The Review

Issue date: 4/24/07 Section: News

In 2005, junior Rebecca Chabrow took a Birthright trip with other university students.

When sophomore Emily Aufschauer was asked to give a sermon at a KESHER service at the Hillel Center this past Friday, she immediately knew she wanted to incorporate Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University into her speech. The news of the shootings and the aftermath dominated the media all week, but Aufschauer could not shake the feeling that something else still needed to be said.

Her task was simple enough: read a passage of the Torah aloud and interpret its meaning in her own way.

So, in front of an audience of approximately 40 Reform Jews, she began her sermon. The text mentioned the ridding of "plagues of the body" - she took the words and transformed them. Instead of the need to extinguish the plagues of the body, Aufschauer reinforced the obligation to extinguish the "plagues of our time."

She spoke of addressing global epidemics and the violence that threatens our society. The ideas of her sermon focused on an important Jewish concept of healing the world. Aufschauer, secretary of KESHER, reminded the audience of the negative impact of the college student lifestyle - with attention concentrated toward getting classwork done and getting ahead individually, students often lose sight of the greater need for community-based initiatives.

Working together and building a better community, she said, is the best way to heal the world.



It is no secret the university houses a large Jewish community consisting of approximately 10 percent of the entire student population. However, to many non-Jewish students, the differences between the Jewish sects on campus are sometimes unclear.

Aufschauer's KESHER group is the university's hub of Reform Judaism, the country's largest mainstream Jewish denomination. Conservative and Orthodox Judaism are also prominent sects. While each denomination adheres to the general laws and traditions stipulated in the Torah, the Jewish holy text, each has separate interpretations as to how those customs are to be carried out.

Although the campus' six Jewish organizations, KESHER, KOACH (Conservative Judaism), Hillel Student Life, Blue Hens For Israel, Chabad (Orthodox Movement) and the Jewish Heritage Program, all have varying missions, each have similar goals.

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