By Maegan Clearwood
News Editor
The Washington College Jewish community is small but mighty. Although the members have no official area on campus or in Chestertown to meet, they manage to celebrate their faith and culture both as a campus group and with the local Jewish community, or Havurah.
Now, however, club activities and Shabbat dinners will have an official home. The Hillel House will hopefully be furnished and renovated by this fall, providing a space for members to socialize, cook, and practice their faith.
WC has owned the soon-to-be Hillel House for years, but the official plans to convert it were revealed at President Mitchell Reiss’ Hanukkah dinner this winter. The announcement was a complete surprise for members, who were not expecting any special attention for their small group.
“We have maybe 30 members on the list serve and five active members,” Doll said. “We wouldn’t even think the school would recognize us.”
There are a number of changes that need to be made before any events can be held at the house. According to Reiss, WC has a lead give of $25,000 and has gotten permission from the town to begin renovations.
“Now we need to create the house programmatically, decide what the activities we want the house to start performing are, then to raise the money. We have enough money to come have an architect come in and look at the house” he said. “I can imagine inviting guest speakers to talk about themes related to Jewish life, culture, events around religious holidays.”
According to sociology professor Ryan Kelty, who has been an advisor for the club with his wife, Ruth Kelty, since 2008, there is lots of work to be done before the house can actually be used.
“We’d be looking for an opportunity to knock down a few walls, expand the kitchen, make it much more open,” said Kelty. “Right now, it’s not very serviceable as a Hillel house.”
Club members anticipate an increased participation rate next year because of the house.
“It’s really hard to stimulate the campus with five students. We wanted to encourage more Jewish students here, to liven up culture on campus,” Doll said.
A strong Jewish presence on campus could be an attractive feature for prospective students. According to Kelty, many peer institutions have Hillel houses, and having one at WC could attract a broader student body.
“If students looking for [a strong Jewish community], then we wouldn’t come out as well on that calculus. From my perspective, it’s a fantastic move on the college’s part, to support a group culturally and religiously,” Kelty said. “We can provide space for them to discuss Jewish history, Middle Eastern politics, and have cooking classes.”
Although the Hillel Club is much smaller than many other campus organizations, Kelty emphasized the importance giving the group an official meeting place.
Chestertown does not offer a Jewish common area, meaning that the club has to hold its Shabbat dinners and events either on campus or at Kelty’s home, which is seven miles away. A Hillel House will provide the club with an official space to connect not only with their faith, but also with the Havurah.
“The intent is to be a house that’s built on Jewish culture and Jewish religious practices, but open to the entire community,” Kelty said. “Even the local Jewish community doesn’t have a dedicated space; they rotate from house to house. It’s will be a WC-centered house, but we anticipate having a close partnership with the havarah.”
The house will also be open to students of other faiths, particularly the Muslim community.
“ The Muslim laws are derived form Jewish kosher, so it would suffice for Islamic kosher kitchen. The possibility of connecting with the Middle Eastern community is pretty exciting,” Kelty said.
Hopefully, renovations will be completed over the summer so that the Hillel Club and Havarah will be holding their Shabat dinners out of a new Kosher kitchen by this fall.
March 25, 2011
Volume LXXXI Issue 19