Dear Mr. Fingerhut,
Mazal Tov on your new job! As a product of Rutgers Hillel I can personally attest to the tremendous value that Hillel centers across the country are doing to enrich Jewish life. In your acceptance video you asked me to send you some thoughts, and I am happy to oblige.
In your video you said that Hillel has been a "crown jewel of Jewish community" for almost ninety years. Well, that statement is only partially true. Before Richard Joel's presidency B'nai Brith's organization for campus life was considered emblematic of disorganization in the American Jewish community. Considering its entire history, the organization's success has been more an exception than the rule.
While many might assume that you are the CEO of the entire Hillel system, you are actually the president of the Schusterman International Center in Washington, DC. Based on a franchise model, each campus center operates independently and is accountable to a local board of directors. However, the most important work takes place at the campus level. I hope that you will avoid the temptation to grow Hillel International and its bureaucracy, but rather focus your efforts on supporting the campus centers.
Despite the decentralized structure, a strong focus on "engagement" is a marker of almost all campus centers. With armies of engagement coordinators, who are usually paid close to nothing, their imperative is to engage unengaged Jewish college students. Reaching out to this population should be a priority for the entire Jewish community and it need not come at the expense of supporting the core of Jewish students that are engaged and ready to participate. Daniel Elazar, the most prolific Jewish communal observer of the last century, described a "magnetic core" of committed Jews that attract those on the periphery. Hillel programs too often focus on reaching out to the unaffiliated while neglecting to create vibrant core to attract and retain the unaffiliated. Nor is it necessary to bifurcate campus work between "engagement" and "Jewish Life," which supports student leadership.
While Elazar's magnetic core should not be confused with Orthodoxy, the core of committed Jewish students will be frummer than in the past. The Orthodox ascendancy on college campuses is now preceding the eventual shifts in the braoder Jewish community. The pre-college year of study in an Orthodox yeshiva energizes and recommits those students to the fully participation in Jewish life. Yet, many campus centers perpetuate Hillel's historically anti-Orthodox bias. Richard Joel's Orthodoxy almost prevented him from being your predecessor. Can you imagine how much more impoverished we would be without his leadership? Imagine the untapped potential of Orthodox student who leaders are often overlooked by Hillel campus professionals?
We are also witnessing an Orthodoxy that is "sliding to the right." You mentioned that you were the president of your Conservative congregation. I am also a Conservative Jew. Unfortunately the average Conservative Jew is closer to your age than mine. We need to be realistic about the Jewish future. If we want our Conservative Jewish values, and the values of B'nai Brith to live on for another generation, then we must engage with the next dominant community. I would like to be as clear about this point as possible: campus centers with an Orthodox community should make every effort to hire graduates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and (hold your breath) Yeshivat Maharat. YCT graduates are already making an impact through JLIC, and Maharot will change Orthodox minds about the possibilities of women's leadership potential.
At the the upcoming Hillel Institute for campus professionals in St. Louis you will set the tone for Jewish life on hundreds of campuses. Countless staff and students will be looking to you for guidance and vision. I hope that you will keep these considerations in mind.
Mazal Tov on your new job! As a product of Rutgers Hillel I can personally attest to the tremendous value that Hillel centers across the country are doing to enrich Jewish life. In your acceptance video you asked me to send you some thoughts, and I am happy to oblige.
In your video you said that Hillel has been a "crown jewel of Jewish community" for almost ninety years. Well, that statement is only partially true. Before Richard Joel's presidency B'nai Brith's organization for campus life was considered emblematic of disorganization in the American Jewish community. Considering its entire history, the organization's success has been more an exception than the rule.
While many might assume that you are the CEO of the entire Hillel system, you are actually the president of the Schusterman International Center in Washington, DC. Based on a franchise model, each campus center operates independently and is accountable to a local board of directors. However, the most important work takes place at the campus level. I hope that you will avoid the temptation to grow Hillel International and its bureaucracy, but rather focus your efforts on supporting the campus centers.
Despite the decentralized structure, a strong focus on "engagement" is a marker of almost all campus centers. With armies of engagement coordinators, who are usually paid close to nothing, their imperative is to engage unengaged Jewish college students. Reaching out to this population should be a priority for the entire Jewish community and it need not come at the expense of supporting the core of Jewish students that are engaged and ready to participate. Daniel Elazar, the most prolific Jewish communal observer of the last century, described a "magnetic core" of committed Jews that attract those on the periphery. Hillel programs too often focus on reaching out to the unaffiliated while neglecting to create vibrant core to attract and retain the unaffiliated. Nor is it necessary to bifurcate campus work between "engagement" and "Jewish Life," which supports student leadership.
While Elazar's magnetic core should not be confused with Orthodoxy, the core of committed Jewish students will be frummer than in the past. The Orthodox ascendancy on college campuses is now preceding the eventual shifts in the braoder Jewish community. The pre-college year of study in an Orthodox yeshiva energizes and recommits those students to the fully participation in Jewish life. Yet, many campus centers perpetuate Hillel's historically anti-Orthodox bias. Richard Joel's Orthodoxy almost prevented him from being your predecessor. Can you imagine how much more impoverished we would be without his leadership? Imagine the untapped potential of Orthodox student who leaders are often overlooked by Hillel campus professionals?
We are also witnessing an Orthodoxy that is "sliding to the right." You mentioned that you were the president of your Conservative congregation. I am also a Conservative Jew. Unfortunately the average Conservative Jew is closer to your age than mine. We need to be realistic about the Jewish future. If we want our Conservative Jewish values, and the values of B'nai Brith to live on for another generation, then we must engage with the next dominant community. I would like to be as clear about this point as possible: campus centers with an Orthodox community should make every effort to hire graduates of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah and (hold your breath) Yeshivat Maharat. YCT graduates are already making an impact through JLIC, and Maharot will change Orthodox minds about the possibilities of women's leadership potential.
At the the upcoming Hillel Institute for campus professionals in St. Louis you will set the tone for Jewish life on hundreds of campuses. Countless staff and students will be looking to you for guidance and vision. I hope that you will keep these considerations in mind.
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