Sending one’s child away for college has always been fraught with anxiety, fear, worry and sadness. Anxiety about how your child will navigate being independent for the first time. Although the year in Israel might play a role in allaying this anxiety. Fear about what your child will encounter on campus given the anti-Israel and antisemitic attacks of the past year. Alarm about physical safety is no minor concern. Worry about the ideas that will confront your child, both in the classroom and on campus. Your high school graduate will no longer dwell in the cocoon of family, friends and community. There will be a new set of friends and professors and a new community whose ideas will probably differ from your family and community values. The sadness will occur when you realize that your child is now an independent individual who has literally left the nest only to return for visits.
Parents always have the responsibility of raising their children with the correct values. Jewish day school parents have a triple obligation: Imbue their children with correct moral values, proper Jewish values, and an insistence that their schools prepare them to deal with the challenges of contemporary society. For those sectors of the Jewish community who do not go to college the challenge is somewhat diminished. They will not face the challenges of the college campus. For the vast majority who will go to college it is imperative to prepare them for what awaits them on campus.
There is so much to learn and so difficult to carve out sufficient time to teach it all. Time allocation and prioritization is a principal’s biggest challenge. How much time for Gemara, Tanach, Hebrew, all the secular subjects, sports, clubs, etc., can we fit in a day? Given the enormity of this challenge, how then can we fit in time to discuss how to respond to the antisemitic and anti-Israel rhetoric on college campuses?
There are several approaches. Some may be radical, but the current situation calls for a strong response. The simplest solution is to limit school choices to YU or Touro. Solution No. 2 is to carefully vet out-of-town colleges to find those with a vibrant Jewish student population, such as Binghamton, University of Maryland, Penn State and others. JLIC and Chabad are excellent resources. Solution No. 3 is viable only if schools invest the time. Prepare students to debate the issues riling up campuses today. If the student population is such that although Jewish learning is important it is not the No. 1 priority, then this time allocation is doable. In fact, preparing the students will involve learning the facts of Jewish history and current events.
These are difficult times and these are difficult choices. It would be great if every Jewish child was fully dedicated to Jewish learning. It would be wonderful if Jewish children would be home for Shabbat and Yom Tov through college. That is not the reality. Many of our children will go off to colleges where there may not be a Hillel, Chabad, JLIC, or even a kosher dining facility. Many will encounter professors and classmates opposed to Zionism and the State of Israel. There may be violence. The anti-Israel hasbara machine is very successful. The Big Lie philosophy is alive and well and thriving. Unfortunately, many Jewish college students buy into it because they lack any serious Jewish education themselves.
The issue is not just a philosophical debate. There are often physical encounters and injuries when things (often) get out of control.
Arnold Toynbee the famous (antisemitic) historian wrote that history is based on challenge and response. We are facing a grave challenge on the college campus. How will we respond? Will we adequately prepare our graduates or acknowledge the risk factor and send our children to Jewish institutions or safe college environments?
Rabbi Dr. Wallace Greene has taught at Yeshiva University, Queens College and Upsala College.
