A Growing Community

A typical day for freshman Adam Sandler includes attending class, doing homework and eating meals. It also includes praying several times a day and wearing a kippah and tzitzit.

Sandler is an Orthodox Jew, one of just a few on campus. Unlike most freshmen, you won't find Sandler in the Marketplace come dinner, but at the Freeman Center for Jewish Life, eating kosher food with fellow Jews.

A few years ago, however, such a picture would not have presented itself.

Junior Eldee Stephens, also an Orthodox Jew, recalls, "When I was a freshman, Hillel was a shack and kosher food was only available on Friday nights. Now we have a multi-million-dollar place."

Sandler and his fellow Orthodox Jews mark an increased movement of making life at Duke more accommodating for those who wish to practice strict Jewish traditions.

Strictly observant Judaism is a way of life, not just a religion. Thus, observant students have special needs that need attention.

The University has made special accommodations for the several Orthodox and observant students on campus. Assistant FCJL Director Rabbi Bruce Seltzer said that the first thing an observant student looks for on a campus is kosher food. The FCJL holds a very strict standard of Kashrut (the dietary laws).

"I'm not on the freshman meal plan," said Sandler who eats the kosher lunches in Trinity Cafe and at the Cambridge Inn and dinners at the FCJL. "The food is delicious, my lunches and dinners are taken care of-it's great."

The construction of the FCJL has alleviated some of that shock by providing a place to eat and gather for Reform, Conservative and Orthodox services. Seltzer and the students credit the FCJL with the growing Jewish community on campus.

"There is a sense of cohesion of community due to the FCJL and those who run it," said Stephens.

Community plays a large role in Judaism, so the presence of a strong Jewish community is a must for observant Jews.

"There is a small, dedicated core of Jews here. It's growing, I feel," said Sandler.

"The community here has a lot to offer. People are growing into the new role having [the FCJL]," said sophomore Rachel Rosenthal. "It's getting there. Our community needed a leader and the rabbi is acting as our religious leader."

While Rosenthal is not an Orthodox Jew, she is observant and has many of the same special needs, including the special key entry.

"I'm happy that there are Orthodox students here, even though I disagree with some of their ideology," she said. "They bring a knowledge of Judaism and offer a different frame of reference. It creates diversity within the Jewish community."

That diversity is something that Seltzer plans to address. "The philosophy of the FCJL is to provide for different students to observe how they want, while remembering that everyone observes differently," he said. "We talk to individual students and find out what their needs are."

Seltzer calls the FCJL a pluralistic organization. For the past two weeks, the center has hosted student-led Orthodox, Conservative and Reform services on Shabbat.

Many hope that the increased diversity of Jewish life will make the University a more attractive place for Jews.

"Jews tend to go where other Jews are," said Rosenthal. "Community is a really big deal in Judaism. Having Orthodox Jews here will encourage other Orthodox Jews to come, and the same with Conservative Jews."

While the University has been accommodating to the Jewish community, Stephens said that it is more up to the community to develop Jewish life than the University.

The increased presence of observant Jews also adds to the diversity of the campus as a whole.

"Duke students tend to be very understanding and accommodating," said Stephens. "That kind of tolerance is wonderful and contrasts well with some places in the rest of the world."