2 Foreword……………………………………………...….. 4 How to Digest……………………………………………. 5 Emilia Bertoli………………………………………….6 – 7 Rachel Bondy……………………………………..…..8 – 9 Amit David………………………………………….10 – 11 Rachel Duthu……………………………………….12 – 13 Jael Ellman…………………………………………14 – 15 Ian Fishman……………………………………….. 16 – 17 Claire Hudson……………………………………...18 – 19 Deva Laifer……………………………………….…20 – 21 Leo Levine………………………………………….22 – 23 Table of Contents Click on the text to jump to a specific section.
Table of Contents Isaac Popper……………………………………….. 24 – 25 Rachel Ramos……………………………………… 26 – 27 Meredith Rosenberg……………………………… 28 – 29 Maya Scholder…………………………………….. 30 – 31 Rachel Serfaty……………………………………… 32 – 33 Hannah Snyder…………………………………….. 34 – 35 Mildred Thufvesson……………………………..… 36 – 37 Leor Weber………………………………………… 38 – 39 Gabi Williams……………………………….……… 40 – 41 Isa Zweiback…………………………………….….42 – 43 A Note from the Photographer and Creator….….… 44 About Tulane Hillel…………………………………..….. 45 3 Click on the text to jump to a specific section.
Launched in 2021, The Portrait Identity Project is the embodiment of Tulane Hillel’s commitment to creating radically inclusive community through innovative engagement opportunities. This photographic documentary series shares the stories of young, mostly Jewish adults, and is driven by a desire to diversify the lens through which Jewish narratives have and continue to be told through.
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As one looks, listens, and learns from these narratives, all audiences are encouraged to reflect on how their personal experiences have shaped their identity, to reconsider past perceptions, and to broaden the definition of what it looks like to hold multiple identities and to be a young Jewish adult during this time in America.
Foreword
Participants in the project share their stories by reflecting on a series of interview questions about how Jewish identity intersects with other facets of identity, how environment impacts the way Judaism is viewed and embraced, and how stereotypes affect how Jewish identity is conveyed or internalized. The interviews create the space for participants to process the full range of their experiences with Judaism, and the project amplifies the voices and experiences of underrepresented Jews.
The uniqueness of the Portrait Identity Project is the ability to enhance programmatic and organizational support for students. The insights and information gained from interviews ensure that our Hillel continues to learn, in a deeply meaningful way, what students are passionate about, what their needs are, and how we might support them; which can then be replicated at other Hillels across the country.
1. Click on the sound icon or on each person’s name.
How to Digest:
This will open an audio file in Google Drive in a new tab.
2. Click play on the audio file.
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3. Switch back to the E-Book tab on your browser to hear each individual share their story in their own voice.
As you read each story,
So, I’m Italian and you don’t hear about Italian Jews that often, because Catholicism is such a large part of Italian culture. I remember around the third grade a lot of my friends were having their communions, and that's what everyone was talking about. And, my dad was raised Roman Catholic, so up until that point, I was like, ‘Oh, I'm interfaith,’ like not really knowing what that meant. I just knew my mom was Jewish, my dad was Catholic.
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Due to scheduling conflicts, Emilia’s portrait and audio recording are not included in this edition.
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We weren't super religious, you know, it was considered very religious to even go to Shabbat services, like nobody really practiced like that. We celebrated Christmas, but we also went to my aunt's house for Passover, so I remember asking my mom, ‘What, what do I get?’ and she's like, ‘Well, you are Jewish, so you can have a bat mitzvah.' Back then, I wasn't really even sure what that meant because, traditional Judaism wasn't passed down to me. So I made the decision like, ‘Okay, I want to have a bat mitzvah.’ And, that's how I built the community and how I really kind of started learning what Judaism was about. But, then I had my bat mitzvah, and I kind of fell out of it [Judaism] just because that was the only thing giving me that kind of structure.
Emiliashe/herBertoli
The main thing I've been learning recently is that Judaism will always be there for me to come back, because it’s been in the background my entire life and that’s really where my roots are. It’s almost like a meditation practice; it's always there for you to come back to and find that peace and reconnect.”
