As we prepare to welcome more than a half-dozen new Jewish professionals to Mississippi for internships and fellowships at the ISJL, we’ve asked a few of them to share their thoughts on heading South. The second piece in this series comes from Shira Muroff, who will spend the next two years as an ISJL Education Fellow. Next up will be our rabbinic intern!
I am so excited for my first summer in Mississippi! For me, this will be my first summer since 2000 without going to Jewish summer camp (excluding 2001 when I tried soccer camp; I was not born to play soccer), but I know that working for the ISJL in Jackson will be as close to real-world summer camp as I can get.
First of all, I am excited to have the time and kitchen facilities to allow me to cook during the summer. While still in college, throughout the school year I stared at recipes online (and in actual cookbooks), but I never had enough time to make anything exciting. I have been looking forward for months to be able to cook this summer. With opportunities in Jackson like the Mississippi Farmers Market, I know there will be great things to make and eat!
Besides eating good food, I am excited to read and take road trips! Camp for me was always the time of the year where I got to catch up on all of the books that I had been meaning to read over the past year. After visiting Sneaky Beans, a cool local coffee shop in Jackson this past February, I have been looking forward to taking advantage of its reading nooks during weekends when I am not on the road!
I am also excited to be on the road, though! I was born in Georgia but grew up in California, so I have always wanted to be able to explore the South. The ISJL has given me the perfect job to be able to do just that, and the summer road trips will be the perfect introduction. Getting to meet the communities we work with and hit the ground running is going to be incredible.
Since there is no such thing as talking about food too much, I’ll also say that am excited for all of the popsicles in Jackson! Popsicles have always been a symbol of camp, and so the fact that I am coming to a city that has multiple gourmet popsicle places (such as Deep South Pops, yum) is a real treat!
This summer in Jackson will be an adventure, and there are already so many good things to look forward to… I’ll share more stories here on the blog, too, of course.
