Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life

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Current logo of National Hillel

Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life (or simply known as Hillel International) is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world. Hillel's stated mission is "to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world^[1]." In practical terms, campus Hillel foundations engage Jewish students in religious, cultural, artistic, and community-service activities. The organization is named for Hillel the Elder, a sage who moved from Babylonia to Palestine in the first century and is known for his formulation of the Golden Rule.

1 History
2 Services
3 Criticism
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

Hillel was founded in 1923 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign by members of the local Jewish and university communities. It later came under the sponsorship of B'nai Brith, which served as the sponsoring organization until the 1990s. By then, it encompassed 120 Hillel foundations and affiliates at an additional 400 campuses. The campus foundations seek to create a welcoming environment for Jewish students on their respective campuses. Today, Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world. Hillel foundations are found in Israel, South America, and the Post-Soviet States, and affiliated organizations are found in Australia and Great Britain.

[edit] Services

Hillel is not a membership organization. Any interested student may participate in their activities. Most activities are free of charge and other fees may be waived because of need. Hillel's strategy, as redefined in 2006, explicitly set a goal to "inspire every Jewish student to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life." To be effective, Hillel activities vary from campus to campus, with an emphasis on responding to the needs of participating students. To reach a larger audience, campus Hillel foundations struggle to create a pluralistic, inclusive environment that still remains distinctively Jewish. To do so, the national foundation organizes trips to Israel,[1] places service fellows at the campus foundations,[2] creates a guide to Jewish student life,[3] and leads advocacy work on Jewish and Israeli issues,[4] as well as providing some financial support to its campus foundations.

Hillel is also dedicated to social activism. These activities are usually led on the local campus level, but many campuses participate in alternative spring break trips dedicated to service, a Yom Kippur Fast Action Campaign, and the Oxfam Fair Trade Coffee Campaign, as well as more traditional local service projects at soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and Jewish community organizations.

[edit] Criticism

Most of Hillel's activities differ little from other mainstream campus ministries or ethnic organizations. However, some of Hillel's policies, actions, and leaders have come under criticism. Hillel's use of the motto "Wherever we stand, we stand with Israel" has been criticized as alienating to Jewish students who do not adhere to the teachings of Zionism, as well as attaching political ideology to an otherwise religious group ^[2]. At the same time, others have claimed that some Hillels are being used by pro-Palestinian activists to promote their own political goals.^[3]

Another criticism has been the monopolistic tactics that the group is alleged to have used to assume primacy over the Jewish campus scene^[4] ^[5]. While this criticism has somewhat diminished since Richard M. Joel left the organization^{[citation needed]}, Hillel's approach varies from campus to campus.

In its attempts to reach out to all Jewish students, some believe Hillel's activities are too broad. In 1997, Jeremy Deutchman, a graduate of Hillel's JCSC fellowship and a student member of Hillel's board of directors, wrote a lengthy article in Tikkun asserting that Hillel engaged in the wholesale "dumbing down" of Judaism, and providing stylish, yet meaningless Judaism instead of substantive Judaism^[6]. He echoes a common criticism of the Non-profit organization sector, arguing that the organization had become overly donor-driven, and had hence compromised Judaic quality.

Former Hillel president Avraham Infeld was challenged in traditional circles for asserting that Hillel accepts intermarriage (marriage of Jews to non-Jews)^[7].

There have also been some controversies involving individual Hillel directors.

UCLA Hillel rabbi and director Chaim Seidler-Feller was accused by journalist Rachel Neuwirth of verbally and physically assaulting her on the UCLA campus in October 2003. Eyewitness accounts were contradictory, with some indicating Neuwirth did not provoke the incident ^[8], but others indicating that she had ^[9]. After more than three years of litigation, in a legal settlement, Seidler-Feller provided Neuwirth with a letter of apology accepting full responsibility for the attack on Neuwirth and a large financial arrangement with her.^[10].

Robert Fishman, director of George Washington University's Hillel apologized for claiming that a pro-Palestinian law student was a recognized terrorist.^[11]. Fishman also orchestrated a group of Hillel members to read highly critical questions pre-drafted by Deborah Lipstadt as if they were their own to President Jimmy Carter who spoke on campus in March 2007. This and their tactics of blocking the microphones from other students gave the media the false impression that the audience was critical of Carter despite repeated standing ovations. ^[12].

Further information: Palestine_Peace_Not_Apartheid#George_Washington_University_visit