Wednesday, October 2, 2024
|
|
|
From Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur
|
Feature by: Adam Kirtley, Interfaith Chaplain, & Richard Middleton-Kaplan, Director of Academic Support Services
|
This evening marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah and the start of the Jewish High Holy Day season. Rosh Hashanah commemorates the Jewish New Year and within the tradition, marks the date of the creation of the world. It also begins the “Days of Awe,” a ten day period culminating in Yom Kippur—the Day of Atonement—in which concepts of forgiveness and repentance are particularly emphasized.
To better understand the significance of these holidays and to contextualize them within a higher education setting, Interfaith Chaplain Adam Kirtley sat down for a conversation with Richard Middleton-Kaplan, Director of Whitman’s Academic Support Services, a Lay Rabbi and Advisor to Kehillat Shalom, Whitman’s Jewish student organization.
Adam: Thanks, Richard, for carving out time in the midst of these busy days. Let’s jump right in. To my understanding, these holidays, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, are connected or linked by the Days of Awe, and yet these bookends seem very different. The New Year feels like a celebration—a time to give thanks and eat honey and apples in hopes of a sweet new year. But ten days later, the tone is very different—a solemn time of repentance? How might we best understand this juxtaposition?
Richard: That's a good characterization. But I am going to add that at the end of that period of repentance, there should be a feeling of uplift, joy, even ecstasy by going through the process of the observance. We're celebrating the birth of the universe. This is the day, in Jewish tradition, on which God created the world and created your namesake, Adam, and Eve. So we’re commemorating that, and it is “sweet” to think about that. As you said, we eat apples and honey, hoping for a sweet new year.
And then the Days of Awe is a period of ten days of self-reflection and consideration of how I’ve conducted myself in the past year in relation to those around me, and in what ways I want to wipe the slate clean and start over. So part of that is thinking about the things that I’ve done that were good, that I want to be proud of and and I want to continue. And then also thinking about who I’ve wronged and making things right with them. During these ten days I should be asking forgiveness of God for sins committed against God. But the liturgy teaches us that God cannot forgive sins committed against other people. God can only forgive for sins committed against God. So, Adam, if I wronged you, and then I went to God and asked for forgiveness and then felt like I had been forgiven, but I never talked to you…I don’t know how you would feel about being left out of the equation, right?
Read more.
|
|
|
Two Professors Named Public Humanities Fellows
|
Assistant Professor of History Camilo Lund-Montaño and Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies Mariana Ruiz-Gonzalez have been selected as 2024–2025 Public Humanities Fellows with Humanities Washington. Their project will collect, preserve and publicize oral histories and photographs from the Latinx/e communities to diversify the region’s visual culture and acknowledge Latinx/e representation and voices within Walla Walla and Southeastern Washington.
|
|
|
Justice William O. Douglas Lecture Tomorrow
|
The annual Justice William O. Douglas Lecture will take place on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 5 p.m. in Olin Auditorium. The Honorable William A. Fletcher, a senior judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Richard W. Jennings Emeritus Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of Law, will speak on the topic of academic freedom and the First Amendment. The lecture will be followed by a roundtable discussion with Fletcher and professors Heather Elliott, the John J. Sparkman Chair of Law at the University of Alabama School of Law, and Elizabeth Porter, the James W. Mifflin Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law. (Flyer attached.)
|
Hike With President Bolton on Saturday
|
The Outdoor Program and Office of the President are collaborating to offer a day hike on Saturday, Oct. 5 from 11 a.m. to approximately 2 p.m. in Tiger Canyon, a tributary of Mill Creek. Spend a few hours getting to know President Sarah Bolton while enjoying a beautiful creekside walk on a good trail with big trees, lots of birds and interesting plant life. No experience necessary. Snacks will be provided. Advance registration is required.
|
Safer Sex & Birth Control Education Next Week
|
Student Life is partnering with Planned Parenthood of Walla Walla to provide an information session about best safer sex practices and birth control options on Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. in Prentiss Hall. Free condoms, dental dams and lubricant will be available.
|
Annual Security Report Published
|
In accordance with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act, a federal law that requires colleges and universities to disclose information about crime on and around their campuses, the 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is now published on our website. The report includes statistics for the previous three years (2023, 2022, 2021). Questions? Email security@whitman.edu.
|
|
|
Twelve Whitman students recently participated in a full weekend American Mountain Guide Association Climbing Wall Instructor certification course—through a Sports Studies, Recreation and Athletics course facilitated by the Outdoor Program (@whitmancollegeoutdoorprogram). The students learned about risk management, client care, technical systems, application, terrain assessment, movement skills, mountain sense, professionalism and instructional technique.
|
|
|
|
|
Reid Campus Center, Young Ballroom
|
|
|
|
|
Movement That Matters: Strength & Stretch
|
|
|
|
|
Leaving From Reid Campus Center
|
|
|
|
|
Reid Campus Center Lawn or Sherwood 114
|
|
|
|
|
Reid Campus Center, Basement
|
|
|
Would you like to share an event with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.
|
|
|
Produced by the Office of Communications, Whitman Today is emailed to Whitman College staff, faculty and students each weekday during the academic year and twice a week during breaks. An archive of previous issues is available online.
All submissions are welcome! If you have accomplishments to celebrate, an event to publicize or other Whitman content to share, email whitmantoday@whitman.edu. Submissions of 125 words or less are due by noon for the following day’s newsletter. Submissions may be edited and/or held for a later date according to space and editorial needs. Your submission also authorizes use on Whitman's social media unless otherwise specified.
|
|
|
Find us on social media: @whitmancollege
|
|
|
|
