Being a Jew in C-U: Jewdar

by Laura Weisskopf Bleill

I still got it, folks.

Living in Champaign-Urbana for – for oh, almost long enough for me to celebrate another bat mitzvah of sorts – has not diminished my Jewdar in the least. In fact, it has strengthened.

Nowhere was this more apparent than at Blissdom, the blogging conference that Amy and I attended a few weeks ago. Although the conference has no religious agenda, for a variety of reasons it happens to attract a large contingent of Christian women. There were several parties independent of the conference — prayer breakfasts and late-night gatherings — that appealed to their demographic.

These women who are open, honest and live their faith fascinate me, and I actually attended one of those gatherings briefly.

It was an interesting exercise.

But even more so was how I managed to track down and interact with almost all of the Jews at Blissdom. Like bees to honey, hippies to Priuses, and whatever other cliché you can think of, I found them – some on Twitter before the conference; some during. I even knew two from real life. (I would link to more, but I know I’m going to miss someone – sorry.)

And it was funny, because many of them thought they were the only other one there, or maybe one of two.

Not so.

Although there weren’t many, we were all representin’. It actually reminded me of the everyday life I experience in Champaign-Urbana.

There are many people in Chambana who wear their faith on their sleeves.

There are many other people in Chambana who don’t share that faith, but might feel overwhelmed – or left out – of being one of the crowd.

There are those who share something in common with other “minorities,” but don’t know how to find them or are uncomfortable trying.

And there are those who, once they do find their tribe, discover that there are people just like them who’ve been through the same thing.

I’m planning on returning to Blissdom, if only because one of my new friends that I met there and I are determined to have a breakfast or other party for members of our tribe, and anyone else who wants to come. Maybe we can even get some famous bagel company to sponsor it, and I’m only half-kidding. (Incidentally, Bagel-fuls was one of the of the amazing sponsors for Blissdom).

Because my Jewdar is just that good, we’ll definitely have a minyan.

Laura Weisskopf Bleill, a co-founder of chambanamoms.com, is finding a way to include something about bagels in every post she pens for this series. She writes “Being a Jew in C-U,” a column about being a Jewish suburban girl in a cornfield, on Thursdays. You can reach her at laura@chambanamoms.com.

Related posts:

1. Being a Jew in C-U: Everything Has Its Season
2. Being a Jew in C-U: Ode to the Jewish Mother
3. Being a Jew in C-U: Save a Life, Save the World
4. Finding Our Red Rubber Ball