CRSL Newsletter

Friday, Feb. 14, 2025

Dear Friends,

I have to admit that back in November I said to a friend, “If the prompt for the check-in at the beginning of the meeting is ‘what sparks joy’ one more time, I think I will just have to make sure to skip the check-in part altogether. How can we talk about joy amidst the unfathomable suffering in the world and the grave uncertainty about what is to come? What is there to celebrate?

I had begun to doubt my colleagues and students' claims that joy is an act of resistance. https://aestheticsofjoy.com/joy-is-an-act-of-resistance-how-celebration-sustains-activism-2/ But through these windy, icy weeks, I have come to understand: I was confusing joy with fun.

We can have fun with the realities of life at a distance, when we have put the harsh world behind us, and that’s not always a bad thing, sometimes it is necessary. But we can only have joy when we are looking at misfortune right in the face and refusing to let it reflect despair back to us. All religious traditions have stories of celebration – the conjuring of joy at the end of, of injustice and hardship. For example, Passover, which begins on April 12, marking the escape and liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, is commemorated by retelling the experience of moving from slavery to freedom.

These celebrations mark times of relief and good news, but in neither case is hardship entirely behind them. They provide moments of hope and liberation to bolster and encourage them, moments to which they can always turn for inspiration and courage. Samhain, the pagan festival, falls just as winter begins – they celebrate as a way of keeping themselves metaphorically warm as winter approaches – they create a joyful occasion to shore up courage and community.

Queer writer and activist Dan Savage says,“we must resist those who would want to drain the joy from our lives… Yes, we need to stay in the fight, but we should spend as much time as possible doing things that bring us joy…don’t let anyone tell you that making time for joy is a distraction or a betrayal.” He says that during the AIDS crisis, they “grieved and protested in the afternoons, and danced all night. The dance kept us in the fight,” he says, “because it was the dance we were fighting for, and we didn’t think we could win then, and we did, so we can win now.”

A liberal arts education at Smith makes it significantly hard to keep the realities of life at a distance -it takes a lot of effort to ignore the tragedy and evil when our whole purpose here is to interrogate, explore, navigate, excavate, and then turn around and do it all over again, time after time. In service of such a time when there is no us and them, when there is no enemy.

We hope to spend time finding joy with you this semester.

Matilda and the CRSL staff

Reverend Matilda Cantwell is the Smith College Chaplain and Director of the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life.

Generating Justice and Joy: 

Trust as Our Act of Resistance

Wednesday, Feb., 26, 6:00 - 7:30 pm

Helen Hills Hills Chapel

An evening of dialogue and community building. Supportive and intentional conversation with the goal of building trust among others and on the campus as a whole. Participants will be given prompts on cultural, belonging and social issues and engage in small group discussions. Relaxing, grounding arts and crafts activities available throughout, homemade dinner and fresh baked desserts offered.

Participants are also invited to stay after the program for "study with the CRSL." Space available to work in a cozy atmosphere with hot beverages offered. Bring your laptop! Bring your books! All are welcome! Sign up for Generating Justice and Joy.

For disability and accessibility information or accommodation requests call 413-585-2669. To request a sign language interpreter, email arc@smith.edu at least 10 days before the event.

Joy is a practice — much in the way, perhaps, that despair can become a practice. At its core, joy is unconditional love. It lives on inside of you, no matter what the external circumstances of your day entail.

When facing great hardship…it's essential to continue to be with the people, to create the spaces and to commit to the acts of kindness that foster joy.



For some, joy is inextricably connected to faith. Whatever your religion, virtually all of them believe in some form of innate, unconditional love imbued by a creator. Even if you don't adhere to a specific organized religion, we all have a light inside of us. And all of us can find joy in these trying times. It is natural to feel despair at the routine tragedies we witness every day and at the personal struggles that play out in our own families.

But the paths to joy run parallel to the paths of despair.

Excerpt from York Dispatch. Read the entire article.

