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Non Jewish RA on Primarily Jewish Floor
ORIGINAL (FULL) QUESTION:
I am a (non-Jewish) R.A. on a primarily Kosher Jewish floor in a dorm. These students do not want to participate in any programs or even have any of my food. I have tried to even bring Kosher food to them and still, they only associate with their own community. Actually a group of us are all experiencing this problem as we are all non-Jewish R.A.'s in the Jewish section of a dorm. We could really use some advice as the 8 of use are nearly at our wits end with trying to no avail. The problem was so serious that we even contacted the Hillel on campus, who said that their community prefers their own company. Got any advice?
Answer 1
I guess the first question that I would ask you is, have you asked the residents what they would like for you do with them? Are you programming FOR the residents, or WITH the residents? Is there at least one person on your floor that you have gotten to know that could provide some insight into the floor behavior? With the food situation, where are you getting the recipes for the Kosher food? Or are you buying it somewhere? Have you tried to educate yourself on the Jewish faith to better understand your residents' needs? Lots of questions that would better help me understand your situation. :)
As for advice, if the campus Hillel organization isn't willing to help you program for their population, I would try a Hillel on another campus, or the national organization. You can probably find that on the web. I would look to see if there are any Jewish Community Centers in your community that you could approach for resources or speakers. How about synagogues? Have you spoken to your supervisor about this situation? Chances are, if they are overseeing this hall, they may have made some contacts within the Jewish community that would be open to helping you out.
I hope this helps a little. If you need anything else, please feel free to contact me! Good luck!
Aimee
Aimee Zimmer
Quadrangle Area Coordinator
University of Houston
Answer 2
Regarding your question to Resident assistant.com about living and programming for a primarily Jewish hall I would say involve your students in the planning of programs first and formost. They are your greatest resource and will be able to tell you what types of activities they would be interested in. You are their greatest resource in being able to acquire money, transportation, meeting space, advertisements and organizational help. Too many times we plan for our residents thinking we know what they would like. We need to remember that it is their money that we are spending and it is their time that we are requestion when we host a program. Therefore, it is them that we must employ when planning. I would reccommend finding one or two leaders on your floor that have good repoire with the other residents and asking for their assistance.
I am sorry to hear that you got such a poor response from Hillel. Maybe you should try speaking to someone else there. Also, let the Hillel director know what was told to you when you first asked for help. Such a response should be contrary to their mission statement.
Best of luck..
Answer 3
The question is how to contact and build better community with a jewish hall?
If the majority are orthodox, there may not be much you can change.
Otherwise, I would suggest going to residents and including them in your
programming efforts. Let them take some of the responsibility for
programming and hall activities. Also, if you prepare kosher food, you may
want to inform them on how it was prepared, or if you purchased the food
where it was purchased.
Gregg Stewart
Residence Life
Coordinator
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