2 minute read
Deva Laifer……………………………………….…20
Deva Laifer
she/her
“So, my family, we grew up Modern Orthodox, you know, 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 like, 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.
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.”
Leo Levine
he/him
Due to scheduling conflicts, Leo’s portrait and audio recording are not included in this edition.
“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, 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 and they're like, 'Oh, no, this brand of matzah's bad.’ And we're like, ‘We've been buying that for 10 years, but okay.’ And, it was just an interesting way of including
