I was a cheerleader in high school. Maybe that isn't odd enough for you.
I was a Jewish cheerleader in high school. Wait, there's more.
My father was the only rabbi in town and I was one of three Jews in my school.
Though I have always been slender, I have dark hair and a (stereotypically, I have been told) large chest. Being a cheerleader wasn't easy. Though I tried out, I could never perform as a football cheerleader because those games were often on Friday nights. Being the only daughter of the only rabbi in town, I was in synagogue every Friday night, not on the mat cheering. There were times my Judaism didn't jive with my cheering. Cheer camp on Saturdays (can't have it Sundays, Talia, the girls have to go to church!), prayer before games but I always used my position as the only active Jew in my school as an educational opportunity. My cheer friends learned about Shabbat and holidays through me. I taught them why I can't accept their "witnessing" for the J man.
There are many reasons why Jewish girls aren't cheerleaders. As I have gotten older and more involved in Orthodox Judaism, the uniforms aren't very modest. The practices often fall on days when Jews don't work. And in a small but very Christian town, telling the coaches that invoking Jesus' name in prayer isn't legally acceptable for a teacher doesn't go over well.
Cheerleaders as sex symbols is not a sport. Cheerleaders who do 400 situps, 200 pushups, and run 2 miles before practice where you repetitively practice movements, tumbling, and stunting until perfection certainly is.
Cheerleading as a means of marring an athlete or as a status symbol is certainly not Jewish. But promoting goodwill and cheering on your fellow athletes is a kiddush HaShem and does not oppose Jewish ideals.
What is funny is the true history of cheerleading. Did you know that women were not involved at all at the start? It was men, dancing around with megaphones trying to excite the crowd and leading the alma mater song. Women entered the picture much later.
So that's my story of being a Jewish, rabbi's daughter, cheerleader. If you ask my father, he will say that I did it just to rebel and be 'normal.' And his least favorite time of year was when I had tryouts... because he couldn't stand it if and when I was rejected from one of the squads. :)
I was a cheerleader in high school. Maybe that isn't odd enough for you.
I was a Jewish cheerleader in high school. Wait, there's more.
My father was the only rabbi in town and I was one of three Jews in my school.
Though I have always been slender, I have dark hair and a (stereotypically, I have been told) large chest. Being a cheerleader wasn't easy. Though I tried out, I could never perform as a football cheerleader because those games were often on Friday nights. Being the only daughter of the only rabbi in town, I was in synagogue every Friday night, not on the mat cheering. There were times my Judaism didn't jive with my cheering. Cheer camp on Saturdays (can't have it Sundays, Talia, the girls have to go to church!), prayer before games but I always used my position as the only active Jew in my school as an educational opportunity. My cheer friends learned about Shabbat and holidays through me. I taught them why I can't accept their "witnessing" for the J man.
There are many reasons why Jewish girls aren't cheerleaders. As I have gotten older and more involved in Orthodox Judaism, the uniforms aren't very modest. The practices often fall on days when Jews don't work. And in a small but very Christian town, telling the coaches that invoking Jesus' name in prayer isn't legally acceptable for a teacher doesn't go over well.
Cheerleaders as sex symbols is not a sport. Cheerleaders who do 400 situps, 200 pushups, and run 2 miles before practice where you repetitively practice movements, tumbling, and stunting until perfection certainly is.
Cheerleading as a means of marring an athlete or as a status symbol is certainly not Jewish. But promoting goodwill and cheering on your fellow athletes is a kiddush HaShem and does not oppose Jewish ideals.
What is funny is the true history of cheerleading. Did you know that women were not involved at all at the start? It was men, dancing around with megaphones trying to excite the crowd and leading the alma mater song. Women entered the picture much later.
So that's my story of being a Jewish, rabbi's daughter, cheerleader. If you ask my father, he will say that I did it just to rebel and be 'normal.' And his least favorite time of year was when I had tryouts... because he couldn't stand it if and when I was rejected from one of the squads. :)