My friend Jessica Bell Semel was describing one of those situations that has the potential to become “one of those” very divisive issues in a community. This took place a couple of years ago – what do you think?
Situation: Parents’ Weekend at the University of Michigan is coming up,
and Hillel sends out a letter detailing various activities that will be
available in addition to the usual offerings from the University. I
think the letter went to parents of current students – no alumni without
Michigan students.
Opportunities: Friday night services (mehitza
minyan, Reform, Conservative, etc.); Shabbat Dinner at Hillel; Saturday
morning services and lunch; block of tickets for the football game (very
hard to get tickets!) and other assorted events.
The letter
just gives links to register for any of the activities, with a link to
the sports office or Football Gods or something, with a code to put in
to get your football tickets. Please note, the seats are not good at
all, but they ARE seats.
Someone sends an email to Michael
Brooks, the executive director, complaining that Hillel is encouraging
people to go to the game on Shabbat.
He sends out a long
response. Basically, he tells us that in close to 30 years at Michigan
he has never been to a football game since he davens and rests on
Shabbat. However, the culture at Michigan (and all Big 10 schools) is
all about Football Saturdays. His point is that Hillel is open to all
Jews, those that observe, and those that do not, and his organization
has managed (through a wonderful relationship with the university) to
get a block of tickets for any parents that may want to buy them. He is
not advocating going to the game, or not going to the game, only
reaching the kids and their parents wherever they are (a big Hillel
goal, anyhow).
As you might imagine, a great email discussion
ensues – and lots of people are engaged. It was great. By the way, the
University does have some kind of an arrangement so that observant kids
who can’t carry on the sabbath can go to the games without bringing
their tickets. I am not sure how it works, but I do know that some
Cleveland kids who are observant do go to the games.
What do you say readers? Let the respectful debate ensue!
I know at my college, students could get seats in the student section by bringing their student IDs along and swiping in. I would assume that at Michigan, you could avoid carrying by giving your student ID number verbally or something like that, assuming that's how you're getting into the game.
I have mixed feelings; on the one hand, I agree that Hillel has to try and cater to everyone, and for a lot of students, Saturday is going to be about the game. And if those students are Reform in particular, they may see no problem with going to the game in that they don't feel bound by the halachic interpretation of "work." After all, in a modern sense, going to a football game on a weekend can be relaxing.
That said, I found that at my college, Hillel definitely tended to be more of a social thing; there were services and such, but if I really wanted more religious discussion, I'd usually head over to Chabad. Of course, our Hillel was on the small side and didn't have its own rabbi, either, so if I wanted a rabbinic opinion on much of anything, I needed to go to Chabad, at least before I had a car. I think Hillel's eagerness to encourage social ties (and, I suspect, dating and marriage) between Jewish college students, while laudable is also, in some ways, its undoing. Sometimes so much time and energy gets spent on the social side of things that the religious piece of the puzzle is ignored. We're talking about a religion with such a deep spiritual and intellectual history and so many fascinating things to talk about, and instead we're giving out tickets to the game? Feh. I'm not frum by anyone's standards, but sometimes you want more.
Ironically, a lot of these realizations were what shifted my attitudes away from a Reform conversion and towards a Conservative one. That may have been somewhat unfair, in retrospect, as I do know a lot of very traditionally-minded Reform folks, but I remember sitting at the Reform Kabbalat Shabbat service at Hillel and listening to someone expounding on the relative depth of Dr. Seuss (no kidding), right before we sang another song in English and just thinking, "Okay, I'm out. Maybe I need more davening and Hebrew than I thought." I know of a couple of people who "frummed out" out of our Hillel, so maybe I wasn't the only one feeling that way.
Wow I think that's awesome – what a fair and balanced viewpoint; exactly what Hillel should represent, in my opinion. I was initially turned off by the Hillel at my college, because there was no place for non-Ortho or non-Trad.Conservative Jews to participate. I would have appreciated the options UofM presents. I would have been able to attend services, have a kosher meal, and have a fun afternoon at a football game where seats are, believe me, at a premium. If I'm more observant, I'd have options that worked as well. I also LOVE the response of the exec director – he is supportive of all his students, which, trust me, will keep them involved and wanting to stay actively Jewish. I think it's great.