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I think me and my Jewish friends here [at Tulane] all kind of fall into the same category of not feeling Jewish enough, not feeling like Jewish spaces on campus are for us necessarily. But, this semester I decided to go on a spring break trip through Hillel, and it was so amazing. Hearing the songs from hebrew school that I remember from so long ago… I forgot how amazing it is to just sing with people.
Emiliashe/herBertoli
“Growing up I experienced a lot of internal confusion about where I fit in. I remember that when I was young, my mom said to me, ‘Rachel, you're a lot of things, but you're 100% Jewish,’ and that became the spoke of my journey to figure out who I was. But, that only really worked because my head rabbi Angela is also half Korean. And, before that point, I honestly felt pretty rejected by the Jews around me and the Jewish community. Once I realized that my identities can coexist without detracting from one another, I could fully embrace that I was a lot of things and 100% Jewish, and that’s what made me special.”
Rachelshe/herBondy
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In America and at Tulane, I haven’t met a lot of Mizrahi or Sephardic Jews or Jews of color, because the majority are Ashkenazi. One guy that I was dating here told me, ‘You don't look Jewish.’ And, I was like, that’s not okay, so I asked him, ‘How is a Jewish person supposed to look?’ And, he was like, ‘Oh, you know?’ And, I was like, ‘No, I don't know.’ So, we had this whole conversation, but I feel like those sort of interactions are still happening today, especially in college.
Amitshe/herDavid
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I think that coming to the States made me realize how proud I am to be a Jewish woman. I had my own journey with God, my identity, and what I want to accomplish in life when it comes to Judaism – like how I want to raise my kids or how I want to build the foundation for my home. Experiencing Judaism from a different point of view pushed me out of my comfort zone, which was Israel, and taught me that there's no right way to be Jewish.”
“I grew up in Israel, and to be a Mizrahi there was totally fine, but when I went to Haifa University, all of my classmates were Ashkenazi and I remember feeling kind of different. They all came with really rich educational backgrounds and had a lot in common. I got a lot of comments and looks, because being Mizrahi comes with the stereotypes of being less educated and talking in a different vernacular – one that is maybe more… I don't wanna say aggressive, but like, the tone is a little bit different. So, I remember experiencing a lot of struggles there, and thinking, ‘But you know, I'm proud of who I am and I'm not gonna hide it.’ My grandpa came from Libya, where they had to hide their identity, so he always stressed being proud of our identity now that we could. His influence played a big role in my Jewish identity and how I see myself in the Jewish world.
Rachelthey/themDuthu
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Outside of a lot of Jewish spaces, and the university space, I use they/ them pronouns and identify more on the non-binary spectrum. But, no matter where or with whom I am socializing, I want peoples’ experience with me to be defined by the kindness, listening skills, communication, and empathy I work hard to prioritize in any interaction. These character traits are the most reflective of who I am and who I want to be, so how I relate to, or express my queerness is just an extension of these values. Acceptance of how God made me, and every other person, multifaceted and unique is just an extension of the kindness and understanding we should be treating everybody, including ourselves, with. In Jewish spaces, I allow my gender identity to shift. I think gender is more relevant in the secular world than it is within Judaism. Therefore, I am still authentically reflecting who I am because I am actively expressing what I believe are the most defining and relevant parts of my identity.“
“All the odds were against me becoming Jewish. Growing up, I barely knew any Jewish people in my town, and I was raised very Catholic. As I began to form my own morals, I realized that they didn't really align with Catholicism in the way that I wanted to practice. So at 17, I took a big step back and decided to take time to discover where I felt called to. When I found Judaism, the Jewish values resonated with me. I really like the idea that converts are born with the Jewish soul, and have to find their way to Judaism to recognize that. I think being born and growing up Jewish is very beautiful, but I’ve loved being a convert because of the individualization, knowledge, and understanding it fosters.
But, when I'm in other settings, it's like, ‘oh, I'm the ethnic Jew, I guess.’ Like, when I came to Tulane, everyone asked, ‘Where are you from?’ And, I was like, ‘oh, Los Angeles,’ and they're like, ‘no, where are you really from?’ I could just see their wheels turning and them just being like, I can't put you in any box. That’s changed my perception of myself, because growing up in Los Angeles with my mom as my rabbi, I never really thought to put my Jewish identity and my Persian ethnicity together.
