“Every person will express his or her belief in their own particular way, yet they’re all perspectives generated from within our mind and our hearts that affect our outward look on life.” This is how Peter Hesen, writer at Medium, describes how faith and religion integrate into everyone’s life differently. He argues that we don’t need religion to have faith, and that we don’t necessarily all need religion but that we do all need faith. I have found this to hold true throughout my life.
Religion was simply not a big deal in my home. My dads lineage is Hindu while my mom’s family are practicing Catholics. We celebrate Catholic holidays but beyond a church service or two and saying grace on the holidays, religion was rarely on my mind. Though throughout life’s trials and tribulations, I have still turned to faith. I have put my faith in the hands of others rather place of a higher being, like many do with religion. I have held faith in my ability to push myself academically; I have faith in my family that they will push me with my best interests in their hearts;I have put faith in my friends to support me; After years of suffering from chronic pain, I faced the greatest challenge of my life when I chose to entrust my faith into the hands of doctors at The Mayo Clinic. I believe that no matter what one does with their faith, it is so valuable to your sanity.
As I have grown up, and especially since coming to college, I have come to meet, know and love people from so many diverse backgrounds, placing religion on my mind more. Coming to this realization has given me the desire to explore more deeply how faith influences others differently than it does me-particularly other college students. I heard from some friends that Shabbat at Chabad is a fun, lovable and welcoming space on Chapmans campus. Chabads weekly Shabbat is a time for Jewish (and non-Jewish in my case) members of the Chapman community to gather in their common faith. Chabad became the perfect opportunity for me to reflect on my own faith, so I took it- and this is where it led me.
Everyone defines and values the term faith in their own way. It is easy to forget that faith is not just about religion. In a HuffPost article regarding the differences between faith and religion, religious scholar Reza Aslan interpretes that “faith is personal and mysterious and individualistic and inexpressible and indefinable. Religion is merely the language that you can use to express what is fundamentally inexpressible, to define what is undefinable.” This definition resonated a lot with the way that I feel about the differences between faith and religion. While many do entrust their faith into a higher being, others hold their faith within them, hand it to the world, or a combination of these.
While I was at Chabat, I was able to see a scale of values toward religion. While (almost) everyone was jewish, religion held different magnitudes of importance to each member. Rabbi Eliezer’s life revolves around religion, his faith is a core piece of him. For some, Chabat and Judaism is more about the community rather than the religious facet. My friend Lexie is Jewish, and describes Chabad as “home away from home,” to her, Chabad “means the opportunity to continue practicing Jewish traditions and continue to be immersed in my culture.” It can be difficult for college students to prioritize their faith, and Chabad makes it feasible. Another friend of mine Kate, is half Jewish and while she doesn’t celebrate Jewish holidays or practice Judaism, she attends Chabad hoping to learn more about a religion she semi identifies with. She told me that “Chabad is the perfect example of community. Everyone comes together to support and celebrate each other even if they aren’t Jewish… It’s also a way to get introduced to Jewish customs as someone who never practiced them before.” I felt similar to Kate, coming from no Jewish background at all, Chabad was a great place to simply learn about a religion, something that I think is important to do in this world filled with religious discrimination. The different experiences I saw at Chabad truly emphasized to me how religion holds differently to us all.
Seeing this represented helped me understand that despite the large variations in values, beliefs, ideas, etc of different religions, and the way individuals hold faith; all share a similar purpose. In addition to Chabat, Hensen helped guide my understanding of this. Through a detailed personal anecdote, he shows how he has distinguished faith from religion in his own life. He says, “To me, there is a clear distinction between ‘faith’ and ‘religion’, a distinction that is often blurred, confused — corrupted even — in conversations, literature, news headlines, and public discourse. ”His points narrate how not everyone needs or has religion as a part of their intersectionality, but faith is present within all of us in some way. It’s fascinating to me how the spectrum of faith and religion is so expansive and individual.
Despite being excited to learn about how religion influences members Chabat, I was a little nervous heading there. I worried that there may be a religious ritual/prayer where I wouldn’t know what to do, that I would feel self-conscious that I wasn’t Jewish, or that others would be bothered that I wasn’t Jewish. Though, As soon as we arrived, I felt at ease- comforted by the scent of a home cooked meal. In the backyard where everyone sat among each other, casually chatting, snacking on hummus and challah, sipping on wine and grape juice. My friends and I found open seats at a table and began doing the same. We ended up talking to some other students sitting around us, quickly making new friends.
Not long after settling in, Rabbi Eliezer asked us all to quiet down so he could speak before dinner was served. This gave me a short moment to reflect on the conversations I had that evening, and was when I realized that nobody ever asked if I was Jewish; attesting to the welcoming environment of Chabad. Rabbi spoke about how ‘we’ turn to God during times where we need support and guidance- especially with the new school year in full swing. He emphasized ways we integrate God and faith into our everyday lives. And while everything he said was of course in the context of Judaism- It was still meaningful to me. As he spoke, I could remove the word God from his words, replace it with something or someone else and still apply his insight of faith into my own life. This really speaks to how faith is such an integral part of the way we live, and how “religions can fulfil the need of the needy, but they are but a surrogate to the root, faith. Faith is a condition of the heart and a state of mind.” Religion is not for everyone, but for the people who do practice, religion it is so important to their intersectionality.
Chapman Chabad was just one opportunity for me to reflect on my own experiences with faith and religion. I hope to not only go back to Chabad but maybe another religious group on campus as well. I learned that the Jewish community at Chapman is accepting, nonjudgmental, and warm. If you are Jewish and looking to dedicate more time to your religion, or aren’t and just want to learn more about Judaism or religion in general, I highly encourage attending Chabad. Rabbi will be thrilled to meet you and excited to have you. In a world where so many judge or even hate others based on their religion. This opportunity was a reminder to me of just how important faith is my life, and led me to reflect on the times where it has guided me, such as when I entrusted my faith into the doctors at The Mayo Clinic. I know I would not have had the courage to get through that very difficult period of my life without faith. It is what comforted and instilled a needed sense of confidence in me. Having faith that I could surrender to the doctors and treatment is what led me to the other side, a place where I am happier, healthier, and more resilient. Looking back, I can’t imagine where I would be now if I didn’t have faith to hold onto during that time. Trials like these are what make faith so critical and something to have immense gratitude for. Chabad reminded me of how amazing it is that faith and religion mean something unique to each and every one of us.
Greta Ghei 