This kind of reminds me of the "should the JCC be open on Shabbos" debate – no?
Diplogeek, does Hillel have a mission statement? If so, what is it?
Yes – good parallel – and, not surprisingly, I think the JCC made a sound decision 🙂
From the Hillel.org website:
"Hillel's mission is to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world. Hillel student leaders, professionals and lay leaders are dedicated to creating a pluralistic, welcoming and inclusive environment for Jewish college students, where they are encouraged to grow intellectually, spiritually and socially. Hillel helps students find a balance in being distinctively Jewish and universally human by encouraging them to pursue tzedek (social justice), tikkun olam (repairing the world) and Jewish learning, and to support Israel and global Jewish peoplehood. Hillel is committed to excellence, innovation, accountability and results."
I agree with Diplogeek, and had similar experiences at the OSU Hillel. I started out with the Reform service at my school's Hillel, but it wasn't me, and I went to the Conservative one for a few months. I never checked out their "traditional" (mechitzah) minyan, because I could get that at the campus Chabad. And, since Chabad had better food, fairly soon I found myself there most Friday nights.
AFAIK Hillel's mission statement is "Doing things Jewish" – in other words, religion is part of the puzzle, but not even necessarily the big one. Anything that could be considered Jewish and would get people to participate goes (with the exception of Jews for Jay). They have to be broad and in fact I think secular Jewish kids need it more, since they are much more exposed to assimilation and inter-dating, especially those for whom it might be the first time they are in an environment which is not heavily Jewish (think Beachwood or Orange HS grads).
In fact, the minyanim at Hillel would be more of a "problem" from the Orthodox perspective – the Reform ones tend to have guitars and other musical instruments, the Conservative ones are often lead by women.
And it's not just Hillel, my "Jewish" fraternity, OSU AEPi, fundraised by selling parking spots on game Saturdays and has an a alumni BBQ on OSU/Michingan home games.
But here is the irony – I got involved with Hillel and AEPi because I was interested in a secular Jewish environment. I could have gone straight to Chabad, but avoided it for 2 years. But, within the context of these two organizations, Chabad became less intimidating and there I learned to appreciate (if not necessarily agree with) the Orthodox perspective on Jewishness. I really believe that this was the gateway to my becoming observant after graduating college.
And even more ironic (or perhaps it's not ironic at all, I go back and forth on that one) is that the reason I wanted Jewish interaction, which lead me to Hillel and AEPi, in the first place, was the actions of the virulently anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli groups on campus. They would set up shop on the lawns between building and chant anti-Israeli slogans, setup mock check-points, print articles in the school newspaper and at one point even had a national hate conference right on campus. This was at the height of the 2nd intifadah many people shared were there for the same reason.
Welcome to OOTOB! This is such an interesting perspective for me, as I grew up Orthodox and am not involved with campus life – but I find your journey to Jewish identity, and eventually, observance – indeed, ironic.
I agree with Leah (not surprisingly), I think Michael Brooks has the right idea. If it wants to encourage gatherings of Jews of all stripes Hillel should spread its net broadly and that means football on Saturday is possible, especially if the requirement of not carrying the actual ticket can be finessed so that those who do not carry on Shabbat are able to attend. There are plenty of people who consider themselves Jewish who would not think twice about going to a football game on Saturday, and in my view Hillel does a service to Judaism to encourage their participation in Hillel-organized events.
By the way, it took me awhile to realize that these phrases involving "carry" is a reference to Shabbat observance. I guess I have watched more cop shows on TV than I would want to admit, because I understood "doesn't carry" as "doesn't carry a gun". 🙂
🙂 I always think of "cash and carry" – but yes, it refers not carrying items where there is no "eruv" – f'shore a topic for a future post.
I do think that Jewish "social" orgs – such as Hillel and the JCC – will consistently find itself conflicted on what to do where Jew-ish social goals and Jewish spiritual goals clash.
