CRSL Newsletter
September 21, 2022
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Dear Friends,
We are super excited for the beginning of the academic year and the opportunity
to build what we call “beloved community,” a term used widely by The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to describe relationships in a just world.
As we prepare for the Jewish High Holidays and start up our fall programs, we wanted to send a quick touch point so you will know what to expect this fall from the CRSL.
Our programs are designed to help students find joy, curiosity, kindness, compassion, and intellectual stimulation, just to name a few areas. We invite you first and foremost to our CRSL Welcome Party and to stop by and see us whenever you need a listening ear, thought partner, shoulder to lean on or positive affirmation.
Stay tuned for more from us, and many blessings for the rest of September!
Matilda and the CRSL staff: Anna, Kim, Maureen, Noam
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CRSL Welcome Party!
Wednesday, Sept. 21, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., Athletic Fields Firepit
Join the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life in welcoming the new semester with s’mores, snacks and music around a cozy fire this Wednesday, 6:30-8:30 pm! All are welcome to enjoy the food and learn more about religious and spiritual life on campus. We have marshmallows for everyone! The firepit is located in the athletic fields, between the Softball Field and Paradise Pond. Signup at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0C4BA8A92EA1FBC34-welcome or just come by!
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Small Kindnesses
I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead — you first,” “I like your hat.”
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Soup, Salad and Soul
Friday, Sept. 23, 12:15 p.m., Bodman Lounge, Chapel
Soup, Salad and Soul is re-launching on a weekly basis! 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. Our first gathering is September 23. Arrive when you can; the official start time is 12:15 p.m. All are welcome. Email aostow@smith.edu or mcantwel@smith.edu with questions.
Limited to Smith OneCard holders.
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Jummah Prayer
Friday, Sept. 23, 12:30 p.m., Chapel Sanctuary Front Lawn
We'll travel to Hampshire Mosque in Hadley on Fridays at 12:30 p.m. Meet in front of the Helen Hills Hills Chapel at 12:25 p.m. Van will leave by 12:30 p.m. and return to campus no later than 2:30 p.m. Bring a prayer rug and complete your ablution beforehand. We have extra prayer rugs if you need one. To attend, email crsl@smith.edu.
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Shabbat Singing and Dinner
Friday, Sept. 23, 5:30 p.m., Chapel Sanctuary
The Smith College Jewish Community invites you to join us at Helen Hills Hills Chapel for Kabbalat Shabbat on Friday nights at 5:30 p.m.! We'll join together in song and prayer to welcome in Shabbat as a community. Services will often be followed by Kosher vegetarian meals. All are welcome! Please reach out to scjc@smith.edu with any questions.
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Rosh Hashanah 2022
with Rabbi Noam Lerman and the
Smith College Jewish Community
Sunday, September 25th - Erev Rosh Hashanah at 6:00 p.m.
Kosher line in Cutter Ziskind is closed. Erev Rosh Hashanah dinner is on Davis Lawn at 7:30 p.m.
Monday, September 26th - First Day Service a 9:30 a.m.
Kosher line in Cutter-Ziskind is closed. Picnic lunch and Tashlich follow services. Kosher dinners available from dining services by advance registration (see link below).
Tuesday, September 27th - Kosher line in Cutter-Ziskind is closed.
To-go Kosher lunches and dinners available from dining services by advance registration.
Contact Rabbi Noam Lerman, nlerman@smith.edu with questions
Sponsored by the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life
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Mindful Mondays
Monday, Sept. 26, 12:15 p.m., Bodman Lounge, Chapel
If you are looking for a place to make connections and practice building self-awareness and acceptance with others, come check out our drop-in Mindful Mondays program, every Monday in-person in Bodman Lounge, 12:15-1:00 p.m. With light meditation, embodiment practice, and discussion, we make a space that encourages healing and connection-building. Bring your lunch and all are welcome. Email aostow@smith.edu with questions.