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“My mom's half Iranian, so I'm only a quarter Iranian, but it really shows up. Like, a lot of people don't look at me as white. Which is so interesting to me, because growing up we’d go to our Iranian relative's house for things like Passover and Rosh Hashanah and I always felt like we were sort of the white family on the outside.
Jaelshe/herEllman
But, I’m realizing that the intersections between religious and ethnic identities create new and unique cultural experiences. Like we're not in shetl anymore, so we should expand our ideas of what a Jewish person looks like, acts like, who they talk to, who they don't, where they work. And, that speaks to the part I love so much about Judaism –there's no single box. Like, if you eat bacon, there's thousands of Jews who will eat bacon with you. If you want to pray three times a day, or five times a day, or make aliyah, there are thousands of people like you. There’s something very grounding knowing I will always be able to build community around the ways I choose to practice my Judaism.”
“Growing up, Judaism was kind of something that I was just passively involved in through my family on my dad's side, because my mom was raised Catholic. So, when I got to middle school, I started going to Wednesday night school and studying for my bar mitzvah and all that fun stuff. And, I continued it all the way through the end of high school. This was my choice. My brother, for example, did his bar mitzvah and then he stopped going to hebrew school, and my parents were like, ‘Cool, that's fine. You don't have to do it.’ So, in that sense, I know that I wasn't forced to do it. So, I feel like I have the liberty to view how other people relate to their Judaism and kind of pick and choose things that I think are cool, and then apply it to my own religious experience. And, in terms of my relationship with my Jewish identity, that comes through my community. Something that one of my teachers said in hebrew school, like a long time ago, was that God is a little bit in everyone, and not so much as one being, per se. And, I think that kind of reflects how I embrace my Judaism.”
Ian Fishmanhe/him
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Claireshe/herHudson
“Since I grew up Roman Catholic, my experience with Judaism was very slight in the beginning of my life, mostly coming through friends, but then coming to Tulane, it's really almost like a cultural immersion into the Jewish community. Like, my friends and I had this practice over COVID-19, where we’d meet up every Friday night for Hillel’s takeaway Shabbat. And, that experience made me think about my own religion and maybe the function of the religion as a cultural aspect.
I would say that the word ‘welcoming’ is emblematic of my experience with the Jewish faith at Tulane, and I never expected this from Tulane. It's really beautiful to be able to participate so much in a community that I didn't have much to do with before. And, I hope that my participation in this project supports the idea that anyone can be a part of any community as an ally. Anyone can take it upon themselves to learn and grow in a spiritual and cultural way."
Catholicism is very, like you stand up, you sit down, it's very procedural. But, I would say that, at least in my experience, Judaism seems much more about living, incorporating it into your everyday life and gaining something positive from it internally. You know, like, what's the benefit of humbling yourself, being quiet for a day, walking somewhere, being mindful? So, it's cool to see the same text interpreted in a much more open and, I guess, welcoming way.
During my alone time, when I'm drawing or when I'm listening to music, I can connect with myself and have those conversations with God. And, I’m able to do that through outlets that are untraditional, especially in the community I grew up in.”
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“So, my family, we grew up Modern Orthodox, you know, I went to a Modern Orthodox school and camp, and lived in a Modern Orthodox community in New York. And, when I was in second grade, we started using our phones and watching TV, and we had to keep it so hush-hush. It was a little hard to comprehend as an eight year old. I'm like, ‘What's the big deal? Why does that make me like not a good person?’
So coming here [Tulane] has been like a good in-between where I can still completely be myself without fear of judgment that I'm not following the laws to a tee. I'm still able to believe completely, even when I'm being challenged by so many people, because that's what college is. It’s like you're constantly being challenged, or asking questions. Like, at college, I was asked for the first time in my life, ’Why do you believe in God?’ not like, ‘Do you believe in God, but why?’ That's why I definitely feel like I've been more Jewish now than in the past. I'm able to think for myself, which allows me to connect spiritually. Being religious is more traditional, kind of like observing holidays as much as I can and learning or stuff like that. But, spirituality is me having, I guess, a conversation with God. And, I’ve found ways to do that, that I wasn’t able to in high school.
