security check on every part of the vehicle."
The group of 50 students from Queens College and other New York-area schools stayed with 42 Jewish cadets in their dorms. The students slept on military-issue cots and observed West Point regulations: including a 5 a.m. Saturday morning inspection. Kosher food was brought in for the occasion and tickets to the Army-Tulane football game were purchased for the students before Saturday in order not to violate Jewish religious law which prohibits the use of money on the Sabbath.
 The highlight of the weekend was a Saturday night barbecue featuring performances by the West Point Choir and Queens College Hillel's Tizmoret a capella group. "After spending more than 24 hours with the cadets we really felt like we knew each other and we could just be ourselves," said Queens College junior Orit Benet. "They were students just like us, but students who could be forced to march for five hours for coming 30 seconds late to class."
The talk naturally turned to the military life and the likelihood that these cadets would see fighting sooner rather than later. "They said that they had no choice to go on," said Grossman, "but now they would go on with greater fervor – now they have a goal in mind. Their morale was unbelievable. I couldn't do it."
Benet, a member of the Tizmoret, said that she felt something special when the group sang the National Anthem and when they dedicated their song "You Changed My Life" to the cadets. "We sing that song all the time," she said. "But this time when we came to the part that says 'you helped me be strong since you came along,' it really had meaning."
The Queens College trip was organized with the help of West Point graduates Lou Zickel and Lou Gross, supported by grants from Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life and Hillel's Soref Initiative for Emerging Campuses. The Soref Initiative provides ongoing support to Jewish life at West Point and over 300 campuses with small Jewish populations.
|
 |
|
 |