Higher yearning

by Sue Fishkoff and Johanna Ginsberg
JTA and NJJN Staff Writer

May 22, 2008

For Hillel and other campus groups, outreach to Jewish students begins even before orientation week. When Arielle Walzer, a Livingston High School senior, was applying to colleges last fall, she was thinking not only about academics; she was also thinking about Jewish life on campus.

She pored over a Web-site set up by Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, particularly its on-line guide to Jewish life on campus, which provides data on more than 500 North American colleges and universities.

Walzer is one of an estimated 75,000 Jewish graduating seniors who in recent weeks have made their final decisions about where to attend college. This fall, they will be part of the largest incoming freshman class in American history.

Many of them will not consider their Jewish needs on campus until their first Jewish holiday rolls around or a friend drags them to a Shabbat dinner at Chabad or a Purim party at Hillel.

But that’s too late, said Jeff Rubin, Hillel’s associate vice president for communications, and many of the campus newcomers recognize that. “Jewish students often make decisions about what they’ll be involved in during the first week or two on campus,” he said.

To aid such students in this process, Jewish student organizations are now reaching out to incoming Jewish freshmen even before they hit campus after having spent much time and money in the past decade beefing up their campus programs, Rubin said.

“By reaching out to them ahead of time, we increase the likelihood of their being involved,” he said.

Do high school students care? It’s a “significant criteria” for kids at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union, according to head of school Dr. Joyce Raynor. “For different kids, the emphasis can be on different things, but most are looking at the number of Jewish kids on campus, whether or not Hebrew or Jewish studies classes are offered, and whether or not there is a Hillel or other extracurricular Jewish activities center. Some are looking at more than one criterion. And for some, the ability to eat kosher food on campus matters. But it is very important for students in this school,” she said.

Walzer, who was an elementary school student at Solomon Schechter in West Orange and attended Jewish summer camp, said, “I feel very culturally connected to Judaism. That, combined with the fact that I live in Livingston, means I’m used to being with Jewish people. I have non-Jewish friends, and I look forward to making new ones, but it’s important to me to stay connected to the Jewish community.”

Walzer will attend Emory University in Atlanta, which has a Jewish enrollment of 33 percent.

Her mother, she said, encouraged her to look for schools with Jewish populations of over 10 percent, “so I wouldn’t feel awkward being Jewish and would be able to find people to celebrate holidays with.”

“As long as the community was active enough to have events for holidays,” Walzer said, “I didn’t need a huge population.”


Not all Jewish high school students are as motivated to stay connected, educators say. And not all of them go to colleges that have a strong Jewish student life.

“There are 12 to 15 universities where the most active Jewish students go, and after that it’s hit or miss,” said Richard Moline, the director of Koach, the Conservative movement’s campus organization.

Two years ago, Hillel launched a major effort to bridge the gap between high school and college in partnership with the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization; the Jewish Educational Service of North America; and the Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jewish youth movements.

In 2006 Hillel began publishing an Internet e-zine, Chai Wire, filled with information about Jewish life on campus, which it sends quarterly to 50,000 high school juniors and seniors. Last year it held focus groups and sent out a survey to 20,000 Chai Wire readers to find out what those teens wanted.

Six hundred readers responded, Rubin said. Three-quarters said Jewish life on campus was an important factor in their college choice. Nearly 40 percent said they had consulted Hillel’s on-line guide to Jewish student life during the application process.

Last summer, Hillel began to collect names of Jewish high school seniors and pass them to Hillel directors at the schools they would be attending, so those directors could communicate with the students over the summer.

By the fall of 2007, Hillel had 5,000 names. This year it hopes to collect even more.

Rubin said the process is arduous. Some names are provided by high school youth groups or, less often, by synagogues. Some can be accessed through lists of incoming freshmen at private universities; public universities don’t collect such data.

Hillel also solicits names through Chai Wire, asking students to e-mail their contact information and where they are attending college.

Andrew Getraer, Hillel director at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, with 5,400 Jewish undergraduates, said the project really just started last year.

“There’s a bigger, more aggressive push this year, but we’re not relying on that for our efforts,” he said. “About 1,250 Jewish freshmen will come to Rutgers this year. Until we have all of them, we need to increase our efforts.”

He uses Facebook, e-mail, flyers distributed on campus, students trained as peer recruiters, staff recruiters, and massive efforts during the first few weeks of school, “when students are the most open to checking everything out and getting involved,” Getraer said.

