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KELCIE MATOUSEK/KANSAN
KANSAN.COM/NEWS | MONDAY, SEPT. 14, 2015
Attendees at the Chabad House's Rosh Hashanah service link arms in song to ring in the new year on Sunday, Sept. 13 in the Kansas Union.
Events on the 5th floor of the Kansas Union
Monday, Sept. 14
10 a.m. Morning services
11:30 a.m. Shofar blowing
1 p.m. Festive Lunch
3 p.m. Tashlich, Potter Lake
8:30 p.m. Services and Dinner (at Chabad,
1201 West 19th St.)
ROSH HASHANAH
KELCIE MATOUSEK/KANSAN
KELCIE MATOUSEY KANSAN
Service attendees light candles to reflect on the past year.
Rosh Hashana begins Sept. 13 and kicks off The High Holy Days.
YOM KIPPUR
Tuesday, Sept. 15
10 am- morning services
11:30- Shofar blowing
1 pm- Festive lunch
Tuesday, Sept. 22
Students find family at Rosh Hashanah
CONNER MITCHELL
@connermitchellO
During Rosh Hashanah, families generally gather together, but for University students who are far from home, the holiday can be difficult.
Rabbi Zalman Tieckel, director of the Chabad House, a center for Jewish life at KU, said gathering as a family is an integral part of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Families often eat meals together before evening services for holidays, but for University students, observing Rosh Hashanah far from home means they are unable to be around their families sitting around a table and celebrating.
"All the holidays in Judaism revolve around the home," he said. "The services and the temple are important, but the celebrations at home are more important. For a lot of students, it is difficult being
so far away from home at a time when everybody is sitting around a table and celebrating."
To bridge the gap for those students, Tiechtel said the University Jewish community emphasizes providing a "home-like experience".
Rosh Hashana begins Sept. 13 and kicks off The High Holy Days. The following 10 days, known as The Days of Awe, are meant to be days of reflection leading up to the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, which begins Sept. 22. Tiechtel said the ten days of deep reflection and prayer are meant to heal broken relationships.
Ceremonies such as Tashlich, a casting away of one's sin near a body of water and traditional candle lighting and prayer ceremonies are an integral part of the holiday. Another focal point of the holiday is the blowing of the Shofar horn, made from the horn of a ram, and symbolizes a call for repentance.
University students joined in services Sunday night ushering in the beginning of Rosh Hashanah. Tiechtel said Rosh Hashanah symbolizes God's decision on a person's fate for the upcoming year. According to the University Chabad House website, the holiday, which marks the beginning of the 5,776th year on the Jewish calendar, includes an emphasis on redefining both spiritual and secular relationships.
"Rosh Hashanah represents new beginnings, which is appropriate with the start of a new school year," he said. "It also is considered as a day of judgment. It carries a tremendous amount of meaning and symbolism. That, in turn, impacts the broader KU community."
The holiday continues through Tuesday, and the Chabad House will hold morning and evening services, Shofar Blowings, meals and
other ceremonies. Thechtel said the Chabad House's goal is to provide accessible, free meals and engaging services.
we want students to be able to close their eyes and feel like the foods and the smells and the atmosphere is so similar to what they would be experiencing at home," he said.
Michael Portman, a senior from Garland, Tx, said his family is not as religious and would not "go out of their way" to celebrate the holiday, and it was nice to be able to enjoy the holiday as a community of college students.
"We get to enjoy some apples and honey together, which is our way of saying 'to a sweet New Year,' and for us to be able to attend services surrounded by students who are celebrating the same thing is a great feeling." Portman said.
Portman, who will be involved with setting up the events at the Chabad House and attending the services,
said the Chabad House makes an effort to ensure students feel welcome during the time of celebration.
"They know everyone is a college student and that not everyone is going to be religious, but they make sure everyone feels welcome," he said. "It feels like a second home. Everyone is like family here, and that is the best feeling about it."
