Here are some tips to make your holidays away from home as enjoyable as possible. (This doesn’t just apply to Jewish students – every student can find the right balance between religion, relationships, classes, activities, and a part-time job.)

First and foremost, talk to your professors if you plan on missing a class because you are observing a religious holiday. My freshman year I had a foreign professor that refused to excuse me from his 1-credit seminar class because of Yom Kippur. I was intimidated but my parents (typical Jewish mother syndrome) convinced me to talk to my advisor right away. He was made aware of the situation from day 1 and it became a non-issue. Your university should have a policy stating religious discrimination is unacceptable. Do your research just in case a similar situation arises.

Seek out student organizations geared to your religious affiliation. Hillel and Chabad are great places to spend the High Holy Days if you are Jewish. Penn State Hillel, for instance, provides a home-cooked meal every Friday night after services – a big improvement over the dining hall food. The students involved in these groups have created a balance in their lives and they can advise you how to do the same. You already all have something in common. You can compare how many times a day your Mom has called or share stories about your yearly winter vacations to visit Grandma in Florida. Who knows… you will probably be able to find someone who went to the same sleepaway camp as you did (the Six Degrees of Jewish Separation is no joke).

Bring the holidays to you and your friends. If you live in a dorm, order chicken noodle soup from a local deli and share with your roommates. Plan your own festive meal. Teach your Gentile friends about the importance of rye bread and good bagels. You can be extremely adventurous if you have your own kitchen and make your own “Jew Food.”

By the time the High Holidays roll around, everyone’s going to be so sick of Ramen and late-night Easy Mac that they’ll think matzo balls are better than sliced bread. Which, as any Jew knows, they totally are. Unless that bread is challah. Yum.

Not only have they had to deal with wars and bombs from surrounding countries, but the citizens of Israel live in constant fear of suicide bombers getting on their busses, coming into their schools and destroying their daily lives.

Today, Israel is at war with Hamas. Every day, the Israeli Army sends bombs into the Gaza strip in attempts to stop the terrorist organization from bombing their country.

“The goal of this operation is to stop the launching of rockets upon Israeli civilians and to make sure that the Hamas organization, which is a terrorist organization, will not be able to get any more rockets… And also to make sure that they will not have the will to act against Israeli civilians.”

As with any military operation, there has been severe collateral damage. Innocent people – including U.N. aid workers – have been injured and killed, there is a shortage of food and water, and hundreds of buildings have been destroyed. Yet, Hamas will not stop.

My question is this:

In your opinion, is Israel the monster, or is Hamas – knowing what they can do to stop the war in Gaza – turning its back on the well-being of its very own people? This sitution is not one that has a simple answer, but one that could be resolved with some thought, understanding, and conversation.

Or should I say, Trumpberg? Trumpstein? Schwartztrump?

Ivanka Trump has sought out a rabbi to take her on her journey to Judaism. Why does she want to be a Jew? Why not? We are wonderful people: kind, generous, family oriented, and we know how to eat. And, hello, have you ever had matzoh ball soup? Yeah, that’s all us.

Oh, and she is also in love with some Jewish guy who won’t marry her unless she too celebrates Hanukkah, Yom Kippur and all that jazz.

I think it is wonderful that Ivanka has found love (and a real estate empire) in Jared Kushner, but the whole thing makes me wonder just how far women should go to be with the guy they love. I used to get sh*t from my friends for changing my hair/music selection/weekend plans for the guys I was with, so I can only imagine how they’d feel if I changed my entire belief system.

I know that love is a wondeful thing, that it is hard to find, and that we should hold onto the one we got, but there has to be a line, right?

Would you convert for someone you love?

[Photo courtesy of Gawker.]

Rumor has it

Yes, like many non-Jewish women who fall head over heels for the Jews (and who can blame them?), Lilo is (allegedly) converting for her gal-pal, Samantha Ronson.

Being a card carrying Member of the Tribe, I feel it is my duty to whip up a (Kosher) Jell-O mold/some bagels and lox and welcome Linds to the Jew-berhood.

We are so excited to have yet another celeb on the verge of a mental breakdown to call our own!

Before I hand over the bagels, though, I need to make sure Lohan is in it for the long run. We Jews take our religion seriously and, like the bouncers at the Waverly Inn, don’t let just anyone in. Is she ready to use guilt to get everything she wants in life? Does she fully understand just how much time we are forced to spend in synagogue? Does she know that being Jewish is about more than searching for a good deal at Marshalls?

And, most importantly, is Lindsay truly devoted to our people, or is it all about the allure of Yom Kippur, a holiday where we atone (and are completely forgiven) for the sins we have committed in the past year? Lord knows Lohan has a lot of atoning to do, starting with that line of leggings she created.

Oy. As if having Speidi at church wasn’t bad enough, now we have to worry about having Lohan at Temple. God help us all.

Look for common ground.

