New on campus? By this time, you are fully aware that the 12-month period beginning with the spring semester of your senior year in high school and ending with the fall semester of your first year in college is one of the most trying and stressful periods in our lives. Most of us survive this period and eventually look back at it with a mix of horror, pain and a bit of nostalgia.

Bookmarks on this page Get yourself some Jewish friends Get yourself a "rebbe" Dealing with confrontations Study using your Jewish head Get a basic Jewish Library Go to Israel Work in the Jewish community Tune into the national scene

A Guide for the New Jewish College Student 

By Rabbi Neil Gillman
Jewish Theological Seminary

If you and your family have been in any way involved with issues of Jewish identity, the fate of your Jewishness in years ahead will add to the turmoil. The reality is that many young men and women do emerge from college as healthy, committed and even knowledgeable Jews. 

In fact, the American college scene today offers you infinitely more opportunities for Jewish growth than it did your predecessors a generation ago. Here, then, is some very practical advice for you and for anyone who is entering college concerned with preserving his or her Jewish neshamah (soul).

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Get yourself a group of Jewish friends

For many of you, the undergraduate years mark your first extensive stay away from home. Your high school friends have scattered, your family lives far away. You're thrown into a dormitory with people who may come from very different cultures and represent very different lifestyles from anything with which you are familiar. You are invariably going to feel lonely, especially during your first month in school. 

It's during this period that you will be much more susceptible to the invitations issued by campus-based cults and religious groups of all stripes who offer close-knit communities, intense spiritual experiences and strong, structured lifestyles. 

KOACH Resources What should you do to respond?

Suspect them. They may meet your immediate needs, but they will demand far too much in return--sacrifice of your mind, individuality and autonomy. Remember that the best way to find a community is to leave your dorm room and go look for it. These communities are everywhere on campus and the Jewish population will offer multiple possibilities to meet men and women who share your values, your interests and concerns and support you. 

The natural place to begin is with your local Hillel Foundation or its equivalent and KOACH. You will find a structured program with multiple options through which you can express your Jewish interests, be they study, social action, prayer or simply meeting other Jews. 

KOACH Resources Tips on observing Shabbat on campus

Get yourself a group of Jewish friends--men and women who share your basic Jewish commitments and your basic outlook on your heritage. There is little more difficult than trying to observe kashrut or Shabbat yourself in the dorm. There is little more enriching than to observe it in the company of a group who shares your appreciation of the experience. 

The college experience will inevitably throw you into contact with enough people who will challenge your commitments; there should be a group of people and a place where you find sharing and support for what you stand for. Jews need community and your sense of your own Jewishness can only be strengthened and your loneliness dissipated to the extent that you find your own Jewish community. 

KOACH can enrich your connections with other Conservative Jews on campus, as well as link you with Conservative students worldwide. Through grants to campuses, international and regional conferences, study and travel opportunities, KOACH is here to help you explore and identify with Jewish life. Make sure you are on the KOACH mailing list, to receive publications and be up to dote on the latest KOACH news.

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Get yourself a "rebbe"

...maybe your own rabbi, another rabbi, a fellow student, a member of the faculty, a learned layperson in town--someone who is an authentic Jew and possibly even a learned Jew who will serve as your teacher, invite you into his or her home for a Sabbath meal, share books and periodicals, keep you up-to-date with news of the Jewish world, as well as be available to help you with issues that are on your mind.

Using confrontation as challenge

You'll soon discover that much of the overtly Jewish activity on your campus will emerge around issues of confrontation between Jews and other groups on the campus scene. However much we may bemoan the fact, the reality is that today there are genuine tensions between Jews and African-Americans, between defenders and critics of Israel, between Jews and American Anti-Semitic movements (including Holocaust Deniers). 

These tensions may be dormant for awhile, but suddenly a guest speaker is invited on campus, some terrorist event occurs or a political issue grabs the headlines and rallies are convened, people are marching, posters are displayed and emotions run high. 

You now have to declare yourself. Where is your own voice? How strongly do you feel? What are you prepared to do? Use those opportunities as the challenges that they are. However painful they may seem, they present an opportunity to clarify issues, sharpen the options and impel you to identify your deepest convictions. However tempting it may be to engage in hysterical name calling, try to use the opportunity to clarify who you are and what you stand for. 

KOACH and your local Hillel or Jewish Student Union can direct you to the national bodies that will provide you with background materials on these issues.

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Study using your Jewish head

Your years in college will provide you with unlimited opportunities for intellectual growth no matter what your field may be. If you do not manage to grow intellectually as a Jew at the same time, you will find that your sense of Jewishness will invariably waste away. 

You must, then study, not simply read, listen to lectures, participate in discussions--but study: a rigorous, careful and serious attempt to grapple with the intellectual content of the Jewish tradition as it emerges out of classic Jewish texts both ancient and modern. The more closely this experience of Jewish study is located at the very center of your life as an undergraduate, the more satisfying it will be. 

Ideally then, you should attend a school that has a department of Judaica or first rate college of Jewish studies nearby. 

KOACH Resources Choosing a College--from a Jewish perspective

If neither is available, then watch for classes sponsored by Hillel, or find yourself a teacher or friend with whom to study. As a last resort, put aside part of every week for your own private study experience. In any case, it must become an integral part of the rhythm of the week. 

If you have a choice, study those areas of the Jewish experience that interest you the most. Above all, this experience must not become a chore which you try to avoid. Never forget that Judaism is the most consciously intellectual of all religious traditions and that by ony possible definition, the authentic Jew is the studying Jew. 

KOACH will happily supply study materials and help organize learning experiences on your campus, including the KOACH Learning Project, an international opportunity for study for its own sake.

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Get yourself a basic Jewish library

KOACH Resources Top picks for a basic Jewish Library

For less than $200, it should be possible for you to acquire enough Jewish books and periodicals of value to keep you busy for many months. Your collection should include:

Go to Israel for a summer, semester or a year

There is now available to every undergraduate a wide variety of programs in Israel suitable for any budget, any span of time and any particular field of study. If you are interested in studying, chances are your school will grant you academic credit for the work you do at a recognized university in Israel. Working on a kibbutz or touring the country can be worthwhile experiences. No one experience will do more for your Jewishness than a stay of this kind.

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Work within the Jewish community

KOACH Resources Learn more about Jewish career opportunities

If you are in or near a decent-sized Jewish community and if you have some ability, training and/or experience, the chances are that you can be employed as a teacher, USY or Kadima advisor, Torah reader, etc. in a synagogue. 

Tune into the national scene

There are more opportunities for Jewish college students now than ever before. Many groups sponsor regional and national conferences where you can get involved in study and action programs on issues that appeal to your personal interest. 

KOACH sponsors an annual North American Kallah (conference) as well as regional and local programs. Contact our office for details.

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