Partial Transcripts: The De-Secularization of Vermont

Partial Transcripts: The De-Secularization of Vermont
As I type this entry, I am standing next to a 22 year-old who works for the rabbi at the Chabad House here in Burlington. Being that I have sadly learned of late that many campus rabbis - who usually head the proverbial Hillel House at universities - are far from Zionistic, this man, donning the full Hassidic outfit, shaking his head at the latest tragedy in London, explained that he was on a trip throughout Vermont to open up discussion on Judaism. He was, simply, a "breath of fresh air."

Doubtlessly, Burlington, the largest city in Vermont at 44,000, has the preponderance of Jews in the Green Mountain State, but since he and I both mused about the ignorance of big city Jews from here to Long Island, he was not concerned as much with them and their practices, or lack thereof. Rather, this genuine man was driving out to the rural areas for discourse and information. I thought that to be a splendid idea. The more rural Jew, the more Conservative, less influenced by the Liberal Elite at the Universities, thus the more open-minded s/he becomes.

Before we ended the conversation, the young gentleman, who hails from Detroit, asked me my job here at the University and was delighted to hear about my class, the objectivity of such and the fact that my students are 75% Jewish. He offered Friday night and/or Saturday services to them.

The Catholic boys and girls in our group go to Sunday services each week. How much do you want to bet that few, if any, of the Jewish students will partake in these important opportunities at the Chabad House?

I need not remind you of their socio-economic status, where they live and their parents' occupations and voting records. These are the sons and daughters of doctors and lawyers who attend Sidwell Friends, Great Neck North and Westfield High, but have Fox News banned by their parents and listen to their IPods when they are forced to visit Israel.

It's so sad the the more education one seems to have, the more ignorant and closed-mined they become.