The Jewish community is preparing to celebrate a "sweet new year," but that may prove difficult as America readies itself for a war against global terrorism. Though some students chose to travel home for the holidays, most say they were concerned with their safety.
Rosh Hashanah, which begins this evening, represents the start of the new year on the Jewish calendar. The holiday serves as a celebratory time for families to come together to reflect on the year that passed and prepare for Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Many students return home to celebrate with family during the two-day holiday.
The shocking nature of the terrorist attacks may compel students to travel home, Rabbi Jeffrey Summit said. "My sense is that many people want to be with their families now and if they can find a way to travel, they will try to go home," he said.
Junior Ari Weisman lives in New Jersey and traveled home for Rosh Hashanah during her freshman and sophomore years. Tuesday's events increased his desire to go home, Weisman said, because the Jewish holidays are too important of a time to spend without family.
Some students decided not to go home because the holidays fall this year in the middle of the week. Missing classes, not security concerns, led these students to stay at Tufts, according to Hillel President Brooke Menschel.
But others, Menschel said, reconsidered plans because of traveling fears. "If I lived somewhere close enough, I would want to go home, but I am apprehensive about traveling right now and would probably have changed my plans," sophomore Tara Heumann said. "I am very concerned about my friends who are going home."
Though some students say they are apprehensive about traveling, others insist that the need to be with family is paramount. "Traveling home wasn't an issue for me because I drove - I didn't take any mass transportation," said sophomore Bonnie Rose Shulman, who lives in New York "But I think that even if I had needed to take a train or a bus or something, I would have done it."
Menschel said she could not gauge the effects of last week's tragedy until she sees the turnout at Hillel's holiday events. "Because of the tragedies last week, I think some people seriously reconsidered their plans for the Jewish holidays," she said. "I definitely heard people asking about tickets [for holiday meals] late last week, but I also heard about people still planning to go home."
Senior Rachel Kaplan said she had no reservations about traveling because the trip to her grandparents' home in Hartford, CT is only two hours long. But she said she was nervous for her parents, who flew from Orlando, FL, taking one of the first planes out of an almost-empty airport.
Kaplan's parents calmed her fears by describing how the entire plane came together as a community during the flight. Many of the passengers shared the same fears regarding last week's hijackings. But the pilot, who walked into the cabin and spoke to passengers personally, assured everyone that they would be fine.
"I'll be even more appreciative of being with so many family members this holiday," Kaplan said. "I'm especially grateful for the company of my [aunt] and 12-year old cousin," she said. "I've really felt a need to see their faces in person since Tuesday."
