Ames High School is experiencing an interesting and ignored issue: Where are all the Jews? A population survey done in 2006 by the American Jewish Yearbook estimates that there are 6.4 million Jews in the U.S., which is about 2.1 percent of the population. Currently, there are roughly 1495 students at Ames High. Of that population, 11 attend the Ames Jewish Congregation here in town. That’s about .7 percent of the student population, which doesn’t seem very representative of the U.S. So why are there so few Jews here in Ames? “It seems fairly consistent considering the size of this town. Soon we may have no Jews at Ames High,” said Jewish senior Jeremy Pour-El. Jeremy raises a good point. Ames isn’t a very large city, and Jews tend to reside in larger urban areas, particularly areas which have historically had lots of Jews-New York City or South Florida, for example. With Jews only going to those cities, it seems as though Ames will never have a significant Jewish population. However, Ames High students don’t seem to notice the severe lack of the latka-eating, Passover-celebrating minority. “I didn’t even know there was a lack of Jews here,” sophomore Neil Gerstein said. “I don’t really know any Jews here,” freshman Carlo Kind said. “I just kinda assumed they were here.” “It’s very depressing that we have a lack of Yamachas in the halls and bagels being consumed. We need to ship them from Israel,” senior Alex Schill said. However, the few Jews here do have hope. The small number of Jews have become a close-knit group willing to help each other when they are in trouble. “It’s tough,” senior Ben Nadler said. “The Jews here are unique. We need to unite. The few, the proud, the Jews!” Unity. An interesting and appealing concept to a people who have been broken apart for centuries. Perhaps the entire school can learn from this example. Jews and Gentiles alike can come together to solve the problems facing everyone.