Hi Ruchi-
I am new to this blog. I am not orthodox, jewish or even religious (I identify as more spiritual at this point in my life) but I am fascinated by different religious beliefs. I love your blog and I respect the fact that you seem to "walk the walk" as much as possible. So many orthodox religious groups these days seem to spend a lot more time judging other people than using their own religion to make themselves and the world a better place.
I want to add a respectful clarification to ben-yehoshua's comment even though it is off-topic of this particular discussion. People are allowed to be critical of Israel without being either "anti-Israel" or "anti-semitic." I do not dispute that extreme groups that actually hold these opinions do exist. However, in my experience at Columbia University, any group or individual that expressed criticism of Israel was immediately dismissed by a vocal component of the jewish community on campus using the same labels ben-yehoshua did in his comment. Having not been at his university at the same time I can't ascertain how extreme the groups in question were. I can say that I often heard very reasonable and moderate criticism of Israel's politics or policies labeled as being extreme or even anti-Semitic. I studied modern middle eastern history and consider myself fairly knowledgable about the Israel-Palestine conflict. I believe that my views are the definition of moderate: I see the leadership of both sides as having culpability creating today's animosity and distrust and I feel bad for the citizens of both countries caught in the middle. Just as I love the United States and can be very critical of some of our policies, I can support Israel's right to exist but disagree with their actions. I often felt demonized for expressing these opinions. I clearly don't have to tell the readership of this blog that true anti-semitism is alive and well. But I would caution against defining the term too broadly. People can hold negative views towards Israel without disliking all Jewish people or Israelis. I suspect that many Jewish people strongly dislike and fear the leadership of Iran at this moment (along with the rest of us) but if I accused those people of hating all Iranians and being prejudiced against them, how would they feel?
Just some food for thought. I hope I expressed myself clearly without offending anyone because I know this is such a sensitive subject. But I hope we can learn to have a constructive discourse about important issues such as this without all the name-calling from both sides.
I am so happy to have discovered OOTOB and I look forward to your future posts!
Well, hi Anonymous, and so glad you've discovered this forum! I value your perspective, and must say, that, while you might be surprised, I very much agree with your assessment. I find myself cringing when some segments pull out the "anti-semitism" card and wondering why they do. Is it an identity thing, as ben-yehoshua referenced above? A politically active way to assert one's Judaism? A misunderstanding as to what anti-semitism really is? I'm unsure of the answers, but I personally don't agree with everything the Israeli government does. Thanks for weighing in. As you probably have learned, opinions of all varieties are welcomed in this forum so long as they are expressed with respect – which you've certainly done.
I think Hillel's activity options make sense as part of a full weekend of parent-student offerings. Hillel is a non-denominational student-run Jewish organization. Their mission is to provide whatever activities the students on that campus consider valuable. These tickets mean that kids can go to the game with their Jewish friends, enhancing it as a social opportunity, even a chance to prove to their parents that they have Jewish friends on campus.
I think it is important that non-denominational Jewish programs be accessible to everyone – which means providing kosher food, so everyone can eat, Shabbat services in buildings that don't require elevator access, etc. But that doesn't mean that all programs should meet Orthodox standards. After all, what would Hillel be without dances?
What if the Jewish students want pepperoni pizza?
I've been to plenty of Hillel events where both kosher and non-kosher food was served. Also, there is a difference between *wants* (pepperoni pizza) and *needs* (kosher food). The thing is that providing only kosher food is an inclusive act, while providing only traif food is an exclusive one, one that says that not all types of Jews are welcome.
When I lived in Baltimore, the Federation policy was that all events hosted by any member agencies had to be kosher. As an employee of the Jewish museum, which was a Federation agency, I frequently had to defend that policy to my colleagues, who didn't think it was worth the bother or expense to provide kosher food at our events. I had to explain that it was not about whether I, as the sole Orthodox staff member, could eat, but about whether Baltimore's Orthodox community felt welcome at the museum.