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Weekly Meditation
Monday, Sept. 26, 5:00 p.m., Chapel Sanctuary
Students, faculty, staff, and alumnae are invited to come together in person for weekly mindful meditation led by Ruth Ozeki and Mary Beth Brooker. We will do a simple, relaxed, silent practice of sitting and walking meditation, based on Zen forms. Chairs and floor cushions are available. Meditation instruction will be offered each week. All levels welcome.
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Tajweed
Monday, Sept. 26, 4:00 p.m., Chapel Sanctuary
Listen. Recite. Repeat. Learn how to recite the Tajweed Qur'an with Jamil El Ibrik, CRSL Community Religious Partner. Tajweed is a set of rules that are applied in the oral recitation of the Qur'an. For disability access information or accommodation requests, please call (413) 585-2753 or (413) 585-2754. To attend, email crsl@smith.edu
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Catholic Mass Coming Soon
with Smith's Newman Catholic Club and Fr. Valentine Nworah
Sunday afternoons, at Helen Hills Hills Chapel
Start Date and Time TBA
Contact crsl@smith.edu for Mass details!
Contact catholicclub@smith.edu for student org information, activities and events!
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Learning to Meditate: Practices from
Tibetan Buddhist Tradition
Wednesday, Sept. 28, 7:00 p.m., Bodman Lounge, Chapel
Hosted by Smith College Community Spiritual Partner Geshe Ngawang Singey. These bi-weekly interactive sessions will include instruction on and practice of breathing meditation, concentration meditation, blessing meditation, and tong-len (exchange of self and other), concluding Q&A with light refreshments.
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Islam and Mental Health
Friday, Sept. 30, 6:00 p.m., Chapel Sanctuary
What does Islam say about mental health?
Can I be religious and still have a mental illness?
How did Muslims treat mental illnesses in the past?
Psychiatrist Dr. Khalid Elzamzamy examines the relationship between the Islamic faith and mental health. The workshop takes a historical view of Muslim cultures’ understanding of mental health treatment; the social stigma of mental illness; contributions of classical Muslim scholars to what is called today the field of psychology; holistic Islamic frameworks of treatment and healing; and will consider some of the legal impacts of mental illness. Dinner is included. Register here: https://forms.gle/f11SMnxTMweVsguCA
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Heart-Friend: Mindfulness, Awareness, and Self-Care Practices for Students of Color
Friday, October 14, 4:00-5:00 p.m., Mwangi Cultural Center
Join local teacher Theresa Vincent for mindfulness and awareness-based practices in the service of being heart-friends to ourselves and each other. These 4 drop-in sessions are on Fridays, 4-5 pm, and are open to students of color. On October 14, the program meets in the Mwangi Cultural Center, and on October 21, October 28, and November 4, it meets in the Bodman Lounge of the Helen Hills Hills Chapel.
Participants are welcome to meet at Mwangi at 3:45 pm and walk to the Chapel together for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th meetings. Students with all levels of experience with mindfulness, from no experience to lots of experience, are warmly welcome to this program. This series is co-sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs' Multicultural Experience program, and the Center for Religious and Spiritual Life. Email smahmood@smith.edu and aostow@smith.edu with questions.
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Cromwell Day 2022
Tuesday, November 15
In 1989 Mary Maples Dunn, then president of Smith College, initiated Cromwell Day to provide an opportunity for further education, and reflection about issues of diversity and racism.
Cromwell Day, initially named Otelia Cromwell Day, features a full day of workshops, speakers, readings, discussions and other programs.
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At the 2019 ceremony, the College announced that the event would be renamed Cromwell Day, following the wishes of the Cromwell family and to honor the legacies of both Otelia Cromwell (1900), first African American graduate of Smith and her niece, Adelaide Cromwell ’40, first African American faculty member of Smith. This year's theme is "Ignorance is not Bliss: The Necessity of Teaching and Learning About Race."
Cyrstal Fleming, Professor of Sociology and Africana Studies, SUNY Stony Brook, and Critical Race Theory Scholar will serve as the keynote speaker. Mark your calendar!
Adelaide Cromwell '40
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Center for Religious and Spiritual Life
Helen Hills Hills Chapel
123-125 Elm Street
Northampton, Massachusetts 01063
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