Devashe/herLaifer
“The way to say mixed race in Japanese is just saying “half,” which assumes that you're half Japanese and half something else. There's not really a word for anyone who's any other, like mix, and my parents always had a problem with that. Because they instilled within me that, ‘You're not half this and half that, you're fully both.’ And I mean yes, if we're going by percentages of my DNA, I'm half and half. But if we're talking about my ties to my culture, I was raised fully with both.
A few years ago, my mom and I, who is Japanese, were at a supermarket in the middle of nowhere in New Jersey. We were buying ingredients for Passover, and all these Jewish grandmas kept coming up to us and giving their recommendations on what kind of gefilte fish to buy. They would tell us things like, 'oh, no, this brand of matzah's bad.’ And, we’re thinking, we've been buying that for 10 years, but okay. And, it was just an interesting way of including us in the Jewish community, but at the same time we were viewed as not knowing what we were doing just because of the way we look.
Leohe/himLevine
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Due to scheduling conflicts, Leo’s portrait and audio recording are not included in this edition.
I used to sit at the front desk at Hillel, and once in a while, parents would come in and I’d give them a tour. Sometimes, at the end, they'd be like, ‘So, Hillel is pretty accepting of anyone from any background, you’re obviously not Jewish.’ And, I'm like, ‘Well, why?’ And, I kind of took it as a teaching opportunity, because I think it’s really important that we don’t try to put people in boxes. I know that if people try to put me in a box, they're not gonna get the right one.”
You can tell a lot of my Jewish family are Jewish without any outside information, and then, I'm in the bunch, and I probably have the strongest connection to my Jewish heritage. But yet, if you put us all in a lineup, you would expect everyone except me to be Jewish because of my appearance. So, my Judaism is something I have always had to prove about myself. I think that having to assert my Judaism has given me more pride in my Jewish identity than maybe some of my family members who have always been assumed to be Jewish.
Leohe/himLevine
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Isaache/himPopper
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“I've never really disliked any aspect of my upbringing and Jewish experiences growing up. Really, the only things that I haven’t liked are one time events, like when I went to the Kotel and they asked if your mother was Jewish, and some of my friends didn’t get to go to the Wall or some friends had to lie. That was really frustrating, because I think if either parent or even a grandparent is Jewish, or even if you convert, to me, you're Jewish.
I acknowledge Judaism as a religion, but it also feels like an ethnicity. Jews can be of any race and any nationality. Some Jews may wrap Tefillin every day and some may not know what Tefillin is. Jews have shared cultural values and norms that distinguish them from others. Some Jews look like my Orthodox best camp friend who prays twice a day, and many are like my housemate who happily attends Passover Seder but likely won't make time for any other Jewish holidays. There is no Torah knowledge or Yiddish vocabulary requirements in our beautiful culture, Judaism requires of us the commitment to show up for our community, because that is a huge part of being Jewish.”
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Anyone can be Jewish, but because it has such a history of being rooted within certain cultural groups, there is a disconnect when you realize that anyone can be Jewish and it doesn't matter what you look like. I'd also say being a member of the LGBTQ+ community has had an affect on my Jewish identity. Growing up as somebody who isn't the typical cis-heterosexual female has changed the way that I read the Torah and the way that I go about new traditions.”
Rachelshe/herRamos
“I have a weird relationship with appearance versus identity. I look super white but I’m mostly Hispanic, and that has been a part of my life for a long time. I feel like I come off as a little more white, Jewish Ashkenazi looking than the average Hispanic person, so when people see me versus hearing my name they will come through with preconceived notions of what I’m like.
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she/herRosenberg
Meredith
“In middle school, when my bat mitzvah invitations were coming out, my crush at the time came up to me and was like, ‘Why wasn't I invited?’ And, it was just that I didn't want to invite him, because I thought it would be weird. It didn't help that growing up I heard so many, I won't even call them micro aggressions, just straight up verbal bullying and antisemitism. I just remember sitting down with my mom, making my list at the dining room table and being like, ‘oh, would it be okay for this person to come and attend this like, strange thing that I'm doing?’
