The Hillel Experience: No emphatic ear at Hillel

My experience with Hillel was at UCLA, particularly when I returned from a year at the Hebrew University. Hillel was then run by a man who in addition to having rabbinical credentials, anointed himself Jewish leader on campus. After living in Israel, I found Hillel a stuffy place and I did not connect much with its students, or its program. Nevertheless, feeling myself Jewish from time to time I kept going there and looking for common ground. What I found at Hillel was antipathy and exclusion from the top down.

In 1988 UCLA's newspapers, especially the African-American one denigrated Israel on a periodical basis: with each chance they got. In addition to the newspapers I was privy to harsher judgment in private where people could not be held accountable, nor where I could prove infamy or abuse. At one fraternity I was told "get this darky off of me." A date showed up to scream at me "I don't want to have anything to do with you because you are Israeli;" no doubt, a Jew. At a graduate school interview I was angrily interrogated about the relevance of my year in Israel to medical studies, and then hurriedly asked to leave. In one lecture I was taunted by a hundred people for mentioning Israel; consequently I left the class.  At college I also learned what the word 'kike' meant. I came by all of this and more honestly, that is, I was unprepared for it until it found me. More-so, I did not find an empathic Jewish ear, particularly at Hillel nor was I permitted to file a complaint.

While universities that I attended like Haifa U. finance and provide food, housing and money for education for its 30% Arab population; during the five years at UCLA I had none of that. The UC system today maintains an undeclared boycott on Israel under the premise that it is unsafe. Nothing could be further from the truth. The objective facts are that the most dangerous place for someone who has Israeli roots to study is the University of California. As an immigrant I was isolated from campus by a system of exclusion and a stalwart denial of negligence. I was in the minority of minorities and without representation. Hillel was not a place that I came to for inclusion, but a place I avoided because of its enmity. 

At UCLA blacks and Jews were fighting on campus; and, the premise of their friction was Israel.  The American Jews, led by Hillel's rabbi, refused to take heed of the effects of this diatribe and vitriol on persons like me - immigrants to America. My breaking point with Hillel came after I saw the protocols of the elders of Zion being distributed in the black student newspaper. In response, I attended an event at the Hillel rabbi's house where I noted how I felt about the double-standard applied to blacks and how I felt about anti-Semitism. To my surprise the rabbi ignored the distribution of the protocols and staunchly defended hatred of Israel as legitimate discourse. When I mentioned I was Israeli the rabbi immediately turned a blind eye and called on another person. While Hillel was touted as the center of Jewish life I learned later that he behaved in this way toward Israelis regularly.
 
What I experienced as anti-Semitism and beyond the pale of conduct is what he defended as intellectual debate, free-speech and civil rights. In fact there was no debate, there was no opportunity for me to speak, and my civil rights were remote, printed and referenced on some piece of paper. Under the mantra of rights, the only group summarily denigrated by all of UCLA's ethnic groups was Israelis: yes, those Americans have rights but even though I came here age five I was Israeli, not American - just as for purposes of financial aid I was white and not Semitic.  Indeed, I was not made a part of any objective discourse about my country, instead the rabbi refused to let Israelis become involved. I did not want to make a political statement; I just wanted to find a comfortable place to study at UCLA; instead I was threatened, ostracized, diminished, taunted and excluded; eventually I had those so-called civil rights violated, and I left the educational system.

Ironically, the rabbi who incorrigibly refused to take heed of the abuse of only one particular group of Jews at UCLA simultaneously denounced the government of Israel - a government where Itzhak Rabin was the defense minister. Later, unbelievably he named a building after that same Mr. Rabin. I could not believe my eyes when I saw an Israeli name on the side of that building. This rabbi did not like Israelis but needed stone from Israel to build his temple. 

Now that this enmity on campus has struck the American Jews and not just Israelis we are all now Jews again, and American Jews are scrambling to define their connection to Israel. For me though, I changed my name and I associate Judaism only with the language of my birth. When I left UCLA I disconnected myself from the Jewish community, not by rational choice, but through involuntary guttural reaction for what I experienced and the way I was treated by Jews -particularly at Hillel. This is how I remember Hillel and what I learned there.
 
Ofer (no last name)

Response from Hillel's Jeff Rubin, Hillel International Center, Washington DC, USA 

Without reference to the specifics of any particular situation, it is troubling to me that anyone would come away from a Hillel experience with a negative impression. As someone who is deeply committed to Jewish students, and to the future of the Jewish people, I regret any interaction that would push anyone further away from the community. This is the very antithesis of Hillel's mission.

As Hillel's Web page demonstrates, tens of thousands of Jewish students are having positive experiences through Hillel every day. Their true stories are heartwarming. I invite readers to explore the wealth of information that has already been placed on the Web to see how Hillel is fostering a stronger Jewish community (Hillel at Harvard, Hillel at Quinnipiac, Hillel in the FSU) In addition, I invite readers to visit a Hillel, to speak with students, and to see how we are engaging students.

That is not to say that Hillel is complacent. Quite the contrary. As an organization that serves a new population every year -- freshmen arrive, seniors graduate - we are constantly searching for new ways to meet their needs and interests.

Readers who are reconnecting to Hillel through this blog page may not be familiar with some of the most recent developments in our 85-year history. Two years ago we completed a Strategic Planning Process that evaluated our operations locally and internationally. After thoroughly surveying students, Hillel professionals and volunteer leaders, we created a Five-Year Strategic Plan that challenges us to rethink the way we engage Jewish students of the Millennial generation. Readers can check out the complete Strategic Plan Overview on our Web page. However, I would like to underscore some of the most important points.

Hillel renewed its commitment to engaging the broadest cross-section of the Jewish student community, to go beyond the one-third of students who are Hillel activists and to involve the majority of Jewish students who seldom participate in Jewish activities on campus. We accepted a new, ambitious organizational vision: Hillel seeks to inspire every Jewish student to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life.

We reformulated our mission to reflect a commitment to students, the Jewish community and the broader world: 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.

With effectiveness our paramount objective, Hillel developed a set of measurable goals for the next five years, together with relevant, attainable and measurable objectives. The most important of these goals is to double the number of Jewish students who are involved in Jewish life and who have Meaningful Jewish Experiences.

We seek to accomplish this by broadening our reach by being regarded as attractive and welcoming to a vast majority of Jewish students. We will increase our impact by providing Meaningful Jewish Experiences. Ultimately we will inspire the next generation of leaders and strengthen the future of the Jewish people.

Hillel is retooling its organization from the top down to accomplish these aspirational goals. We recognize that we cannot be all things to all students at all times on all campuses. However, with clear objectives, a well-trained staff and adequate resources we can engage the majority of Jewish students on campus. We invite the community to join us. We are all committed to a strong Jewish future.

We invite you to submit your articles on your Hillel Experience and the best ones will be published both here and in the Hillel newsletter.