Tolerating the Tolerance Club
by Tovah Silbermann
December 21, 2009
When I first arrived at Stern College for Women this fall, I was extremely excited to get involved on campus and become an active participant in the various extracurricular activities that Stern has to offer. Every time I went to a speech about why Stern is the right school for me, a young Modern Orthodox Jewish maideleh, I heard the same lines about how there is so much to take advantage of on campus and how in a regular college-due to Sabbath and holiday restraints-it would be extremely difficult for me to get as involved in the myriad of activities offered there as it would be in Stern.
I agreed with this valid point, and, before I knew it, I found myself standing in Koch Auditorium surrounded by dozens of tables promoting various different activities and clubs. I received a booklet detailing all of the different clubs on campus and was surprised to note that it was nearly the size of the Stern College course catalog.
As I walked around the room, I signed up for every club that interested me. I am currently signed up as a member of C.A.K.E (basically a group for people who like every aspect of food), the Stern College Dramatics Society, The History Club, the Quidditch Team, the Art History Club, the Active Minds Club, the Young Democrats AND the Young Republican Clubs, the Chabad Club, and many more. One specific club that caught my eye as I perused the club fair was the Yeshiva University Tolerance Club. This club sounded fascinating. According to their mission statement, the YUTC "has been established to recognize diversity and promote tolerance within the YU community. [It] aims to create an atmosphere free from discrimination and harassment based on age, ancestry, citizenship, color, disability, ethnic origin, family status, gender identity, level of literacy, marital status, place of origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation or any other personal characteristics."
When I read their mission statement, the first thing that ran through my mind was how appropriate it is that a Jewish college should promote tolerance and attempt to abolish harassment and discrimination. If there is one nation, religion or social group that has continuously suffered over the millennia of history due to ignorance and intolerance, it is the Jews.
Apparently tolerance is intolerable at Yeshiva University.
When my newly acquired Stern acquaintances asked where I was going on the third Tuesday night of every month, I naively told them the truth, "To the Tolerance Club meeting." Almost nine out of ten times, people responded in surprise, "Isn't that the gay club?"
In one particular conversation, in which an acquaintance asked me about the Tolerance Club, I responded by reciting their mission statement verbatim. The girl replied, "I like the idea of tolerance, but I don't know how I feel about tolerating gays." Putting the debate currently raging through YU about homosexuality aside, this statement infuriated me. She basically said, "I'm tolerant, except when I'm not."
This attitude is exactly why there is so much hatred and intolerance in the world today. It is easy to accept people who are like us. The very word tolerance indicates a need to extend one's realm of acceptance to others who are different from oneself. This is done through learning about and understanding other cultures aside from one's own.
I am literally shocked by the amount of opposition the Tolerance Club has received, and I would like to issue the following disclaimer. I am straight. I am a member of the Tolerance Club. I am sure that there are members of the Tolerance Club who are gay. It may surprise readers to find out that we did not sit in a circle and announce our sexual preference at the club's first meeting. Not once has there been an event that encourages homosexuality on campus. We do not organize a pride parade every semester, nor are we here and queer (so get over it). We have heard heartbreaking and fascinating stories from refugees who traveled across Ethiopia by foot in order to achieve their dreams of reaching the Holy Land of Israel. We fed the homeless of New York City in the early morning, and we organized a Learnathon to raise money for the Anti Defamation League, an organization that is specifically geared towards fighting anti-Semitism and other forms of baseless hatred.
I am not asking you to join the Tolerance Club. Rather, all I ask is that we work together to eliminate the stigma that YUTC has unfairly been assigned over the past year and accept the club for what it is-a valid organization. To put it simply, I ask that you tolerate us.
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