In today’s modern world, even religious leaders are beginning to emphasize the common ties of religion rather than the differences. It’s important for you to learn to do the same, if you really want to make it work with a guy. If one of you is Protestant and the other Catholic, you’re already halfway there toward reconciliation, really; the fundamental points of doctrine are the same. If you’re interested in religious discussion, make an effort to point out where you agree. For example, Jesus is a prophet and a holy figure in Islam as well as Christianity. Sufis and Buddhists agree that meditation techniques are important for reaching higher spiritual states. Jews and Muslims agree about dietary restrictions and the importance of respecting God through very similar laws. There’s common ground for everyone!

Respect differences.

Anyone who is a proud member of a religion clearly holds that religion’s tenets and practices dearly. If you like to drink but your boyfriend doesn’t on principle, it’s unwise to try forcing him. Religious traditions go back centuries and not everyone wants to quickly abandon family traditions or practices just to be more likeable or easier to date. A meaningful Serious Relationship is built on mutual respect. That also works in the other direction, though — if your boyfriend/girlfriend has expectations of you based on his/her religion, you have no obligation to fulfill them! So, for example, respect his choice not to eat pork, but don’t give up bacon just because he doesn’t like it. If he can’t respect your choice, it’s unfair.

Talk.

A great deal of the conflicts among religions in the wider sphere are caused by misunderstandings. That’s true on the individual level too! Before you become alarmed that your guy is a different faith than yours, ask questions about what he believes in. He may be able to dispel common misconceptions or urban legends about his religion. You may have a lot more in common than you thought.

Make your choice.

When it comes down to it, if you’re really invested in the Serious Relationship, then it’s important to think seriously about whether you’re willing to be involved in an interfaith relationship. Is it truly important to you to be with someone of the same faith? Or are you flexible on that score? By being honest about what you want, you may be able to learn a great deal about your boy or girlfriend, and gain insight into a world you thought you’d never understand. That alone is worth trying for, if you’re willing to be open-minded about it.

[Photo courtesy of nationalcenter.org]

I was raised to believe that there was a god, one god, and that Jesus Christ was his son. I accepted him into my ‘heart’ and was baptized at an early age. Then I was taught that anyone who didn’t move forward with those two procedures was going to go to Hell; even if they were a good person. Oh, Hell. The fiery pit where bad people burn with the devil.

I once believed this place was real and I could quote scriptures from The Bible as my own little way of reassuring myself that I wasn’t gonna be one of those bad people going to that bad place. I prayed when things weren’t going my way and I prayed when things were going my way. Come to think of it, I spent more time chatting it up with God when I was young than I did my friends.

I knew nothing about earning money, but I knew you were a selfish person if you didn’t give at least 10% of your income to God and your church. I knew that Halloween was for Satan and witches, that Jewish people believed in the same God that I did but were still going to Hell, and that Pulp Fiction was a very, VERY demonic movie that I was never allowed to see.

When I entered adolescence, I started to embrace my Christianity in new ways. I listened to rock bands who screamed lyrics you couldn’t understand…but they were Christian, so it was okay. I wore punky clothes and was straight edge. A straight edge jerk, judging everyone I knew who did drugs or drank or — god forbid — had sex.

I attended three different churches growing up and met all sorts of Christians. Good ones, bad ones, and everything in between. But, as most Christians will be quick to remind you, Christianity is about Christ-not Christians. So let’s forget about the massive churches who have Starbucks booths in their lobbies. Lets forget about the way a person can so eloquently damn another person to Hell, but with compassion. Lets talk about Christ, according to The Bible.

No matter how liberal you’d like to be with your beliefs, that book is still pretty clear about the fact that believing in this guy, Jesus, is the way to save your soul. And the only way. Crazily enough, that was okay with me…until I started meeting people who weren’t Christian. Good people who were more devoted to their respective religions than I ever was started to stand out to me in a crowd. The message of Christ — of peace and love — started to speak much louder than the rules and regulations of religion.

Slowly, but surely, I stopped believing in everything but the peace, love, and golden rule concepts. I started to believe that no religion was absolutely wrong or absolutely right. I started to accept the fact that The Bible was written by humans and no matter how divine their passages may have been, humans are still humans. Eventually, I found myself where I stand today.

I stand in a place where I do not believe in Heaven or Hell. And even if those places did exist, I certainly don’t believe in worshipping a god who would send good people to a torturous place just because they didn’t ‘accept Jesus into their heart’. I believe that there may be something greater than us; in fact, I believe that there probably is. But that doesn’t mean I believe in a god. I just believe that we’re humans and we don’t know the answers. Even if we all collectively contributed our religious experiences to a new religious book, I still do not believe we’d get it right. I do not believe we’re capable of this.

I know that religion means a lot to a lot of people. I am not trying to make a laughing matter of it — particularly not after the years I spent devoted to it. However, I’m much happier now in this place in my life where I can live with an open mind and not have to have even one friend in my social circle who I feel like I need to ‘save’. I’m much happier here with a Pulp Fiction poster on the wall in my living room. I’m much happier having met the guys in the Christian rock bands I once worshipped and having seen that they do cocaine, they have sex with groupies; they are not flawless. I much happier with Halloween.

I don’t believe in absolutes anymore, except for the absolute that that lifestyle was wrong for me.

[Photo courtesy of daretoshare.org.]