In the spirit of celebrating Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, the EIU spiritual pluralism and selfless service registered student organization is handing out traditional Jewish pastries and information cards about the holiday.

The group will do this from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. outside of Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Ali Fisher, president of the EIU spiritual pluralism and selfless service RSO, said the pastries the group will be handing out are from a kosher bakery in Terre Haute, which is owned by a rabbi.

“What we’ll be giving the students is what people from the Jewish faith will be celebrating with at the same time,” Fisher said. “So it’ll be kind of like celebrating with them at the same time.”

Fisher said in the Jewish faith the New Year is seen as a time for spiritual renewal.

“There’s a period of 10 days where they’ll spend a lot of time focusing on contemplation and doing different practices to leave the old year behind,” Fisher said.

Fisher said the celebration is just as much about having a fresh start as it is about leaving the old year behind. She said while some Jewish people do the 10-day traditional celebration; others may spend only one or two days celebrating.

“There’s the one aspect of it, where people celebrate a holiday spiritually, and then the other aspect of it where people celebrate a holiday like we celebrate New Year’s,” Fisher said. “There’s not really any other reason to celebrate it other than we want to have a party.”

Alex Hill, vice president of the EIU spiritual pluralism and selfless service RSO, said he hopes to help educate the campus community about a culture that may be different from their own.

“If people are only exposed to their own little bubble of culture or spirituality, a lot of times they don’t see how nuanced other cultures are,” Hill said. “It just makes people more understanding. They don’t necessarily have to support it or believe in it, but it’s just knowing that however unique and complex they are as a human being, so is every other human being.”

Chrissy Miller can be reached at 

581-2812 or clmiller9@eiu.edu.