He said he wishes local communities were more involved in identifying Jewish students coming to campus. “Synagogues don’t send names. Youth groups don’t send names. Camps don’t. I wish they did, but most are understaffed and underfunded. It’s a difficult thing for them to do, on top of their own work, although it makes sense.”

Orthodox connections
Tova Diamond, right, studies with Shoshana Porath of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus program at Rutgers

Tova Diamond, right, studies with Shoshana Porath of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus program at Rutgers.

Outreach efforts have intensified in the past two years with the introduction of Chai Wire and with JESNA asking the heads of its 55 community Hebrew high schools to send the names of graduating seniors to the Hillel directors on the campuses to which they were headed.

Devorah Silverman, who heads that project at JESNA, said the Hebrew high schools sent about 350 names last year.

Also last year, the Orthodox Union launched an internal effort to funnel Orthodox high school students to appropriate Jewish groups on campus.

“For 15 years I’ve been telling the OU they need to do this,” said David Felsenthal, who heads the OU’s new alumni department of the National Conference of Synagogue Youth.

Some 6,000 high school seniors are involved either in NCSY or in Jewish Student Unions, the OU-sponsored Jewish clubs in public schools. Felsenthal said he had gathered 300 names by May 1; his goal is 1,000 by the end of the month.

Chabad does its own outreach to incoming freshmen, said Rabbi Hershey Novack, the codirector of Chabad at Washington University in St. Louis. Community Chabad emissaries tell campus emissaries about incoming freshmen via an internal Chabad on-line system, and the 125 Chabad college representatives do personal outreach to the new students when they reach campus.

Collecting and passing on names is only part of the overall effort to involve Jewish students in Jewish life on campus, however.

“Honestly, even if a Hillel director follows up, that doesn’t mean the kids will be meaningfully engaged,” Silverman of JESNA admitted. “But it’s a start.

Hillel and Chabad work to increase diversity on campus

Jewish organizations share their views on diversity

By: Katelyn Bell
Posted: 4/7/08

Jewish students on campus are saying they think diversity at CU needs to be emphasized more.

"I think that diversity is lacking, hugely," said sophomore music and sociology major and Hillel board member Phillip Rubinstein. "I grew up in a very diverse city and when coming to CU it was a big change."

Rubinstein added that he noticed for the first time how much race affects people's personalities. In Los Angeles, his hometown, Rubinstein said there was tension between racial groups but they still got along.

"You either hated a race or didn't really care," he said. "When coming to Colorado, these students had no experience with other races. I think that as a generality there are large groups of people here that experience different cultures for the very first time."

Hillel has an open door policy in terms of the events and programs they host outside of the Hillel house, and never limit activities to Jewish participants only.

Rubinstein said the open door policy will help the issue of diversity at CU because they do a lot of community of service with a Jewish attitude.

"When we are out doing something we are doing it as a Jewish organization instead of just as students who happen to be Jewish," he said. "We are representing the Jewish community through our actions. We also have specific multicultural outreach programs such as No Pork, which is a Jewish-Muslim alliance and other various programs."

Rubinstein added that not only do they strive to teach others about their culture but they also take the same initiative to learn about others.

Junior psychology and sociology major Rachel Ptaszek is also a board member of Hillel. She agrees with Rubinstein about the limited diversity on campus.

"I think that it's unfortunate that there is a lack of diversity," she said. "By having a limited pool of individuals we are cutting ourselves short of different viewpoints."

Ptaszek said she thinks collaborating with and supporting other multicultural groups can improve diversity relations on campus because it will bridge the gap between cultures.

Other students agreed with Ptaszek's sentiments.

"I feel like the people that are considered minorities are really trying to make an effort to make people aware of other cultures," said sophomore history major and Hillel member Amy Leszman.

Leszman said a few ways Hillel can improve the lack of diversity is through their programs.

"Hillel always puts on a variety of programs…Israel at 60th Birthday Bash," Leszman explained. "Another is the How To, one of them being How To Change The World. Holocaust Awareness Week promotes knowledge of not only the past but Jews in general and other minority groups."

Rebecca Levin, sophomore political science major and president of Chabad, said she thinks the campus should promote inclusion of all groups of people.

"I think there is a really big lack of (diversity) and the diversity that there is here doesn't have a big enough effort to include everyone," Levin said. "The majority of people don't include the minorities enough."

Similar to Hillel, Chabad has an open door policy in that they are open to people who are non-Jewish.

