Reviewing Scott Aaron’s “Jewish U” from Drew University
Rabbi Scott Aaron’s “Jewish U” opens with an introduction by Wayne Firestone, international president of Hillel, that amounts to an advertisement for the organization. This is not a promising start, given how many people will never enter a Hillel building or attend a Hillel event. Firestone offers sound bytes like, “Hillel is proud to partner with the Union for Reform Judaism in welcoming Jewish students of all backgrounds on campus.” As if to say, “Yes, even you ignorant Reform Jews are welcome within our gracious walls.”
That the URJ has published a book that devotes so much time to cheerleading for Hillel gives me some headache-inducing cognitive dissonance. Many Hillels are not welcoming to Reform students, but now that the URJ has cut its funding for on-campus programming–formerly called Kesher–maybe it is hoping that Hillel can pick up the slack.
My experience with Hillel at Drew University, a small liberal arts school in northern New Jersey, is that it ends up being Reform – though not by design. Drew Hillel does not have a building, and an overtaxed anthropology professor lends some time as the Hillel advisor. Hillel at Drew lists off in an aesthetically Reform direction but lacks the ideological or intellectual underpinnings to actually be Reform. When we pray, we use Reform prayer books for no other reason than because those are the ones we have. We don’t do Birkat Hamazon or ritually wash our hands, mostly because it has not occurred to anyone to do those things. So Reform Jews are welcome at Drew Hillel, but my experience with other, larger Hillels is either that Reform Jews are intimidated by the Jewish knowledge of their peers or that attempts at Reform community are abortive at best.
As for the book’s overview of college life, Aaron divides the body of “Jewish U” by semester. He takes the ‘bewildered student’ through her first year of college, telling her when to do and expect what. Aaron admits that Jewish campus life may not be the highest thing on the reader’s list of priorities – noting that majors, dorms, friends and dating (wink-wink) may seem more important. But this book is here to let the reader know she’s wrong and to give her some ways to place more importance on Jewish life. The reader survives the condescending tone of the book, in turn, either by masochistically enjoying it or because she actually did have her Bat Mitzvah yesterday. Saying that Jewish students should place a higher priority on Jewish life will not make them do so.
More astounding is the book’s unevenness. Sometimes Aaron writes for a less knowledgeable audience and at other times he assumes a high level of familiarity with Jewish institutional life. One chapter includes a little sidebar to explain what a minyan—or prayer quorum—is, for the less knowledgeable reader. Elsewhere, a sentence drops NFTY and USY on the reader with no explanation of those organizations. (NFTY is the Reform movement’s North-American Federation of Temple Youth and USY is the United Synagogue Youth, a Conservative organization.)
Some of the book is worth the time investment, such as sections about living in close proximity to proselytizing Christians and taking responsibility for you own religious life. One section, for example, discusses the pros and cons of hanging a mezuzah on your dorm room door and discussing that decision with roommates.
But even in the worthwhile chapter on your first High Holy Days away from home, Aaron condescends: “If you have the opportunity to go home for the holidays, think about what might be different there. Will there be friends and family whom you’ll want to see? You are older and more grown up.” Does Aaron know that this is not a Jewish-themed episode of “Smart Guy?” The discussion of spending Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur on campus is far more interesting, as Aaron points out that the reader’s freshman experience of these holidays away from home will be the first moment in his life when he will define his own religious practice, independent of parents. (My High Holy Days recommendation, though Aaron would never go so far, is to venture somewhere vastly different from the congregation where you grew up. Aaron’s recommendation, not surprisingly, is to consult your Hillel rabbi.)
Even the chapter “Flowers, Candy and Condoms: Jewish Sexual Decision Making,” which should have been very relevant and carefully written, is instead full of gems like, “no chuppah, no shtuppah” and “You gotta love a religion that makes sex a commandment!” Even better: “An important Jewish concept is that every person is made in the image of God, so anonymous sex with a drunken pickup or a prostitute would not be a Jewishly acceptable choice.” Thanks, Aaron.
Most disappointing is Aaron’s heavy focus on Hillel. Hillels can be alienating to some, which Aaron notes, but they can also be boring. In the hands of bad leadership, it’s easy for an organization to stagnate and lose relevance. This has been my experience at Drew. We meet every other Friday night and on holidays, mostly to eat. Very rarely, we organize Sunday bagel brunches with a visiting rabbi to study some text. This is nice, but it’s not enough for me.
Aaron would have done his readers a great service had he discussed the potential for Jewish life off campus. I’ve gotten involved with Limmud NY, which sponsors a pluralistic long weekend of Jewish learning and culture every January. Limmud is far from a replacement for daily Jewish life on campus, but it gives me something Jewish in which I can involved. I also go off campus every Shabbat morning for services at Chavurat Lamdeinu and study minyan, while most of Hillel ends up there two days a year (guess which two days!). One Friday night a month, I trek into New York City for Kol Zimrah, an all-singing Kabbalat Shabbat minyan with a great potluck dinner.
“Jewish U” hits the right topics but strikes the wrong tone at every turn. Beyond that, the book’s obsessive focus on Hillel is disappointing. As students increasingly find Jewish experiences off campus and as small schools with small Hillels become increasingly diverse, this book stands to be simply irrelevant.
