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Thursday, January 04, 2007

Jewish Students on Campus

While I am not a big fan of Orthodox Jews living on the campus of a secular college, I recognize that every individual is different and for some it might be the only or the best choice. Additionally, I realize that this is entirely out of my control. R. Jack Bieler recently posted to Lookjed, an e-mail list for Jewish educators, some relatively simple but important suggestions to rabbis on how to substantively change the lives of Jewish students (link):
I would just like to add a constructive course of action for community Rabbis and educators. I believe that each of us should devote significant time to visiting campuses on a regular basis--during the week or on Shabbat, serving as Scholars-in-Residence, giving Shiurim, writing regular e-letters, etc. If we are so concerned about our students' welfare, then more than hand-wringing is called for. These students are not "lost"; many wish to have means by which they can stay connected, and we should contribute our time and efforts to providing them with such opportunities, whether or not we personally think that their situations are ideal.