Meredith Rosenberg……………………………… 28

Meredith Rosenberg

she/her

“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, 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.”