Let's start out by saying this: Yes, I am Jewish. Fully Jewish. Both of my parents are 100% Jewish. My family comes from Eastern Europe, where most Jewish people originate. Lithuania, Poland, and Russia are the roots from which my family originated. As we know, Jewish people have emigrated towards other areas, including the US. However, these areas are very small. I happen to be from a place where there are a majority of Jews- the North Shore area of Chicago.

I attended a Jewish preschool because my parents thought that having a Jewish culture and identity was a significant part of my life. There was no problem with Jewish integration because everything was focused on religious curriculum, including learning Hebrew words, songs, prayers, and participating in weekly Shabbat services. I even had to wear a kippah. However, once I finished preschool, I attended a public elementary school. At first, I didn't really understand the difference between being Jewish or being Christian like a lot of my classmates were. When the holidays rolled around, I was happy to participate in activities like making Christmas cards for orphans, singing Christmas songs during the annual Winter Sing, and having class Christmas parties.

Once I entered the world of an older elementary student, a realization hit me. Who was this so-called Jesus that everyone was singing and talking about? Why don't I have a Christmas tree? Why does everyone wake up to endless amounts of toys and games while I have to spend eight nights in a row lighting candles and praying? Why is my last name not even close to simple to pronounce? All of these questions were intriguing, but being myself, I learned to push them away and keep dealing with it.

As I got older, people started asking questions such as "What church do you go to?" and "What did you get for Christmas?" I constantly had to answer with the same words, "I don't. I'm Jewish." or "I celebrate Hanukkah." I began to become overly tired of my peers asking me these questions and assuming that I celebrated Christmas and Easter.

Now I am heading into my junior year of college, and something particular happened to me this past semester than got on my nerves. I am an elementary education major and was required to take a class on pluralism. This class was a discussion on how teachers can learn to understand students who come from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and cultures, as well as learning to correctly integrate educating students about these differences in the classroom. We had a very short unit on religion. One day, during this unit, we were instructed to fill out a chart on what we know about the three main religions; Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Of course, everyone in the classroom knew the main prayers, texts, and purposes within the Christian religion. Me, however, filled out the boxes under Judaism.

I knew the sacred texts, prayers, purposes, prophets, and meanings, having gone to Hebrew School and Sunday school for years while also having a Bat Mitzvah. The professor was walking around the room, observing everyone's findings, until she stopped at mine. She noticed my findings were not in the column of Christianity, but the column of Judaism. She then proceeded to ask, "Are you Jewish?" to which I obviously replied I was. She then said, "Yeah, I thought so. You don't look like a typical Northern European." I then thought, 'Okay..." She then proceeded to announce to the whole class that "We have a Jewish expert!" I started to feel uncomfortable, being singled out in front of the whole class. She turned to me whenever there was a question, and it honestly made me feel different. Too different. She expected me to know absolutely EVERYTHING. And I'm not even a religious person. For a professor who claimed to have been an expert on this, why was she going against herself and doing everything she said was wrong to do to a student of a different background?

The lesson that we need to take away from this is that our future children should be educated about other cultures and religions. Honestly, Judaism isn't much different from Christianity: the same God, the same beliefs, mostly the same purposes. And I believe that all schools should start educating our children on our differences. Children must know that not everyone is the same: not everyone believes in the same things.

I hate to see people that are feeling singled out because of simple differences. Why not have a Christmas AND Hanukkah party? Why not learn to make Challah bread, or have a classroom seder? Why not hang up menorah cut-outs along with Christmas tree cut-outs? Just these simple differences can help children to feel included. Trust me, I did not like the fact that I felt left out of these activities. And I don't want others to feel the same. By educating students about Jewish culture, we can help to avoid this exclusion and make all feel more welcome within our educational community.