"We encourage our members to invite non-Jewish friends to our Friday night Shabbat, just so that they can see that we all have a lot of similarities to each other," Levin explained. "By doing this people can see that Jewish people are similar to everyone so we can all still relate."

Levin said members of Chabad try to improve diversity by making themselves a noticeable presence on campus.

"It disappoints me that such an academically successful school cannot be successful in diversity," Levin said.

Rick Gaines, a junior MCD biology major and member of Chabad, said he doesn't find CU extremely diverse ethnically but more diverse in the interest and activities on campus.

"Pretty much anything you can think of is a student group," Gaines said. "We have a lot of congregations, sports and political groups which has a lot of diversity."

He added that he thinks President Benson will be directed towards funding which will indirectly lead to more diversity by lowering tuition and increasing financial aid.

Gaines said since Jewish holidays are typically family and community oriented, students will feel welcome in the Jewish organizations on campus. By having a strong sense of community, Gaines said he thinks students will be more willing to come to CU, which will in turn increase diversity.

"We are open to more students in that sense," he said. "When I was a freshman I came down with a bad cold and the rabbi and his wife made me Matzah ball soup and brought it to my dorm. This made me feel very at home. This shows how strong the Jewish community is here."

Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Katelyn Bell at Katelyn.bell@colorado.edu. © Copyright 2008 Campus Press

Brandeis students raise big bucks for Chabad

Waltham Chabad hosts gala dinner

At its Feb. 10 gala dinner in a large hall at Lexington Chabad
House, nearly 100 Brandeis University students raised more than
$30,000 for the Waltham house.
Run by Rabbi Peretz and his wife Chanie
Chein out of their home across the street
from campus, the Waltham house
operates on a shoestring budget, hosting
crowded weekly Shabbat dinners and
holiday celebrations and offering a series
of classes as part of their iLearn series.
The house was established in 2001, and
the gala was the first of its kind. All
proceeds raised from the event will fund
operating expenses such as the cost of
food and a modest living for the rabbi.
There is a small fee for the popular classes offered at the house
throughout the week in which a reported 90 students are currently
enrolled.
“Chabad House is independently funded and we receive no major
contributions from donors or institutions,” said Chein, whose
students address him by his first name. “The people we serve don’t
have the ability to support our costs and that makes fundraising
extremely challenging.”
Relying only on small donations from people who come to the
house often, Chein said the house has operated under a deficit over
the last few years and there needs to be ways to support the work
they do. The gala itself was conceived and planned entirely by
seniors Cindy Kaplan and Yael Klein with help from other students,
including sophomore Lily Namanworth.
And despite the ice storm that night, close to 100 people attended
the fundraiser, paying the rather steep price of $180 a ticket.
Though shy of the 120 expected, in addition to the $31,000 raised,
someone reportedly made an additional pledge of $20,000.
What’s the attraction?
“Personal relationships and personal interaction,” said Chein, 32,
recalling a recent conversation with a 2004 Brandies graduate who
called to say hello and talk. “It develops and evolves and gets
people interested. That’s why they’ll come in big numbers. Everyone
feels special and important. We’re engaging, speak to important
issues and people of all backgrounds feel comfortable here.”
“We love Chanie and Peretz,” said Namanworth. “Every Friday
there’s a dinner at their house with something like 150 people.
They’re constantly giving to us and being there for the students.”
With a strong Reform, Conservative and Orthodox community,
Chein said Chabad is still able to have large dinners without
decreasing involvement in Hillel and other Jewish organizations on
campus.
“The number of those not engaged far exceeds those that are,”
Chein said. “When Chabad arrived we created a different model
and attracted those who were not engaged.”
He said the model starts with a “principle belief in the innate value
of every Jew regardless of, not despite, their current level of
engagement and observance.”
He said his goal and responsibility is to move everyone who walks
through his door forward from where they were before.
“As long as they’re moving forward, the individual answer is
different for everybody,” Chein said.
Senior Cindy Jacobs, who was raised Orthodox in New York, said
she’s been going to the house for Shabbat dinner and classes since
her sophomore year
“I hadn’t been happy at other places I’d gone before and a friend
told me about Chabad,” Jacobs said. “I’ve never had the experience
where I could consider a rabbi a friend. Peretz and Chanie are
amazing. Their door is always open and it’s a place where I can be
the kind of Jew I want to be. It’s important to have an anchor and
somewhere to go that feels like home.”