THE STEINHARDT FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH LIFE WINTER 2013/ADAR 5773 VOLUME 15 NUMBER 2 THE JOURNAL OF THE STEINHARDT FOUNDATION FOR JEWISH LIFE CAMPUS LIFE TODAY FROM THE EDITOR WINTER 2013/ADAR 5773 VOLUME 15 NUMBER 2 Eli Valley n the Jewish world, the college years are sometimes viewed as a poten- Editor tial engagement vacuum. Freed from educational outlets such as day Erica Coleman schools or after-school programs and too young to fall in the crosshairs Copy Editor of young adult programming, college students are sometimes considered Yakov Wisniewski to be in a potential cul-de-sac on their Jewish journeys. College itself, in Design Director Iturn, is often painted as a vague, even somewhat dangerous place where Jewish THE STEINHARDT identity is in jeopardy of attenuating. FOUNDATION In fact, the college years offer amazing opportunities for exploration of and experimentation FOR JEWISH LIFE with Jewish possibilities. Sometimes it happens through Hillel, sometimes through a Jewish Michael H. Steinhardt studies course or a grassroots initiative, sometimes through peer networks and sometimes Chairman through a Birthright Israel trip and its aftermath. In an atmosphere in which multiple iden- Robert P. Aronson President tities are embraced and ongoing questioning is encouraged, the key is to offer options that Rabbi David Gedzelman are not heavy-handed and that speak to students where they are. With thousands of stu- Executive Vice President dents returning each year from their Birthright Israel experiences, there are seemingly limit- less opportunities for grassroots engagement among young adults and their peers whose Rabbi Irving Greenberg Founding President interest in Jewish history, culture, life and experience has been freshly piqued. Jonathan J. Greenberg z”l Articles in this issue of CONTACT explore the potential of the college years from a vari- Founding Director ety of perspectives, whether through peer networks, Israel engagement, grassroots initia- CONTACT is produced and tives or various forms of study. They reflect a commitment to reaching students on their distributed by The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, 6 East 39th Street, own level, through their own peers, and on their own terms. The unifying message is 10th floor, New York, NY 10016. that if students are respected and given proper tools of exploration, they themselves will All issues of Contact are available for download at catalyze new and ongoing commitments to Jewish culture and life. www.steinhardtfoundation.org/journal.html Individual subscriptions are free of charge and are provided as a service to the community. Eli Valley To subscribe, please send your name and mailing address to [email protected]. Phone: (212) 279-2288 IN THIS ISSUE Fax: (212) 279-1155 Email: [email protected] “BIRTHING” JEWISH HABITS Website: www.steinhardtfoundation.org 3 Abi Dauber Sterne For media inquiries about The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, please contact 5 ASKING BIGGER QUESTIONS Dan Gerstein at [email protected]. Sheila Katz and Rabbi Josh Feigelson Copyright © 2013 by ON FINDING PURPOSE IN THE MIDST OF A CRISIS The Steinhardt Foundation 6 Rabbi Mike Uram for Jewish Life. 8 JEWISH LEARNING ON CAMPUS: WHY I CARE ABOUT The Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life is RABBIS WHO DIED 2,000 YEARS AGO dedicated to strengthening and transform ing Lex Rofes Ameri can Jewish Life to ensure a flourishing, sustainable commu nity in a fully integrated 9 CAPITALIZING ON INNOVATION free society. We seek to revitalize Jewish Lisa B. Eisen identity through educa tional and cultural initiatives that are designed to reach out to 10 FOSTERING CONNECTIONS: all Jews, with an emphasis on those who are ON LEVERAGING SOCIAL NETWORKS on the margins of Jewish life, as well as to Jennifer Zwilling and Josh Miller advocate for and support Hebrew and Jewish literacy among the general population. 12 LEVERAGING BIRTHRIGHT FOR CHANGE Cheryl Aronson Unless otherwise indicated, photographs in this 14 CREATING A NEW CAMPUS SPACE issue appear courtesy of contributors and Hillel: Rebecca Silverman The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. 2 CONTACT ere at Hillel, we have a mantra that we’re not interested in run- ning “one-shot” programs. Hour-long, day-long or even week- Hlong events are nice, but what impact do they really have? As our vision is to inspire students to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel, our work focuses on connecting Jewish students with consistent and ongoing Jewish opportunities. We’ve learned from important educational philosophers who assert that education is about building habits, or a set of routinized — almost intuitive — behaviors and thoughts. As Lee Shulman, President Emeri- tus of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, explains: to inculcate a person into a particular field of study or prac- tice, the individual must learn the “habits of mind, habits of hand, and habits of