Hillel may have a monopoly on Jewish campus life, but I would argue that the organization is meaningful, life-enriching and essential to our Jewish community because it is pluralistic, open-minded and welcoming to Jews and non-Jews of all different levels of Jewish learning and religious practice.

I wrote a post on the Twin Cities Jewish blog TC Jewfolk critiquing the New Voices article, and adding my own two cents about Hillel’s mission and value to the community. I encourage you to check it out at http://www.tcjewfolk.com/debating-hillel-monopoly/ and let me know your thoughts in the comments. Thanks.

Yet, how effective are they? As Joseph says, with 5 or 6 full times staff, what benefits do we see from their energy? Divide the Hillel budget by the amount of participants that they have. What kind of figure will you find? A rough guess would be 2,000 to 5,000 per student depending on the school. Do we get enough benefit for that money?

If they were effective, the problem of young people being alienated by the federation would not exist. Hillel is a federation endeavor. An effective organization would have seamless transitions between stages. Obviously there is a break down. I believe the greatest reason for the breakdown, is that Hillel has no real evaluative mechanism. Sure they collect statistics and fill out reports for their central office, but, the people that support Hillel financially don’t attend the programs. What are they trying to achieve? Do they have a clear mission? Nostalgia for Jewish identity may help you collect money, but, it is a weak motivator for student participation.

The point of students doing Jewish stuff the way they want is flawed. Jewish students are IGNORANT about their Judaism!  Most Jewish students that went to Hebrew school hated it and have not participated in any educational experience since their Bar/Bat Mitzvah, which incidentally they think was a waste of time since they just memorized verses anyway.  Ultimately, the programs put on by CEI interns will do little to enhance a students’ Jewish identity.

I find your comment to be completely inappropriate. All Jews and students especially are at all different points in their development as Jews and in their relationship to Israel. If Ira Schwartz does not feel comfortable in his Hillel because of its Zionist activities that is his right. We as Jews all have a right to struggle with issues in our community and our Judaism. Calling him “a pig” and “yet another neo Nazi lurker” Is deeply disrespectful not just to him as a fellow Jew but to this discussion and the community as a whole. The point of these comments is to promote open discussion of issues raised in the article not to resort to name calling and ad hominim attacks on other posters. In the future I hope you will keep at lease a modicum of respect for other people in mind before you post things that are hurtful and detract from the discussion.

You know plenty of Jews ... yeah right. Well I was a member of Hillel during the heyday of Zionism - yes, I know what it is - and HIllel supplied a much needed outlet for Jews. And no politics about Israel. The main concern was helping Jews on campuses where there numbers were few and yet were singled out for discrimination.

With the onslaught of Muslim organizations on campuses and the rise in Anti-Semitism, Hillel is more important than ever. Their activities around the High Holidays (yes, Schwartzy, even Zionists celebrate) and programs that bring Jews together from disparate campuses, and on and on, make Hillel more important than ever.

And if you join a Jewish organization for the sole purpose of bashing Israel, you are a jerk for sure. Hillel has historically been apolitical. Concern is for Jews on campuses. With Muslims using Israel as an excuse to vent their hatred against Jews, yes, Israel is coming to light as a cause in Hillel because, with Israel bashers like you, Hillel has been forced to take positions to counter the attacks on Jews. And this has included seminars, symposiums, speakers in defense of Israel.

So you and your ilk are doing Jews on campuses a great service by staying away.

What these two essays highlight is that every campus is different. For example, at Sam’s campus there are not enough students to justify having multiple kinds of services; at Northwestern, we have three different kinds every Friday.

My hope is that Hillel, both at individually at schools and as a movement, will continue to empower students to create their own Jewish experiences and stories as opposed to trying to force everyone in one box. Hillel should provide resources (physical and intellectual space, funds, access to a copier, etc) for students to create the Jewish life they want to see on their campuses. This is what we do at Northwestern, and what should be done on every campus.