In a time of rising antisemitism and intensified threats to Jewish communities, the realization of our responsibility toward the Diaspora is a practical expression of the principle that all Jews are responsible for one another, as well as of the close bond between all segments of the Jewish people.
Studying at the pinnacle of modern academia – Ivy League American universities – should have been the fulfillment of every Jewish mother’s dream for her children in the land dubbed in Yiddish the Goldene Medina, broadening their horizons and integrating them into the American economic empire as equals, but that dream was shattered. On a Shabbat evening earlier this month, Jewish students wrapped in keffiyehs sang the “Ana B’koach” prayer (a prayer recited during Kabbalat Shabbat, pleading for a change in reality and for the mitigation of judgment) in Washington Square Park in New York City.
Researchers identified a sharp decline in students’ identification with their Judaism already back in the early 2000s. Root causes were attributed to either a reluctance to declare Jewish involvement due to the American practice of separating church and state, or to the fear of discrimination on campus.
Campus antisemitism
Either way, a growing trend of politicization on college campuses was already clear. Between the years 2016-2019, I followed events on campuses as part of my work for civil society organizations dedicated to combating libels against the IDF and the State of Israel. Posters on campuses declared “Israel is an occupier,” “Israel is committing genocide,” “Israel poisoned Palestinian drinking water,” and other libels. The BDS movement played a significant part in fanning the flames.
The writing was on the walls, the halls, and the lawns of every prestigious university in the United States. Evidence accumulated of vandalism: slashed tires, shattered windows, and antisemitic graffiti calling for a second Holocaust and for sending Zionists to the gas chambers. The attacks were directed not only at Jewish students who identified as Zionist and pro-Israel, but also at Jewish students who expressed no opinion on Israel at all. Those behind the attacks included all Jews within a white, racist, supremacist, colonialist collective.
Nevertheless, Jewish students continued to enroll in Ivy League universities, where they were apparently expected to keep their heads down until the storm blew over or until they received their diplomas, whichever came first.
Jewish-American leadership, despite all its institutions and foundations, failed to recognize the gravity of the threat; and the State of Israel, concentrated meanwhile, on supporting important and qualitative but short-term programs for young Diaspora Jews that were insufficient in providing a proper response.
About 18 months ago, Kohelet Forum’s Adi Arbel approached me about writing a policy paper on the subject. Under the professional guidance of Prof. Yuval Sinai, senior jurist and expert on the structure of higher education in Israel, I wrote a paper outlining a plan to bring Jewish students from the Diaspora to Israel for full-time undergraduate studies.
The benefits for both the students and the State of Israel are substantial.
A connection to Israel, Zionism and Jewish identity are in the common interest of both, as well as the strengthening of ties between the State of Israel and the Diaspora. The students participating in the program would enjoy a level of academic study higher than that offered in the US, where excellence is currently being eroded by progressive insanity, which aside from being marinated in Jew-hatred, is also destroying all academic endeavors.
The students would also benefit from paying considerably less than what they would have to pay abroad. The benefit to Israeli universities is twofold, as they would gain both from the additional tuition fees and government investments per student and from the boost in academic ranking, as the number of international students studying at a given institution is a significant factor in its academic ranking.
This solution will allow Jewish students to study in a supportive, protected and safe environment, where they can experience an empowering Jewish and Israeli experience, deepen their knowledge and familiarity with their roots, culture, and heritage, and strengthen their sense of belonging and connection to the Jewish people. All this without the need to conceal or avoid expressions of their Jewish identity out of fear of violence or hostile attitudes.
Our policy paper was completed just before October 7. From the onset of the war, I have been following events on US campuses with horror, concerned for the safety and security of the young Jewish people forced to face severe antisemitic attacks. I realized that my initiative has gained new significance.
Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli recently adopted the policy paper, and has begun to implement its recommendations together with universities in Israel, going on to issue a “call to action” to Jewish students to come and study in Israel. To me, this time of crisis on campus emphasizes the need for this initiative and presents an opportunity for implementing it.
The State of Israel must continue to reach out to our brethren in the Diaspora with more initiatives and to continue to turn the crisis into opportunity.
The writer is a columnist, scholar of American Jewry and social entrepreneur.