By Sara Helfand

Growing up in public school, the only time I ever got to express my Jewish identity to my classmates was through an activity about Chanukah that I presented with my brother and my mom each year, or by bringing in hamentaschen on my birthday. As I grew older, I hoped there would be a way for me to share my Jewish culture with my classmates and teach them about my heritage. My hope of being able to share my Jewish culture and identity came true on Rosh Hashanah of my junior year, when I found out that there would be a Jewish club starting at my school. I was so excited for the club to be launched.

Sara Helfand teaches other students how to play dreidel at the Norwalk High School Jewish Student Connection’s Chanukah celebration.

At the first meeting of Norwalk High School’s Jewish Student Connection (JSC), club leaders Alli Green and Rebecca Shapiro greeted us all with warmth and made us all feel at home. We had a hummus-making contest, which was a good way to learn about Jewish communities around the world, and also presented an opportunity to make friends in the club. This activity helped to show my non-Jewish friends that you don’t have to be Jewish to be in a Jewish club – you can just be interested in someone else’s religion and culture and want to learn. JSC is not always just about being Jewish; sometimes it relates to other topics, such as human rights around the world, stereotypes and how they affect us, and current events that are happening in the Middle East in general. JSC expands the topics we talk about and gives everyone a way to connect to them. I have learned about these topics and have also explored my Jewish identity, coming to the realization that my Jewish identity is at this point undefined.

Over the summer, JSC had a club based around the craft of tie-dying – but this was not your average tie-dying get-together. This tie-dying activity had a purpose. Each color you chose to dye your shirt represented a different part of your Jewish identity. For example, red represented religion and blue represented Israel. The color green was special because that color was up to you to define yourself. When I first chose my colors, I really did not think about why I chose just green and blue. After going around in a circle and listening to everyone share why they chose the colors they did, I realized that I chose green not because I wanted to define the color myself, but because my Jewish identity is itself undefined. I realized that my Jewish identity changes and grows each day, making it impossible to define. In finding that my Jewish identity is flexible and undefined, I also realized how important my Jewish identity is to me.

Going off to college next year, I wanted to make sure I applied to colleges with Jewish life. JSC helped me to see how important Jewish life is to me, and how much it will impact my experience wherever I go. I have not decided where I am going yet, but I am sure that wherever I go I will find a way to share my Jewish culture and always remember my Jewish identity.

Sara Helfand is a senior at Norwalk High School, where she is co-president of the school’s Jewish Student Connection.

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