Pumpkin Painting and LDSSA

Monday night, Penn State Hillel hosted a Pumpkin Painting event. In the spirit of Halloween, we decorated pumpkins that would later be donated to the local preschool. Themes of pumpkins ranged from Penn State Spirit, to traditional jack-o-lanterns, to a very cool pumpkin couple with sunglasses and all! The event was very relaxed, we played ping-pong games while waiting for the paint to dry :)

I, however, was not there for most of this event. I was off at a LDSSA meeting (Latter Day Saints Student Association). Members of LDSSA had contacted our Director of Development Lizzy, for a few students who would be able to present to LDSSA students about the Jewish faith and what Hillel does on campus. I along with Ryan, another student board member, were chosen to go. We had a Penn State Hillel presentation and a Judaism in America presentation--both with general facts about Judaism in the United States and here at Penn State.

At the church, there were about 15 or so LDSSA members, so the setting was pretty informal. Ryan and I started our presentation and were quickly asked some very interesting questions. "What is the Jewish take on the after life?" "What is the relationship between prophets and G-d?" "What is Taglit-Birthright like?" "How do you deal with being a minority religion in the United States?" These questions were very interesting and showed their curiosity in the connection between Mormonism and Judaism. The questions about prophecy relate to the idea that Mormons believe in modern day prophets--the president of the Church is the current prophet. The afterlife questions reflect the Mormon belief in the afterlife in addition to the previous and current life.

I had a really enjoyable time explaining my religion--sharing what I had learned in my Jewish studies classes and my personal experiences growing up Jewish in America. We talked about the different sects of Judaism, how to become a rabbi, the transition from prophetic to rabbinic Judaism, prophecy, issues in modern day Israel and what Hillel does around campus. Not only did I feel like the LDSSA students learned a lot, but I learned a lot about a religion I had never really learned about. It was a great experience!