Religious Life Updates

News from Smith's Christian Community

Fr. Onyekachukwu Valentine Nworah (Fr. Val) celebrates Holy Mass for Smith students on designated Sundays at 3:00 p.m. at the Helen Hills Hills Chapel. A native of Nigeria, he serves as the director of the UMass Amherst Newman Association. He is fluent in Igbo, French and English languages; and has some common knowledge of other languages including Spanish. He has served as a parochial vicar in the towns of Westfield and Greenfield. Fr. Val has also spent time in Rwanda and Kenya. He became the Vicar of St. Brigid's Parish in Amherst and the Chaplain at the Newman Center in 2023.

This semester Smith's Newman Catholic Club will hold Bible Study at the Chapel and a Rosary Prayer Group, to pray the Rosary before Mass. For more information on Catholic Mass, contact Maureen Raucher, Christian Community Advisor.

Catholic Mass

Sunday, Feb. 16 & 23; Mar. 9 & 23; Apr. 13 & 27

3:00 p.m.

Helen Hills Hills Chapel Sanctuary

All are welcome to celebrate Mass with Smith's Newman Catholic Club and Fr. Val Nworah. If you would like to receive the sacrament of confession before the start of Mass, please contact Fr. Val at v.nworah@diospringfield.org. Stay after Mass to pray the Rosary with members of the Newman Club. Sponsored by the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life.

Co-Curricular Opportunities

for Jewish Learning

The Talmud in Kiddushin asks an important question: “Which is greater: learning or action?” The Talmud’s question makes it clear that both have spiritual importance (or it would have been worded differently) but the question is examining the relative importance of each. The Talmud provides a clear answer: “Learning is greater because learning leads to action.” This has informed Jewish culture by making literacy a primary focus in Jewish parenting and life. Learning is a lifelong process, open to every Jew at any point in their lives. Here are opportunities to supplement those available through the Department of Jewish Studies.

B Mitzvah Cohort Forming

Through a generous gift, we are forming the third cohort of Smith’s B Mitzvah program. B Mitzvah is a gender neutral term for Bat or Bnai Mitzvah, the celebration of reaching Jewish adulthood. It offers students the opportunity to celebrate a B Mitzvah with peers. Note for interested Juniors: after this year the program will shift to every other spring (so we won’t do it again until 2027). We will learn/review the Hebrew alphabet, study about the ceremony and morning service, learn skills for Torah reading (and services if students have interest), and learn how to study Torah and commentaries in order to write a short Dvar Torah (teaching). Rabbi Bruce will teach the cohort with Lux Onigman tutoring individual students. The group will tentatively meet weekly on Sunday evenings with the ceremony likely happening on April 5th. Please email bbrombergseltzer@smith.edu with questions or to sign up.

To read more about Co-Curricular Opportunities for Jewish Learning, visit our blog.

Rabbi Bruce Bromberg Seltzer is the Jewish Student Advisor at the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life.

Shabbat

Fridays, 5:30 p.m.

Kosher Kitchen, Jordan House

The Smith College Jewish Community invites you to the “K”, the Kosher Kitchen in Jordan House, for Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday nights at 5:30pm! Join together in song and prayer to welcome in Shabbat as a community. Services will often be followed by Kosher vegetarian meals. Check out @scjewishcomm on Instagram for weekly themes. All are welcome! Please reach out to scjc@smith.edu with any questions.

The Sacred Month of Ramadan

Muslims worldwide look forward to the start of the Ramadan season, a beautiful time of year for reflection, spiritual renewal, and devotion to Allah. Some of our students and community members at Smith will engage in Ramadan. You will hear many Muslims enthusiastically greet each other with the phrase Ramadan Mubarak or Ramadan Kareem which means Happy Ramadan. A successful Ramadan requires the collaboration of many different centers and departments at Smith, including Dining Services, Residential Life and the Office of Student Engagement, to whom we are thankful for their support every year. CRSL works closely with the leaders of Al Iman, Smith’s Muslim Student Association, to plan events and opportunities for observants.

