It's a night to celebrate the different cultures on this campus and to bring communities that otherwise wouldn't come together into the same room for the biggest performance of the year. It's Culture X-and this year, it forgot about one pretty big culture at Brandeis: Jewish culture.Culture X began at 7 p.m. with the doors closing at 6:45 p.m., but Shabbat only ended at 8:07 p.m. Shabbat-observant students were not be able to attend this event because of the timing. While it was free, and technically one would not be breaking Shabbat to have gone, many Shabbat-observers believe in only doing things in the spirit of Shabbat, a category performances do not fall under.

I understand that many people at this school do not observe Shabbat and that there should be programming on Friday nights and Saturdays for them. Two of the major events that I've planned during my time here at Brandeis-Purple Rain and SunDeis-have both been on Shabbat. However, it deeply offends me, both personally as an Orthodox Jew and more generally as an open-minded individual committed to inclusiveness that Culture X is on Shabbat.

The latter is more important for this article, because while not everyone can relate to the experience of being an Orthodox Jew, I hope many of us can relate to promoting inclusiveness. The fact that a portion of this campus is being excluded from this event goes against every message the event tries to send. It was a night about respecting others' cultures. Those who observe Shabbat were being told that their culture is not as important as other cultures. That their culture not only would not be celebrated, but also will be ignored. The reason Culture X did not start at 8 was to give enough time for people to prepare themselves for the after-party. That essentially translates to "Your culture is less important than people looking hot so they can dance and get their party on."

If the Hindu students on campus could not, for whatever reason, participate in Culture X, I believe there would be uproar, at which students would rally behind the marginalized minority. Or perhaps it wouldn't extend that far-someone in the Intercultural Center would chime in early enough and say, "Hey, maybe we should figure out a better schedule." Should the observant Jews be treated any differently?

While Jews are a majority on this campus, observant Jews are not. They are often excluded from events purely because there is no kosher food, or the event is on Friday night or Saturday. It's hard to break away from the observant community when you feel marginalized in that way. Anyone identifying with a minority can understand the need to clump, but also the need to break free from that clump. Most minorities get to do that during Culture X. Shabbat-observers couldn't even attend the event. They are not given this opportunity to learn about other cultures, to mingle with the members of different groups. Doesn't that perpetuate the problem?

The fact that Shabbat-observers fell to the wayside during the planning of Culture X signifies a larger problem on this campus. That is, the Jewish majority here is treated with disdain. First of all, Jews are a majority here, and that's about it. Go to another school, or any city, and you will discover that Jews are a minority, a minority that has experienced hate in much the same way other minorities have. Second, is it really such a big deal that Jews are the majority here?

It's not as if that wasn't made obvious in admissions paraphernalia -it's not really a secret. Also, Brandeis is the only university that is both secular and connected to Jewish roots. There are many secular universities with Christian ties, and I doubt the students in those universities constantly complain about it. What is so terrible about having a large Jewish population? It's certainly different than something most people are used to, and I understand that difference can be scary.

But at Brandeis, we try to celebrate those differences, those things that make us unique. How about we start not only celebrating the individual students' uniqueness, but also the University's uniqueness? Why can't we take pride in the fact that our University is a place unlike any other with a population different than any other, and celebrate the culture this school as an institution has to offer? That is something that can bring us together, in the way Culture X should. Marginalizing anyone is awful. Marginalizing a group of students simply because their culture is the majority culture is wrong.

I'd like to end this on a positive note, with ideas for change. I'd like to call upon the ICC community and the Hillel, Brandeis Orthodox Organization, Brandeis University Conservative Organization and Brandeis Reform Chavurah communities to engage with each other. If more people from the ICC were aware of the issues surrounding Shabbat and if more Shabbat-observers connected with members of the ICC, perhaps we would not be in this situation. As a student body, we need to think outside our clumps and ourselves and become conscious of how the decisions we make affect others who live different lifestyles than we do. Let's live the message of Culture X and bridge the gaps between our communities. Maybe Shabbat-observers weren't at the event, but I hope that they can garner its spirit and build a stronger, more inclusive community.



The writer is a member of the Class of 2008.