Tiechtel emphasized that although the holiday marks the beginning of the Jewish New Year, the messages associated with the various ceremonies and services is something all students can relate to.
"Even though Rosh Hashanah is a Jewish New Year, the message is really universal," he said. "The message is that everybody has a U-turn. Every individual has the ability to turn things around and start fresh. It is never too late, and no one is ever stuck forever. That is the theme of the Jewish New Year."
HEMOPHILIA FROM PAGE 1
"If she doesn't have her factor, she's very prone to joint bleeding," she said. "It's horribly painful to watch her; it's excruciating."
Growing up, Elizabeth said she never felt as though she was treated any differently, although there were times where she couldn't participate with her classmates because of her hemophilia. There wasn't any room for athleticism because even a small injury could pose serious threats to her health.
"In PE class, I couldn't do everything because we're not supposed to do anything that is contact sports. There were times I would have sit out and I was fine with it," VanSant said. "I'm not very athletic."
Her mother said Elizabeth has always found creative outlets to deal with her hemophilia, and that in itself has been helpful to her condition.
One of the biggest misconceptions about hemophilia, Becky said, is that only males can get the disorder. The misunderstanding comes from the fact that hemophilia is often genetically transferred since it appears on the X chromosome. Because of this, women can be carriers of the gene and undergo mild symptoms of hemophilia.
"Having a girl with hemophilia has been a blessing because she never wanted to do anything like wrestling," Becky said.
Elizabeth, however, has severe hemophilia, caused by a gene mutation. Because of its rarity in women, advocacy for female recognition has increased in recent years among
"The kids at camp kind of get your struggles and at the same time, everyone knows you're just a regular kid," VanSant said. "We had that one thing and for some people it might be everything, but for us it was just an add-on; it was just a part of us."
Elizabeth's involvement was one of the reasons she recently received the Soozie Courtier Hemophilia Scholarship. The scholarship, according to the Hemophilia Federation of America's website, is given to "deserving students living with hemophilia to achieve their educational goals." VanSant was one of 10 recipients.
people with the blood disorder.
She has been attending a camp for kids with hemophilia since she was young. For the last two years, she's been attending an all-girls camp. Next summer, she will return as a counselor.
Every year, the VanSant family attends the Coalition for Hemophilia B in New York City. In the past, both Elizabeth and Becky VanSant and her mother have given talks at the coalition on dealing with bleeding disorders.
"It's great first of all to be recognized in the hemophilia community and then it was just really exciting to find out that I had won the scholarship" VanSant said.
Although there have been obstacles in dealing with her hemophilia, Elizabeth didn't let the disorder stop her from doing the things she wanted to.
"She likes to dance, so she did ballet, and she took piano lessons," Becky said. "She just was not one of those kids who ever wanted to quit."
She would often find comfort in music when her hemophilia treatments became challenging.
"I think part of [having hemophilia] has really led me in the direction of music, and that's something that doesn't really take anything physical," she said.
As she got older, VanSant said she realized she could use her musical incipinations not just as a form of personal therapy, but as a career. Currently, she is in her second year of study as a music therapist.
"It was usually during my infusion times where I would try maybe three times and still couldn't get it. I would be really frustrated with that," VanSant said. "I would take time
With sports out of the question, VanSant turned her attention toward music.
"I love music. I love helping people and the way that music has helped me," VanSant said. "I wanted to be able to show other people that music can help them as well."
to sit and play the piano just to calm myself down."
Although right now she focuses on hospice care, she said what draws her to music therapy is the possibility that she
could someday help kids like her who are dealing with hemophilia.
"When I would go in for my yearly checkups I've seen the music therapy there in the hospital," VanSant said. "I definitely think it would be cool to give back to my community like that."
As for her daughter's own personal struggle with hemophilia, Becky said Elizabeth learned to overcome obstacles and grown for the better.
"It doesn't define who she is," Becky said. "It's part of her. It's made her strong."
Edited by Maddie Farber
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