Then I moved to Los Angeles, and Federation here does not have a similar kashrut policy. I learned quickly that I was not the target audience for community wide events, because it was unlikely that the food would be kosher. It seems that in LA everyone sticks to their own kind, which I think is a tremendous loss for all of us. Kosher food at public events makes a big difference.
As an former active member of Hillel for basically my entire undergrad experience, I didn't blink at the U of M football Shabbos ticket offering. Would I have gone to a game myself? Not on your life. In fact, one of the main reasons I am frum today was because Cleveland Hillel was the first place I actually was able to spend an entire shabbos davening, taking walks, playing board games and generally hanging out in a "kosher" environment. Doing Jewish things Jewishly. I definitely didn't choose to be among those students who were out partying or shopping on Saturdays, but it also didn't really bother me that others were doing it. Our Hillel was pretty small, so there wasn't a lot of room for intolerance from the left OR the right.
Thanks to mirimabyk for the erudite clarification of the kashrus situation. That would seem to be a level that all Jewish organizations should strive for- if you want to be inclusive (and that can be decided for each individual organization), then it makes sense to cater to the greatest number of people (Hmmm, Ruchi…doesn't this sound like the In Harmony discussions we've had???).
I think the football thing would have been more disturbing if it had been an official Hillel thing that they could have done any other time. But if football games are on Saturdays, that's when they are.
Now, whether or not it is of any value to get Jewish kids to do just plain social things together without any Jewish content is another discussion…
🙂 Yes, and I must say that every time I get an invite to a Federation event I am warmed by the fact that I know the food won't be an issue… except I must 'fess up that I dislike when they write: dietary laws observed. It sounds like someone doesn't want to be outed as "kosher" – seriously, is it gluten-free? Organic? What diet might that be? 🙂 Just a li'l peeve.
Re: plain old social events, well, that is an excellent question. Per the question below, I wouldn't have someone drive to my house on Shabbat to play banagrams.
Ruchi, do you invite people to your shabbat events if you know they will drive? – MP
That depends. If we assess that it has the potential to lead to greater Shabbat awareness and involvement, yes. The ultimate goal? Connection to Shabbat.
I was going to make a similar analogy – do you think your blog encourages people to surf the web on Shabbat? I see it a lot like the tickets – Hillel is providing the opportunity, but not explicitly encouraging people to go. In the same way, your blog is online and easily perusable on Shabbat. The opportunity is there, though you aren't telling people to surf 7 days a week.
PS: just wanted to say, and you don't have to publish this, that I didn't realize I left that comment ON shabbat until after I hit send. I wasn't trying to send any sort of message with that, it was a total coincidence.
I feel like the fact that Ruchi's blog is available on Shabbos is far different than actually offering access to a specific activity (which also happens not to be Jewish-oriented in any way) that is only available on Shabbos. Not saying I agree or disagree with Hillel's actions, just saying I think you're comparing apples and oranges. JFX activities on Shabbos is a closer comparison, though they have the advantage of actually being Jewish AND Shabbos-oriented, as opposed to football. They do, however, seem to have the same basic goal in mind. I'm kind of torn on how I feel about this.
How would you define that "same basic goal"?
As far as the web, I mean, people can call or text me on Shabbat too. And ring my doorbell and tell me gossip… I'm by no means enabling any of that, though.
This is a great post, the comments to far have been really interesting! I think it is acceptable for Hillel to advertise the football game because while going to a football game may not be in the spirit of Shabbat, you do not need to break Shabbat to go to the game.
"The same basic goal" should have really been followed by "I guess" because I really don't know that much about Hillel or their actual goals. I was going on the assumption that they, like JFX, are trying to connect unaffiliated Jews with their heritage. I had very little affiliation with the Hillel at my university, other than stopping by to get a kosher lunch occassionally, because I didn't live on campus and had a strong Jewish life off campus. I think I meant "same basic goals" in the very loosest of terms, since it seems clear from the above descriptions of Hillel that they are more about the social affiliation than the more involved spiritual outreach that JFX does.