It was crazy, like, actually crazy to come here [Tulane]. And, see how people aspired to be Jewish. People here were like, ‘She's a really pretty Jewish girl. I could never touch her,’ and, it was so interesting to me. People in my sorority were sending their old bat mitzvah pictures in our group chat, and we were all laughing about it. And, I'm not in a religious affiliated sorority at all. And, some people were even upset! Saying things like, ‘I wish I had one,’ and that boggled my mind, because I didn't know all these girls were Jewish. I don’t know. It felt so good. It felt so relieving. It’s made me realize that the way I form my identity should come more from me than the people around me. I’m realizing this about my Jewish identity – that I spent so much time feeling ashamed of that part of myself because of a lack of acceptance from the people around me. But, I’m realizing that every time I actively choose to make Judaism a part of my life, the more confidence I gain and the more comfortable I feel with myself.”
Maya she/herScholder
And, I think that's where, I would say, I became more spiritual and religious in a way. Not in the traditional way of praying every single day, but in being able to ask questions. And, I've come to realize that being Jewish doesn't mean you have to follow every single law or halacha, but rather, you can decide what's important to you and take that. And, that doesn't make you any more or less Jewish.”
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“I think for the first few years of my [Jewish] education, I very blindly believed everything, because I didn't really know how to think otherwise. Then I entered high school, and I feel like that completely changed. I feel like my teachers really wanted it to be a journey of self exploration. I was taught to question everything that I was reading, to refute things, and I was able to challenge my teachers and the texts. I literally could have said that I don't believe in God, and they wouldn't have gotten upset with me.
“I usually say I am Moroccan and Jewish, because I consider both of those my ethnicities. Mostly because they intertwine so much, especially in places where Jews were not accepted and they had to form their own communities and pretty much rely on each other. So, as much as you can be a person from Morocco or Spain, or Russia, if you're a Jewish person, that is, essentially the essence of your community. And, that makes Judaism and the ethnicity of Judaism its own concept. My family grew up in Morocco, and I grew up in America, and I have all of these other identities and defining factors, but the common denominator with all of my identities is the fact that I am a Jewish woman.
Rachelshe/herSerfaty
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Another intersecting identity that I guess I'm still learning about is my queer identity. I have met a lot of queer Jews, and it is such a wonderful community, but it also has caused me a lot of distress. Because, whether overtly or not, a lot of my family has opinions about my queerness that are hard to swallow. Coming from a very traditionally, Jewish family, has left me with a lot of ideas that have taken a lot of mental and emotional work for me to break out of. Like, my dad has told me that the Torah says man should not lie with man as he lies with woman, ‘so it’s the truth.’ As hard as that is, there's still a sense of unconditional love there, which I feel is present in a lot of Jewish families. The conditions and the generational trauma that we've faced, prompts us to stick together in a way that a lot of people don't.”
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At Tulane, I experienced, for the first time, being immersed in a Jewish community where I felt at home by the shared values and similar understandings of being Jewish, whether that is because of facing antisemitism or prejudice or from growing up with similar holidays and traditions. At the same time, I also recognized that some people who grew up within a predominantly Jewish neighborhood had very different experiences than I. To me, that has reemphasized the point that there's not one way to be Jewish or one definition of Judaism.”
“I grew up involved in the temple and involved in Jewish activities, but my household never did anything super strict to traditional practice. Like, we did all the holidays and I felt like a Jewish family.
Hannahshe/herSnyder
As I started learning about the Holocaust, I started to feel an obligation to at least try and embrace my heritage, but it wasn’t until I moved to America that I realized how to. At Tulane, I started to learn more about Judaism, and a lot of my friends were Jewish, so I asked them a lot of questions that I wasn't able to ask before. My experience in America and at Tulane has shown me that my Jewish identity can coincide with all of my other identities, and that I can choose how I want to be in the community.
Mildredshe/herThufvesson
I think that my newfound curiosity about my Jewish identity also makes my grandma really happy. I just told her about this interview and she got really excited and bought me this book about Judaism in Sweden and she sent me a family tree because we came [to Sweden] amongst the earliest Jewish immigrants.”
“When I grew up in Sweden, my Jewish identity wasn’t something that I felt should really be talked about, because it's not very common to be Jewish in Sweden. I was actually baptized in the Christian religion, but I never felt connected to it nor did I feel religious or anything. I didn't even realize that I had my Jewish heritage until I was older, like 12 or 13, when I started reading all of these books about my family. Only then, did I realize how my Jewish ancestors found their way to Sweden because of anti-semitism.