heart” (“Signature Pedagogies in the Professions,” Dædalus, Summer 2005). That is, good education helps students to learn content (mind), skills (hand) and values (heart). by ABI DAUBER STERNE We in the Jewish educational world need to think along these lines: Any endeavor that is meant to engage and educate must create habits. It cannot merely be a moment or even ten days of inspiration. For every great time-limited program we run, there needs to be a before and an We’ve learned from important educational after. A day or week of service is important, and can be inspirational to its participants. But imagine if we were serious about getting people in philosophers who assert that education is the habit of doing service, for example of being kind to others. We likely wouldn’t design an experience in a far-away place where doing about building habits, or a set of routinized good would be relegated. Instead, we would design ongoing programs in which people could participate locally, every month or every week, — almost intuitive — behaviors and and thus provide the opportunity for doing good to become a natural day-to-day habit. thoughts. This is just as true — if not more so — for a ten-day trip to Israel. As we know, the Taglit-Birthright Israel trip is an incredibly powerful Abi Dauber Sterne is Vice President for Global Jewish Experience at Hillel: The Founda- tion for Jewish Campus Life. WINTER 2013 3 educational tool. But it is just a tool, a campuses. Their roles are to build spark. Without the right material and networks or communities of learning, context, the spark doesn’t kindle into to engage in conversations with stu- a fire. If we are serious about igniting dents to inspire their Jewish growth, students’ interest in and commitment and to infuse Jewish content into the to Israel and Jewish life more broadly, activities of campus Hillels beyond ten days is not enough. We need a traditional religious services. before and after. We need to build And we have seen tremendous habits. We need to provide trip partic- growth and results. Through research, ipants with a clear sense of how their we have learned that multiple meetings trip connects with their values and between a Hillel educator and Birth- their day-to-day lives. right returnees multiply the “Birthright At Hillel, we are dedicated to effect.” As a result, these alumni dem- doing just that. We are one of the only onstrate increased levels of Jewish Taglit-Birthright Israel Trip Organizers learning. The more meetings or con- that requires its staff to meet with versations the students and educators each participant before and after the have, the greater the effect. Our trip. We expect the bus leaders to research shows that when an educator actively build personal connections meets with a Birthright returnee one to with students and to understand their five times, the student reports Jewish interests, so that when students return growth, while those who meet with an to campus there are obvious and intu- educator six or more times report their itive next steps. Most Hillels have growth to be significantly higher. In individual debriefing meetings with at other words, Jewish growth soars with least 80 percent of Hillel trip partici- more routine meetings. pants, and they hold Birthright To paraphrase a recent NYU grad- reunion events that reach a similar uate, “my weekly chevruta meetings percentage of students. Furthermore, with the rabbi motivated me to be we strive to seek out students who involved in Jewish life.” I believe that went on Birthright with non-Hillel this student’s motivation came not organizations, and we create opportu- only from the content of what she nities for them to have ongoing, regu- studied with the rabbi, but also from lar conversations with staff and with its regularity. Ongoing motivation ththeir peers. and engagement comes from habit — In addition, Hillel has paired two the habit of being in Jewish environ- oof its most effective student engage- ments and participating in Jewish mment activities: Taglit-Birthright Israel conversations weekly or even daily. aand our engagement internships. Over As part of Hillel’s new strategic ththe past five years, through Hillel’s plan, we will continue to cultivate the ppeer-to-peer engagement strategy, 900 next generation of Jewish leaders and sstudent interns have built vast net- learners around the world. We will wworks. Through mostly one-on-one continue to design creative opportuni- mmeetings, these interns have logged ties for students of all backgrounds to 335,000 relationships with uninvolved engage in Jewish values, ideas and JJewishe peers on more than 70 cam- actions daily and habitually. To para- ppuses, helping these students explore phrase Maimonides, positive character- aand connect to Jewish life on their istics are not acquired by doing a oown terms. Every year, about 30 per- one-time positive act, but rather ccent of these student interns are through the repetition of numerous TTaglit-Birthright alumni, because Hil- positive acts.