As the rift between J Street U and Hillel continues to widen, J Street U members remain dissatisfied with Hillel’s efforts to close the gap.
On Aug. 17, Hillel International CEO and president Eric Fingerhut addressed J Street U in D.C. to apologize for declining to speak at the J Street U conference in March. Fingerhut withdrew from the conference — having already accepted the invitation to speak — because other speakers invited had previously made inflammatory marks about Israel.
Earlier this summer, on June 10, Fingerhut and Hillel board members met with J Street U — a meeting that left J Street U and its supporters feeling like not enough was being done to move forward.
“If I have done anything to cause personal hurt or pain in this past year to anyone in this room, I ask that you forgive my transgression,” Fingerhut told the students at the JSU Summer Leadership Institute, according to the Forward.
Fingerhut’s apology was met with mixed reactions.
“I appreciate that Eric Fingerhut apologized for causing hurt, but what you will notice is that he did not apologize, as far as I can tell, for his actual action of pulling out from attendance,” said Lex Rofes, Brown University ’13.
Rofes, who supports J Street U and is a former Hillel board member, was not present at the Summer Leadership Institute.
In the past, Hillel has spoken at conferences organized by AIPAC and Christians United For Israel, both political organizations, but Fingerhut told the students at the Summer Leadership Institute that “it’s not about endorsing an organization’s political agenda because Hillel doesn’t do that,” according to the Washington Jewish Week.
“He said that — since Hillel doesn’t endorse political organizations — that he could not appear and speak, yet he has appeared at conferences convened by other organizations,” Rofes said.
Others felt Fingerhut acted in the best possible way.
“Fingerhut is a great leader, and his outreach to students really shows that,” said Holly Bicerano, Boston University ’15 and a former member of Open Hillel.
She added that Fingerhut said there was “nobody responsible for any hurt that was caused in March besides” him, meaning that Hillel donors had nothing to do with his decision.
“Ultimately, Mr. Fingerhut is in charge,” said Hillel member and Safe Hillel cofounder Daniel Mael, Brandeis ’15.
“He had the decision. He lives with the consequences.”
Still, according to J Street U director Sarah Turbow, students are hesitant to discount “the role donors play in Hillel and the Jewish community.”
The meeting ran just over an hour. J Street U students were happy to have met with Fingerhut, but Rofes said he felt that more could have been done in terms of forming concrete solutions.
“As long as he merely states his thanks for J Street U’s anti-BDS work without stating in clear terms that he appreciates any of their other work as well, while extolling the virtues of right-center and right-wing groups that range from ambivalence to explicit condemnation of J Street, there will be no bridging of the gap that he says he wants to close,” Rofes said.
Whether or not students found Fingerhut’s answers satisfactory, Turbow said, “this was an important step.”
“This was an opportunity to begin the conversation,” she added.
Moving forward, J Street U members still hope to overcome their differences with Hillel in order to work together as supporters of Israel.
“To be effective on campus, Zionists have to maintain a big tent,” Bicerano said.
“That means recognizing that we all care about ensuring Israel’s future as the Jewish state, even while we have disagreements about specific policies and tactics.”
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that Lex Rofes was not present at the Summer Leadership Institute.
Nicole Zelniker is a student at Guilford College.
