Submission: Hillel offers open forum, welcoming environment for all students
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 2, 2016 2:54 p.m.
As the new executive director of Hillel at UCLA, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you our passion for maintaining one of the most inclusive and diverse communities on campus. While this is in part a response to an accusation earlier this week by a signatory member of the Students for Justice in Palestine, I hope it will also double as an invitation to come see Hillel for yourself.
Hillel at UCLA is the most open, welcoming, pluralistic and accepting Jewish organization on campus. We welcome an extraordinarily diverse array of Jewish students, and we pride ourselves on remaining pluralistic in both the religious and political realms.
Jewish students at Hillel originate from more than 30 different countries, and span the entire racial spectrum. We have students who are native speakers of Arabic, Farsi, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, French, Chinese and many more. Some are first-generation immigrants. Some arrived here after the Holocaust, while others were expelled from Iran and North Africa. Some even have families who’ve been in the United States for five generations. We’re all Jews – but we cannot be easily categorized otherwise.
Israel is certainly one of many areas of focus for Hillel. The modern day country represents the fulfillment of 2,000 years of national yearning for return to Zion. Our history and continuous presence in the land are indisputable. We joyously celebrate the return to our indigenous homeland.
As an educational institution, Hillel values our role in bringing together Jewish and non-Jewish students with different political viewpoints and perspectives. We give them a safe place to engage in open and honest debate about these issues.
Specifically, we recognize and empower students who express a diversity of opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Members of Hillel’s leadership have run programs focusing on Palestinian human rights and invited Palestinian speakers and groups to speak at Hillel. Our fact-finding mission to Israel and the Palestinian Territories is just one of many examples which demonstrate our commitment to dialogue and unbiased education.
But that is just a fraction of what happens at Hillel in a given week. Hillel hosts study groups, community service programs, interfaith initiatives and social, religious and cultural activities that strengthen Jewish identity. We engage students who are trying to decide their religious identity – many Jewish students are raised by parents of different faiths – at the same as we run programs to end genocide in Africa, teach high-level Talmud classes and offer leadership training seminars.
Like any other student organization at UCLA, Hillel has every right to determine with whom it partners and how. But we endeavor to be as inclusive as possible. There are no membership criteria for Hillel involvement. In fact, there is no such thing as “membership” – all are welcome. Please join us for any of our programs to see for yourself. That’s an open invitation.
Lerner is a rabbi and the executive director of Hillel at UCLA.