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Leorhe/himWeber
I think the biggest thing that Judaism has taught me is that it's perfectly fine to do things your own way and come to the same conclusions with a crazy, different journey. I would say, my Judaism came alive outside. Nature has always been a part of my identity. I’m an environmental studies major, I'm in the rock climbing club, and all of my summers were spent outdoors. At camp, we spent a lot of time appreciating nature through a Jewish lens, so the two concepts feel very entangled. And now, that I have begun to reflect on the common themes in my life, I’m realizing that Judaism is often the connector.
I hadn't really thought about the whole basis of Judaism being about questioning until I took a class freshman year about early Jewish civilization. And, we talked a lot about the origins of traditions and Jewish texts, like the Talmud and Kabbalah, and I like how there are practices that are super important to Judaism that started with people debating the meaning of stuff. And, I liked that it was a discussion rather than a finite thing, and how it's being updated often.
Growing up, I very much rejected my Judaism, because it was something that felt forced upon me by my parents, and I was the kid that didn't want to do what my parents wanted me to do.
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I think that’s part of the reason that when I was younger my Judaism was more of a family oriented thing. Coming to college, it's kind of up to me what I want to get out of it. And, because Tulane has so many more options for Jewish practice than most places, it's made me want to practice more – especially coming from a bubble of people who know very little about Judaism. When I'm here, I feel a personal responsibility to use the resources available to me.”
“Since I moved around a lot growing up, I got to experience both heavily Jewish communities and places where there were very few Jews. At some of the previous schools I went to, in middle and high school, I was uncomfortable wearing my Star of David necklace because I didn't want to be verbally attacked. As Jews at Tulane, I think we can forget that in certain places in the States, or anywhere in the world, you could be attacked for wearing a Star of David or a Hamsah; and it is so nice to go out, and be like, ‘oh, I'm gonna put my Jewish necklace on,’ and feel very comfortable.
Gabi she/herWilliams
Isa Zweibackshe/her
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I also think that there are so many different ways to practice Judaism, and I don't like when people are like, ‘oh, you're less Jewish. Oh, I'm more.’ I don't feel that way. I grew up kosher, but now I’ve decided for myself not to be kosher, and I feel even more Jewish to a certain extent. It feels more intentional.”
“I feel like my core identity is being a Jewish woman. That's who I am. But, I'm obviously also American. I care about democracy and I'm very liberal, and I think that it’s all intertwined. My Jewish values have shaped my core values like how to treat people, my perspective and attitude in general, and in relationships and being open minded and willing to meet new people. So, in every identity that I hold – whether it be a student of art history, a sister, or an activist – Jewish is an identity that is there in tandem.
A Note from andPhotographertheCreator
– Julia Mattis
serves as a platform to share, discover, and document individual stories, but is limited to the people I have the privilege to interview and photograph. This body of work is ongoing and by no means a complete representation of all people who embrace “Jewish” as a part of their identity. Behind each of these portraits is an amazing human and their story and the team that helped me bring this project to life.
After hundreds of conversations and hours spent listening to what students at Tulane care about, one thing became clear: there is no single story about what it means to be Jewish despite what we might have learned growing up.
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As an artist and a photographer, I had to do something with this realization. I began using photography to create the Portrait Identity Project as a way for students to see a part of themselves in others’ stories, to instigate radical perspective shifts about what being Jewish “looks like,” and to encourage viewers to embrace the fact that identity is multifaceted. Exploring intersectional Jewish identities, in greater depth, creates the space for students to process the full range of their experiences with Judaism, allows them to dig deep into their own personal beliefs and values, and presents viewers with the many different ways there are to be ThisJewish.project
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For more information, visit: tulanehillel.org, or find us on Instagram @tuhillel.
Tulane Hillel’s is a nonprofit community center that fosters leadership and community engagement. Tulane Hillel’s mission is to create a radically inclusive community, develop students’ leadership, and encourage curiosity through our Jewish values.
If you would like to learn more about the Portrait Identity Project and how it would be impactful at to your campus and help your organization meet your goals, please contact jmattis@tulane.edu.
Tulane Hillel is excited to expand the scope and impact of the Portrait Identity Project by expanding this meaningful project on a national scale, ensuring more students and community members across the country can learn, grow, and share their stories.
About Tulane Hillel
