by Nathan St. Pierre ’12

When I was little, I was captivated with being Jewish and actually enjoyed spending two hours at Sunday school to learn more about my faith. Once I actually became a man in Jewish tradition by completing my Bar Mitzvah, my enthusiasm for the Jewish faith diminished greatly. Probably a combination of my older brother constantly calling me silly for still believing in Judaism and an ever increasing amount of responsibilities of being a teenager, caused my feign in interest in my religion. I was still forced to go to that, now dreadful, synagogue twice a year for Rosh A Shanna and Yom Kippur. Every single time, both ceremonies started by the rabbi giving a long speech about something boring and then constantly singing stupid Jewish songs while chanting prayers in Hebrew. The dreadful day finally comes and the Rabbi starts speaking again. I prepare to close my eyes, but what he says was actually interesting and relevant. His message was how our world is so hectic with technology and responsibility that it is easy just to forsake religion, but having a belief in something will keep your head above water in the pool of complexity. All the sudden I start to sing the once stupid Jewish songs and chanted the prayers in Hebrew with almost clear memory, as if my religion has never left me, just waiting for me to come back.