<p>Yes, something’s got to be wrong with Dartmouth’s stats on Jewish population. It goes against common sense and would much more likely be comparable to the other schools it’s so often compared with – Wms, Amherst, Brown, Harvard, etc.</p>
<p>And I can’[t let this piece of mis-info slide by:</p>
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<p>That’s because many of them hold Friday night services instead, when they can include the attraction of the Friday night dinner. Torah is often read then. So that’s different from home, but a minor adjustment really.</p>
<p>Adding two more new ideas to the discussion stew: When schools such as Harvard, Yale, Amherst, Oberlin are pushing into 25-30% Jewish population, why does everyone keep “isolating” Brandeis as so Jewish, when their Jewish pop over the past decade has hovered around 50%. Is it so different? Well, perhaps in the wide diversity of kinds of Jewish services on the Brandeis campus. For example, at Amherst there was one kind of service at Hillel (middle-of-the-road, gender-equity Conservative) at least when my S was there. If he wanted a REform service, he could go to UMass at Amherst for more choices. Oberlin rotated so that one week was gender-equity Orthodox, another Conservative, another Reform. Whereas at Brandeis, I recall reading about 7 kinds of services available every week. Still regarding Brandeis I remind nonJewish kids who might be interested, “if 50% or so are Jewish, that must mean that the other 50% are something else, so you won’t feel all alone.” </p>
<p>For other indicators of “robustness” of Jewish life, I encourage kids to notice whether the Hillel has a resident rabbi serving on that campus, or if the rabbi is shared among several campuses; and if so, which one is the home campus for the rabbi. I admire the volunteer leadership, but there’s nothing like a rabbi working professionally all the time, without final exams, to keep events going and galvanize the student leadership.</p>
<p>Many students arrive on campus and begin to explore their faith heritage, so even if a student is only marginally connected to ANY religion, it’s worth noting if the college has the organization to nurture that curiosity in the future. Students who considered their church or temple youth groups “dorky” at home get to college and find it’s a whole 'nother animal, in a good way.</p>
<p>Last vegetable to toss into the stew: religious organizations now welcome people from many backgrounds. This is very different from 30 years ago. Half the attendees at the Amherst and Oberlin hillel shabbat dinners (only mention these b/c my kids went so I know those best) were nonJews, curious to explore or go with friends, and have good food. As well, there is more communication among the faith groups than ever before, with the clergy working together at times, too. Did you know, for example, that the Oberlin Hillel is now Hillel/Halaal and combines the Jewish and Muslim student organization under one roof. </p>
<p>“It’s a different world, Tevye.” I often imagine parents telling their kids to “go to hillel and meet Jewish kids…” and there they meet a curious Catholic.</p>