New Club Highlights Jewish Traditions and Culture

As a wave of new clubs arise this year, one particular club, the first of its kind, celebrates and brings awareness to Jewish culture on campus.  

With no apparent club surrounding Jewish culture, two students decided to found the JCC, or Jewish Culture Club, to shed light on the importance of Jewish representation.

As one of the founders and presidents, sophomore Julia Stein remarks on what initially drove her and her co-president, sophomore Patrick Lowenstein, to start the club. 

“We wanted to create a sense of community for the Jewish people in our school and to educate both Jewish and non-Jewish people about our culture,” Stein said.

Lowenstein remarks on how the JCC brings awareness to campus. “As a club we gather generally around Jewish holidays where we talk about the origins, meaning, and cultural significance of the current holiday, and of course eat food representative of the holiday,” Lowenstein said.

Because of the lack of an establishment focused on Jewish culture, traditions and holidays have the tendency to be overlooked, no matter how big or small. 

The simultaneous occurrence of Hanukkah and finals can leave some members of the Jewish community overwhelmed with studying for finals when they should be able to spend time with family, stress-free.

“Even though Hanukkah is kind of the only holiday people really know, it’s actually one of the least important,” Lowenstein said. 

“However if it was something like Yom Kippour which is the most important, then it would be [a bigger deal],” Lowenstein said. 

“Hanukkah is actually a relatively minor holiday…But it would be nice to spend that time with family instead of studying,” Stein said.

With the establishment of the Hewish Culture Club, sophomore founders Stein and Patrick Lowenstein hope to the appreciation and recognition Jewish culture deserves.