AEPi Brothers Unite

I’ve heard moving off to college can be scary, even if it’s in the same state. More so if it is in a different state as it takes you further away from mom and dad, as well as all the people you had known in high school. There is no catching up with friends that you hadn’t seen all summer, or even people that you had seen the day before on your “last day of summer” hang outs. Moving off to school in a different country can be a different challenge altogether. You have to get used to a new way of life, not just in terms of city and everyday life, whether it be remembering to look to the other side of the street to not be hit by the cars driving on the left side of the road or understanding phrases that may be a little different in meaning (Admittedly the first time I heard someone say, “They took the piss out of me for (insert odd habit here)” I did a very large double take), or to new school procedures that none of your friends can tell you what to look forward to as no one I knew had ever heard of the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom, let alone attended it.

All those concerns didn’t matter though. There was one group that automatically accepted me and made the transition to my life in Leeds and the UK easier than it probably was for other people—the local Jewish community, and the Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity in particular. Even before I had departed for Leeds I had already been given the name of an AEPi Brother who was excited for me to be coming for the fall semester and took me out to lunch within the first week that I was there. He would then proceed to invite me to events throughout the semester to allow me to meet people. When I got to Leeds during Freshers Week, of the 300 clubs and societies that the University boasts about there was one that I sought out in particular, the Leeds Jewish Society, or JSoc. I wouldn’t consider myself very religious or observant, but there’s something about the High Holidays that makes me feel more obligated to go to synagogue. I asked where services might be and was immediately informed of where to go, and told that I would be more than welcome, sorry, encouraged, to join them. When I got to services one of the rabbis began to walk around and was talking to the students and catching up with them, when he got to me he wished me a “chag sameach” with a large smile and immediately began inquiring about who I was as he had never seen me before. When I responded that I was an exchange student in Leeds for the semester I was told that I could come to Chabad for any of the holiday meals and for Shabbat, even without telling him or his wife ahead of time. I was invited in with open arms by multiple people, making the transition into life in a new country easier than it might have been before.

But it didn’t stop there. The Jewish community in Leeds took me to places in ways I wouldn’t have expected. For one weekend I had the privilege of spending it in Birmingham with AEPi Brothers, not just from the UK but also those that were from the United States and studying throughout Europe. I had the privilege of seeing a very different part of AEPi than I had previously experienced. There was a sense of camaraderie that was established even though we had all met just a couple hours previously. We spent the afternoon in our host’s living room playing video games and making jokes—typical activities for young college men. Then we proceeded to head to a local park for a U.S. vs. U.K. American football game, the results of which I would prefer not to divulge for the sake of collective pride. With a group of about twenty brothers assembled, we sat down in the Birmingham chabad house for a Shabbat dinner, connecting with brothers over a delicious meal that was made for us. We talked about everything, from different places we’ve traveled on our semesters abroad to life in general. Whilst there, the offer was extended to me to be allowed to stay with some of the Brothers who lived in central London, an offer I for sure took them up on. Not only did they allow me to stay with them for three days but they even gave me tips on where to go throughout the city, and if I was looking for a religious service they said they would find out about that one as well. The connection that existed between us was fostered by two characteristic that everyone shared, being Brothers of AEPi, but more specifically being Jewish, being part of a family that dates back thousands of years and has been through collective pain and collective joy that has become a part of our cultural/religious/racial/national narrative however you choose how to define it, is part of us.

Then on the morning of November 18, 2014 disaster struck. While it took place in the Har Nof neighborhood of Jerusalem, it affected Jews everywhere. While the murder of four Israelis, of whom were of both American and British nationality, and one Druze police officer were most likely meant to show the Jewish community that we were not safe anywhere, least of all a house of worship, in Leeds the Jewish community responded with a memorial service, a room filled with Jewish students from the universities in the city, to reflect on the events of the day. The Jewish community was there, not just as a social network, but also to hold each other up even in the darkest of times when we may have felt at our most vulnerable. As a family we are there for each other.

As my semester at the University of Leeds comes to a close, I can’t help but imagine what it would have been like had I not met the people that I did. From the rabbis, to the members of JSoc, to the Brothers in AEPi not just in Leeds but from all over the country, each organization and individual afforded me an opportunity that I would not have gotten otherwise. Opportunities and experiences that will stick with me for the rest of my life. Studying abroad is supposed to lead an individual to develop a new perspective on life and an appreciation for what is in the world. I can definitively say this has happened to me, and that my Jewish identity was the catalyst.