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October 22, 2004/Cheshvan 7 5765, Vol. 57, No. 8
Campus connectionsChabad, Hillel both seek to spread Judaism to college students
JASON SAMUELS
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 Ariel Gurian, left, and Jessica Wildenberg participate in an Oct. 6 Hillel Jewish Student Center/Chabad at ASU community service project, making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for the needy. More than 300 sandwiches were made and delivered to Waste Not, an organization that delivers prepared food to those in need within 24 hours. Photo courtesy of Shotsy Abramson |
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"My first day of school, I had no friends," says the Chicago native. "So I came to Hillel."
Caplan was very active in her synagogue in Chicago, serving on the executive regional board of United Synagogue Youth (USY).
"It was pretty much well-known that this was the first place I would find," she says.
Caplan's experience is typical of new students who get involved with any organization. For Caplan and others like her, it is a meshing of social and religious activities.
"There are a lot of people that come that want to continue to be connected to the Jewish life that they knew at home," explains ASU's Hillel executive director Rabbi Barton Lee. "There is also a large contingent of students who haven't been connected and don't know a great deal, but at this time in their life they're looking to give Jewish ideas a hearing."
Until last year, Hillel held the monopoly on Jewish students attending the university as the only structured Jewish religious organization on campus. In 2003, the more traditional Chabad set roots in Tempe just down the street from Hillel. Presently, both seek out the approximately 3,000 Jewish students attending the university, offering them a place to interact and share experiences with their religious peers.
"We are here to cater to young men and women of the Jewish faith," Lee says. "It's extremely important that at such a crucial turning point in these young people's lives that they have a warm, welcoming place where they can stay connected to their beliefs."
Beliefs, though, vary from student to student and each individual must choose which religious organization suits them best.
Hillel carries the reputation of a Jewish Reform organization. Friday night services include guitar playing and there is an egalitarian approach concerning men and women during worship.
Chabad, on the other hand, represents a traditional point of view. At the Chabad house, men and women sit separately during services and participants sing traditional Jewish songs without musical accompaniment.
Both organizations offer services, classes and other events for any students interested in Judaism. For example, Hillel's Tuesday kosher lunch program gives kosher students an opportunity to eat on campus.
Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel, executive director of Chabad at ASU, said he views the differences in both Hillel and Chabad's approach to keeping faith as a positive situation.
"With these two very different, yet very similar organizations at the disposal of ASU students, they can really find the one that matches with their style," he says. "While we may both be trying to get students to attend our individual events, our greater goal is to get these young people involved in Judaism at this point in their lives. It's that approach that keeps us both from viewing our efforts as a competition instead of an attempt to add to the greater good of the Jewish community here at the university."
Many Jewish students participate in both organizations.
"I know of a fair few students that (choose one over the other)," says Adrienne Turner, a Chabad student board member and a volunteer at Hillel. "But I would say a good number, not most, but many, are involved in both."
Both groups strive to get their message out to those incoming students looking for a place to continue or reawaken their religious practices. Lee and Tiechtel stroll around the campus during the week spreading their message, hoping to get anyone involved.
"It's vital to reach these students quickly so they can avoid losing the connection to their faith," Tiechtel says. "If we can get them over to the house and pass onto them that warmth and security that comes with sharing experiences with their peers in age and faith, I know they will not be disappointed they made the trip."
Lee elaborates that "first spark of interest is what could get these young men and women involved in Judaism for the remainder of their lives. By going out to campus and coming to them, they can really feel our excitement and enthusiasm for faith and friendship, and hopefully it will be just contagious enough for them to want to explore Judaism a little further."
Lee also says that the outgoing and inquisitive nature of younger followers serves as a motivational tool for him to continue his work.
"The exciting thing is that many of the students I come into contact with still have not made up their minds, unlike older people. This allows them to carefully examine what goes on with our organization and it helps keep me on my toes," he says. "Young people don't hesitate to ask me those sharp questions and there's never any B.S. I have to go through. You're never going to experience anything dull and stale when you're working with college kids and it's really rewarding for myself."
Acknowledging their sometimes-contrasting slants on worship, Tiechtel says both organizations realize their importance as a force in the Jewish student community. Because of the responsibility they both feel for the welfare of that campus minority, Hillel and Chabad come together for several events during the course of the year. These gatherings range from an annual bowling outing to a Hanukkah feast. During Sukkot, the groups shared a sukkah and hosted several joint events on campus.
"Those combined events allow us all to come together not as two student organizations, but instead as a large contingency of the Jewish population at ASU," Lee says. "It's important to embrace that fact and show a strong display of unity. It's also extremely beneficial for both groups to have contact with each other so everyone can experience different perspectives on Judaism."
Turner says the organizations work well together to coordinate events. For example, during Rosh Hashana, schedules were coordinated so students could attend both services.
While Lee and Tiechtel hit the trenches around ASU on a near daily basis, both concede their efforts to a more proven recruitment tool - the students. The lifeblood of both organizations relies not on pamphlets or Web pages, but instead on word of mouth.
"It's a lot about word of mouth," Turner explains. "There are students who've been to one, and it didn't really fit, so they try the other one."
Turner, now a senior studying music and theater, says she was drawn to Hillel her freshman year by a poster she had seen on campus. Last semester, a friend at Hillel who had been spending time at Chabad invited her to check it out. She has been dividing her time between both organizations ever since.
Membership in both Hillel and Chabad seems to fluctuate constantly according to their respective executive directors. Each has a core group of student leaders and supporters while at any given time students in the hundreds will flock to events and services for various reasons. In an effort to keep those students who show somewhat limited interest, both strive to create a relaxed and positive attitude that appeals to everyone.
"They (Chabad and Hillel) are very aware that there are diverse needs," Turner says. "They try to offer things that are slightly different at each place."
Staff writer Stephanie N. Henschel contributed to this article.