What is Ramadan? 

You who believe, fasting is prescribed for you, as it was prescribed for those before you, so that you may be mindful of God. – Qur’an 2:183 (M.A.S. Abdel Haleem)

Ramadan falls in the ninth month of the Muslim lunar calendar and is the time of year when adult Muslims are obligated to fast from dawn to sunset, refraining from food and drink including water; and other specific behaviors. Keep in mind there are always exceptions to the rule and there may be instances when you will notice that some Muslims will not observe the fast for personal reasons. This year Ramadan will be observed from February 28 to March 29, 2025. The actual start date is determined by the sighting of the moon. To learn more about the Sacred Month of Ramadan at Smith, visit our blog.

Kim Alston is the Muslim Student Advisor and the Program and Communications Manager at the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life.

Jummah Prayer

Fridays, 12:30 p.m.

Chapel Sanctuary Meet up

Join us for Jummah at the Hampshire Mosque in Hadley. Meet in front of the Helen Hills Hills Chapel at 12:25 pm. Van will leave by 12:30 pm and return to campus no later than 2:30 pm. Bring a prayer rug and complete your ablution beforehand. We have extra prayer rugs if you need one! Sponsored by the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. To RSVP, email crsl@smith.edu.

Al Nur Spiritual Gatherings

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 6 p.m.

Bodman Lounge, Chapel

Come to a discussion with Sister Kim, Muslim Student Advisor and Imam Hamzah Latif on the role of "Intentions" in the Life of a Muslim. "Allah is the Light of the heavens and the earth...Allah doth guide whom He will to His Light." - Al Nur 35. A light dinner will be served. Please RSVP at kalston@smith.edu to attend. All are welcome!

Mindfulness &

Soup Salad Soul Update

My name is Fallon and I am super excited to be an intern for the CRSL this semester. I am a first year and a philosophy and English double major. I love nature and reading.

Mindful Mondays, facilitated by Matilda Cantwell, works to create a space for guided meditation that centers on community. Throughout the semester, we will be working with different meditation techniques to help cultivate skills in mindfulness, breathing, and meditation. 

Soup, Salad, and Soul features weekly student-facilitated discussions that deal with a variety of themes. As a group, we discuss a wide range of topics, ranging from topical discussions to general themes. While enjoying a delicious meal prepared by our student cooks, we build community and share our ideas, allowing us to make connections and expand our horizons. (Soup Salad Soul is open to Smith One Card holders only.)

Fallon Sullivan '28 serves as an intern in the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. She is coordinating Mindful Mondays and Soup Salad Soul while Anna Ostow is on maternity leave.

Mindful Mondays with Matilda Cantwell

Mondays, 12:15 p.m.

Campus Center 205

If you are looking for a place to make connections and practice tools for awareness and self-acceptance, come join Mindful Mondays! With light meditation, embodiment practice, and discussion, we make a space that encourages healing and community. Lunch is provided. All levels of experience are welcome. Led by College Chaplain Matilda Rose Cantwell and several visiting facilitators! Last meeting will be on April 7.

Contact Mcantwel@smith.edu with questions.

Soup Salad and Soul

Fridays, 12:15 p.m.

Bodman Lounge, Chapel

Come get cozy and enjoy a hot, delicious vegetarian soup made by awesome student cooks while taking part in reflective, student-led discussions on spirituality and life! Students of all religious, spiritual, and non-religious/non-spiritual backgrounds are welcome. The Bodman Lounge is in the basement of the Helen Hills Hills Chapel and accessible via elevator from the rear of the building. For details on food and other general accessibility questions, email fsullivan@smith.edu or mcantwel@smith.edu.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Center for Religious and Spiritual Life

Helen Hills Hills Chapel

123-125 Elm Street

Northampton, Massachusetts 01063

Contact: kalston@smith.edu www.smith.edu/religiouslife

For news, events and programs: smith.edu/edigest