Four years ago, no students at George Mason University minored in Judaic studies. That number is now a consistent 10 thanks to Professor Alexandria “Xandy” Frisch.

Judaic studies had been a minor on the books, but hadn’t gotten any student engagement “for a while,” Frisch said.

“There had been a gap,” the Fairfax resident explained. “There had not been a full-time Jewish studies person here for a few years before me, and I think the effort was to really resurrect that Jewish studies minor, and that has loosely been my mandate: to teach Jewish studies.”

For the past four years, Frisch has taught courses in introduction to Judaism, history and religion in ancient Israel, religion and literature, rabbinic Judaism, and gender and sex in Judaism.

“I think my goal for the Judaic studies minor is that, first of all, [students] don’t just take classes with me; that they take [classes] with a few of us, so they have a well-rounded approach to Jewish studies,” Frisch said.

Her goal is to have students walk away with both ancient and modern knowledge of Jewish studies, whether through history, literature, music or another discipline.

“Jewish studies doesn’t just look like studying the Talmud,” Frisch said. “It can be that, but it could also be Holocaust studies, it can also be Jews and politics, it can also be gender studies. We do a lot.”

In addition to teaching, Frisch works to grow the minor by coordinating Jewish-related programs on campus: the annual Distinguished Lecture in Judaic Studies and International Holocaust Remembrance Day program are just two examples. Both are in partnership with Mason Hillel and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, and the Pozez JCC of Northern Virginia joins that list for the fall lecture.

Frisch, Rabbi Bruce Aft and an Israeli postdoctoral researcher are the only three professors teaching Jewish studies at GMU in any given semester. Despite the small numbers, they’re seeing enrollment.

“The classes are filling,” Frisch said. “I was talking to my [department] chair — he’s been here many more years than me — and he said, ‘These classes didn’t even get enrollment, and now we’re not only getting enrollment, but we’re able to offer them every year and still get the enrollment’ … It’s got the staying power.”

She credits the Jewish studies professors for interacting with students, adding that she and Aft both have “repeat students” across their courses.

“I think that’s due to the relationships you build with students,” Frisch said. “Even if they’re not a declared [Jewish studies] minor, they might take two classes.”

The religious studies department also has a working relationship with Mason Hillel, which helps boost interest.

“I think Jewish studies is an interdisciplinary field that should appeal to any student,” Frisch said, adding that she’s had government and international relations students take her courses.

She referenced the “Field of Dreams” analogy from the 1989 film: “If you build it, they will come.”

“That’s sort of what’s happening,” Frisch said. “By having dedicated academics teaching the classes, by having the classes themselves, by having the programs that work to market that we’re here, all that generates interest. If we can get them in the door to the classroom, they will take more courses, and I think that’s born out to be true in my experience.”

An academic with two master’s degrees and a Ph.D. in Jewish studies, Frisch enjoys learning. She loves what she does.

“There is such diversity to Jewish studies,” she said. “There is so much rich history to Jewish studies and Jewish history and Jewish life and Judaism that I love sharing with students and getting them as excited about it as I am.”

Her small class sizes allow Frisch to learn all her students’ names pretty much “right away,” she said. And even though she has a syllabus with certain learning objectives, Frisch lets class discussions flow in ways the students see fit.

“I pride myself on not having every class day look the same,” she said.

A member of Beth El Hebrew Congregation in Alexandria, Frisch has long been interested in Jewish education. She thoroughly enjoyed attending Hebrew and religious schools unlike many of her peers.

Her first job out of college was as an engagement fellow at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County Hillel. Then, Frisch worked in informal Jewish education for the youth group at Congregation Beth El of Baltimore.

She also taught at Ursinus College outside of Philadelphia and ran the Hillel on campus before coming to GMU.

“I feel like half Jewish communal professional, but then also Jewish academic,” she said. “I’ve worn both hats throughout the many years.”

Outside the classroom, Frisch is revising her second book, “Rituals of Resistance,” which examines how Jews used ritual to navigate the trauma of living under empire during the Second Temple period.

Her primary focus, though, is modern-day GMU.

“I want people to realize that Jewish studies is at George Mason,” Frisch said. “It’s doing well. There’s a lot of negative impressions of what’s happening for Jewish students on college campuses now, and I want George Mason to stand out.
We’re growing Jewish studies; it’s thriving here and we are supportive of what other Jewish institutions in the community are doing … and my goal is to have us be a staple of this northern Virginia Jewish education that’s happening.”

zbell@midatlanticmedia.com