2.Get to know your teachers. Talk to them and find out more about them. See how strict or lenient they are.

3.You need to make friends. Talk to different people, but don't ignore a certain group. Find out who you like to hang out with. Don't be afraid to be yourself.

4.Pay attention in class. Teachers always pay attention to new students.

5.If your first day in the school is the first day of the new year, then some people will notice you, especially if it is a small school. When people talk to you, don't be nervous, but don't be too loud. Be confident and make eye contact.

6.Don't worry about getting to know the school too much. Know where your locker is and have a map in case of emergencies, but whenever possible, ask the person sitting near you where something is. It's a good way to talk to people and meet a lot of people on your first day.

7.When you talk to those of the opposite sex, don't flirt too much before finding out if they're already with someone. Once one person hates you, their entire group will hate you too.

8.For your first lunch, talk a lot to people in the class right before lunch. Usually, they will ask you if you're sitting with anyone, but if not, steer the topic towards school lunch (as in is the food good etc) If no one specifically mentions eating together, but you're walking to the cafeteria together, then it's implied that you'll eat lunch together.

9.For the first week at your new school, be nice to everyone and talk to everyone, even if they seem weird. They could always know people you'd rather be friends with or introduce you to more people.

10.Pay attention in class and try hard in school. If someone passes a note or whispers something to you, ignore them so you can pay attention to the teacher.

11.Join a few clubs or sports and make more friends this way. Make sure you are committed to that sport or club.

12.After you've talked to someone a few times, ask for their contact information. Even better, ask them to do something over the weekend.

13.Please the other kids. While you don't want to be a complete kiss-up, kids like the people who will cooperate with them. If they ask you a favor, do it.

14.Force yourself in. Being obnoxious or annoying will turn the other kids off you immediately, but remember, since they don't need you, they're not going to invite you in unless you put yourself there for the inviting. Whenever possible, tag along with them and talk, but make sure not to talk too much. If you just wait for them to befriend you, you'll be graduating friendless.

and having to fit in :(

you and kids should be worrying about how you improved the world, not how you feel- that is what being jewish is all about

questions? see the torah, and a good teacher. the rest will follow

I have been thinking about this and I would also like to add that it's possibly a bit dangerous to point out that the Jews dominate Wall Street, or indeed that any ethnic group dominates any industry. Some people will seize on anything as a problem and it's depressingly easy to stir up sentiments, especially at a time like this. Be careful.

I think today's religions are more about that sense of belonging and identity than they are about creeds. Thanks to education, we've moved on from creeds. Now what's left is a kind of loyalty to roots.

This is the only way I can explain why wonderful, powerful, educated Muslim women wear headscarves and overclothes. It's not to be modest. (How can you be modest when you make yourself stand out?) It's about marking one's identity and maintaining a sense of belonging to something.

The same applies to religious rules about what you can and can't do on holidays, what you wear, what you eat, and all the little rituals of daily life. All of them are restrictions and inconveniences, none of them logical, but all reinforcing that belonging to the group.

It's the flight from anomie and alienation, the struggle against the organized lovelessness and flatness of Western life.

It's a way of shouting out what we are still human.

Have a very human holiday.

I found Penelope's post to be yet another example of how Judaism is just a series of rituals to most Jews, and does little to expand them spiritually. After a big holiday, or any Sunday for that matter, if I ask, most Protestants will share with me their pastor's sermons, and discuss how their clergy's words could or couldn't impact their lives personally. But after Yom Kippur, most Jews will tell me they don't remember the Rabbi's sermon, they slept through it, or that he said something obvious about being good or performing a kind gesture.

If you read business motivators like Napoleon Hill or Robert Collier, much of what they say is very similar to what's in the New Testament. Many Jews feel left out on Christmas, but really what they're missing is not a decorated tree or Santa, but the chance to experience and interpret bible readings that can be applied to everyday life, not just a once a year ritual.

More importantly, how does this teach our children to be better people? Isn't that what the focus of religion should be?