Exploring my Jewish heritage was one of my study abroad goals. During my semester as a student living in Copenhagen, I took a European Jewish history class and immediately connected with the Chabad of Denmark. There are approximately 7,000 Jews in all of Copenhagen which amazes me as my synagogue at home sets up close to 2,000 chairs just for our congregation on the High Holidays. I learned that the Danes were one of the only countries in Europe to protect the Jews during the Holocaust and more than 95% survived by escaping to Sweden during World War II.
I spent many Shabbat dinners at the Chabad house where I met Jewish people from all over the world. A few particular highlights from my Jewish life abroad: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot; an event in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Rescue of the Danish Jews, which took place between Rosh Hashanah and the end of Sukkot in October 1943, arranging a reenactment of the rescue operation. For this event, we sailed from Copenhagen to Sweden on a boat where five Holocaust survivors shared their insight and recollections.
Through my Jewish History course, we visited the Danish Jewish museum, the Danish synagogue and got to meet with the Chief Rabbi of Denmark. At the end of the semester, I was invited by the Rabbi’s wife to attend the the first hasidic wedding in the history of the country which was met with quite a celebration.
Later in the semester I traveled with my parents to Budapest, Vienna, and Prague. In each of these cities we visited the Jewish museums and saw where the Jews had lived and where they had died. Seeing the shoes on the Danube River was particularly moving. I was shocked by a memorial in Vienna that made it appear that the Holocaust happened to Europeans generally and failed to explain the specific targeting of the Jews. In Prague we went to a cantorial concert in a synagogue dating back to the 1500s.
Following my semester abroad, I traveled to Israel where I participated in a spiritual learning program with Livnot U’Lehibanot in Tzfat. Through this program I got to meet with David Friedman, a famous Kabbalah artist and scholar, and to learn with him and share Shabbat with his family. Like me, he grew up as a secular Jew in the Midwest. He was drawn to Buddhism in college and through that decided to learn more about Judaism and over time became religious. My takeaways from him and experiencing a traditional Shabbat are to continue learning and growing my knowledge base in Judaism with the goal of adding to my overall spiritual being.
As I return back to campus for my final semester before graduation, I take the values I learned while abroad and I look forward to connecting with more perspectives from around the globe.
Ahava,
Cal
Cal's Adventures Abroad 