Sukkahs + Safe Spaces

“This week, the Jews put up spaces outside. We built huts (sukkahs), 3-walled structures with a roof made of corn husks or tree branches or anything that would allow us to see the stars. Our intent with our cute little huts is to create a temporary dwelling much as our ancestors did when they wandered the desert for 40 years after fleeing slavery in Egypt. We don’t make these huts just for ourselves, however. We are supposed to invite strangers to our sukkot -- to break bread with them but who do we invite but the people who make us feel ‘safe’. And who would want to come but people who deem us ‘safe’. This makes sense, of course. It’s a bit bananas to think we’d invite an actual stranger into our temporary space but would it be a testament to our ability to actually create a real safe space if we did invite someone with an opposing viewpoint or an actual stranger into our sukkahs.

“Safe” Space. This term gets thrown around so much I’ve begun to question if we’re talking about the same thing anymore. When I was a school counselor, the first thing I ever did was put up a pink ‘Safe Space” sticker on my door as a symbol that all students were welcome to come, sit, and feel ‘safe’ there. Like that sticker had some kind of magical power of the space. The term ‘safe space’ is thrown around in school charters, student organizations mission statements, nonprofit values statements, and even LinkedIn profiles (I’m pretty sure it’s in my own). 

The term ‘safe space’ as a concept originated in the gay liberation movement and women's movement, where it "implies a certain license to speak and act freely, form collective strength, and generate strategies for resistance”. In 1989 Gay & Lesbian Urban Explorers (GLUE) developed a safe spaces program. During their events including diversity-training sessions and antihomophobia workshops, they passed out magnets with an inverted pink triangle (the pink triangle was assigned to anyone the Nazi’s deemed as being identified as LGBTQIA) and asked "allies to display the magnets to show support for gay rights and to designate their work spaces free from homophobia." 

Fast forward 30 years, however, and I think we’ve lately been throwing the term around and the sticker on our doors but forgot (or never bothered to learn) what it means to actually create a safe space. Does it mean creating a space in which only people who agree with me and my values are allowed to enter? Does it mean that anyone is able to speak freely, regardless of impact? Is it a ‘safe space’ until it becomes inconvenient for me and then I get to close down shop? Does ‘safe space’ really mean ‘safe’ or does it mean, ‘A space with people whom I know think like me so I don’t have to deal with opposing/contrasting ideals?” This is hard stuff and questions that I am constantly considering as an individual and an Executive Director of this Hillel. As an organization committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, I hope we are role modeling the safe inclusion of all individuals and not only when it’s convenient or easy but also when it’s tough and can force us to grow.

Chag Sukkot Sameach. May you continue to grow and may your spaces be comforting.

Shabbat Shalom,

Whitney