I grew up in a Conservative and traditional Jewish home. My four sisters and I attended Hebrew school, celebrated our b’not mitzvah, and learned to read and write Hebrew. We had lots of Jewish friends in the neighborhood, enjoyed Friday evening Shabbat dinners, Passover seders, and candle lighting each night of Hanukkah.
When I became a college student, I suddenly was making decisions about my Jewish observance, as I was anxious to fit in. Should I attend synagogue? Go to class on the High Holidays?
I was uncertain what role Judaism would play in my life in this new, unfamiliar environment.
I remembered my time as a student while reading the recently released study, Chabad on Campus, by Brandeis University Professor Mark Rosen. Rosen and his colleagues examined the impact of Chabad on Campus International, with over 200 full time Centers nationwide. Led by Orthodox rabbis and their wives from the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, these campus centers seek to provide a “home away from home” for Jewish students, and offer a wealth of social, educational and spiritual programs.
The rabbis and rebbetzins directing these Chabad on Campus Centers are warm and welcoming, regardless of the students’ level of Jewish observance, or frequency of attendance at Chabad functions. No one is turned away, nor is anyone charged dues for their participation.
The study found that few students served by Chabad on Campus are raised Orthodox, and concluded that the impact Chabad has on college students is significant. Students who frequent Chabad are more likely to express a stronger Jewish identity and participate in Jewish rituals post-graduation, compared to those who were not involved with Chabad on Campus during their formative years in university.
But why would Orthodox rabbis and rebbetzins move to college campuses, where nearly all the people with whom they interact with are not like them?
I learned the answer when I read Sue Fishkoff’s “The Rebbe’s Army: Inside the World of Chabad-Lubavitch” (Schocken Press, 2005). Fishkoff notes that the Chabad movement emphasizes outreach through their emissaries, who are driven by a deep love and concern for their fellow Jew.
For the last 10 years, I have served as the faculty advisor for Chabad at the University of Central Florida (UCF), the second largest university in the U.S. and home to one of the largest Jewish student populations in the nation. Over this time, I have developed a strong friendship with Rabbi Chaim and Rebbetzin Rivkie Lipskier, founders and co-directors of the Chabad center near campus. Their drive to connect with Jewish students is as strong as ever, as they go above and beyond to make sure every student they cross paths with is in good spirits and has everything they need. They will even deliver chicken soup to the dorm of a student with a cold.
My observation of how the Lipskiers have managed their outreach over the last decade, primarily to non-Orthodox students, reflects Professor Rosen’s findings. Activities organized by the Lipskiers include Shabbat and holiday services and meals, provided to hundreds of students, weekly lunch and learns, and much more. They are regular fixtures on campus, offer Kosher food to passersby while tailgating on weekday football game days, and even support secular student efforts, such as the Children’s Miracle Network dance marathon, arriving late on Saturday night, offering words of encouragement to dancers struggling to stay on their feet.
The Chabad on Campus study reveals that such efforts matter to the future of Jewish life in the United States. Studies such as the 2013 Pew Research Center “Portrait of Jewish Americans” show that the percentage of Jews identifying as “no religion” is much higher among younger Jews (32% among those born since 1980) than older Jews (7% among those born 1927 and before). The role Chabad plays on campus is as important as any in reversing that trend, despite what appears to be an odd combination of Orthodox couples living and working near secular college campuses, reaching out to young Jews of all denominations.
Terri Susan Fine, Ph.D., is professor of political science at the University of Central Florida.