As antisemitism has reared its ugly head on college campuses across the country, the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC)—which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year—has become an even more vital program for the many Orthodox students attending secular colleges.
For those who don’t know, the program is a division of the Orthodox Union (OU). It was established in the year 2000 to support Orthodox Jewish students on campus. Recognizing the challenges these students face in maintaining their religious commitments while engaging in broader collegiate life, JLIC aims to provide resources and guidance to help these young adults thrive both spiritually and academically.
Some of its goals are to offer Torah classes and religious guidance tailored to the needs of Orthodox students; to foster a sense of community among Jewish students; to make sure that kosher food, daily prayer services and holiday observances are available to students; and to mentor and support students who might be navigating personal, religious and academic challenges.
Since its inception, JLIC has expanded to numerous campuses across North America and beyond, reflecting its success in addressing the needs of Orthodox students in secular academic environments. The program has been instrumental in creating vibrant Jewish communities at schools where such infrastructure was previously lacking.
It also has succeeded in establishing leadership development programs for students, many of whom go on to take active roles in Jewish communal life post-graduation—and has recently opened new chapters in Israel at Ben Gurion University, Ariel University and the Jerusalem College of Technology.
I had the opportunity to speak to Rabbi Eli Kohl and his wife, Naomi, who spent seven years as the JLIC couple at the University of Maryland, and Rabbi Alex Ozar, who is currently working at Yale University for JLIC, about their experiences.
Rabbi Ozar was immediately attracted to the job at Yale. “It’s an incredible opportunity to make an impact on klal Israel,” he said. “College students are these amazingly liminal creatures—they’re intellectually mature and starting out on their adult paths, but they still have the time and energy to grow in real and dynamic ways. It’s endlessly energizing.”
Rabbi Ozar outlined the skills he felt were necessary to succeed in JLIC: “The most important thing is that you should care very deeply about these young Jews and be able to show it in big and small ways. You need to be able to give a decent shiur, but it’s just as, if not more, important that you bring a student soup when he or she is sick. You must be good on your feet, and you have to be acutely attuned to what our students need in the moment. You need to be clear and firm about your frumkeit and Jewish values, but at the same time be able to embrace those coming from a different perspective.”
Rabbi Kohl explained the role of the OU: “We had conferences with other JLIC educators and reported to the OU regularly on our program, but we were generally left to decide how to shape our position and run programs while working as staff members on campus.” Rabbi Ozar liked the fact that experienced JLIC couples often would mentor new ones, and the various directors on different campuses are constantly sharing ideas with each other. He feels that the JLIC couples are all part of a big team.
Naomi Kohl said that most of the students were prepared for the challenges they would face in college. “We tried to create a framework that would help give chizuk to the Orthodox student population on campus. This included chavrusa learning, shiurim, social and religious programming, onegs and Shabbat meals. We made sure that students knew we were there for them whenever they needed us and that our door was always open.”
Rabbi Ozar said that the question isn’t so much whether students are prepared for a secular college campus as whether they have the right support once they have arrived. “That’s what JLIC is for. For those students who are going to go to secular college—and there will always be many who do—my experience is that they can not only sustain but deepen their Jewish commitment.”
As to the current climate of antisemitism on campus, Rabbi Ozar said that Yale was spared some of the anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric present at other schools. “Thank God, at Yale we haven’t experienced the kind of pervasive protest culture certain other campuses have dealt with, and we certainly haven’t dealt with any physical threats. Jewish students don’t think twice about wearing their yarmulkes on campus and are leaders in every campus organization.
“Spiritually, though, the campus reaction to Oct. 7th was devastating. Many of our students suddenly realized that some of the people who they had thought were their friends were not really their friends. Our response has been to double down on what we always do: cultivate Jewish community and strengthen Jewish identity. We help our students stand tall and proud as the extraordinary Jews they are.”
What are some of the religious tensions that students are experiencing? Rabbi Ozar answered: “Sometimes there are discrete, localized tensions … for example, whether it’s OK to attend the big football game on Shabbos, or whether there is a way for students to join their friends in a non-kosher dining hall. Those are a matter of halachic clarity and personal sensitivity, which you require for any shaila. The deeper questions tend to concern love, career, and often a student’s place in the Jewish community. Many young Jews feel like there isn’t really a strand of the community where they fit. Our job is to help them realize both that they’re far less alone than it may seem, and that being themselves isn’t as scary as it seems. It’s about resilience and gaining perspective.”
Naomi Kohl explained this further: “I think college is a unique time because students are for the first time making decisions on how they may want to live their adult lives. They are on their own; for some it meant they could make decisions to be more religious than when they were growing up, and for others it was the opposite. Our job was to be positive role models of a Torah way of life that would hopefully encourage and inspire them as they decided how they wanted to live their lives.”
Do most of the Orthodox kids leave college still being Jewishly observant? Rabbi Ozar believes that the overwhelming majority of students leave campus more or less the way they came in religiously. “Some leave observance behind the second they get to campus; some of those come back; some don’t; some wind up in the middle somewhere. And some students become more observant. It’s a dynamic time.”
Naomi Kohl said: “I can’t give a percentage, but my husband always said students are on a journey, and their story didn’t start or end with their four years of college. It was just a part of their story. We tried to strengthen and inspire the students in the Orthodox community to continue to grow in their observance in a positive and meaningful way.”
What was it like raising young children on campus? “Really wonderful,” said Naomi Kohl. “Many students were missing their families … and we welcomed them into our family … and in turn our kids felt like they had hundreds of big brothers and sisters. We had tons of babysitters and help as needed, and we really felt that the community was our family. Because we lived on campus at our job, we had lots of flexibility … sometimes our kids were with us all day and night, and sometimes we would take a few hours out to be with our kids after school and then go back to programs at night. We were friends with our Hillel colleagues and Chabad family, and we also made friends in the Silver Spring community when our kids were old enough to go to preschool there.”
Given the current environment, some in the Orthodox community feel that attending a secular college should be avoided at all costs, but Rabbi Kohl disagrees. “Each student should evaluate and choose the college that they are best suited for. There are certain advantages being in a totally Jewish environment, but the school they go to should be a good match for the individual. I am sure the current political climate has impacted many students’ decisions.”
Rabbi Ozar elaborated on this further: “Everyone needs to figure out what’s right for them, and that was always the case. But I can say confidently that anyone going to any JLIC campus will have what they need to thrive and grow Jewishly.”
Michael Feldstein, who lives in Stamford, Connecticut, is the author of “Meet Me in the Middle” (meet-me-in-the-middle-book.com), a collection of essays on contemporary Jewish life. He can be reached at [email protected].
