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What do you think? Are colleges safe places for outwardly-identifiable Jewish kids? Safe for their guf (physical body)? Safe for their neshama (Jewish soul)? Are there ways to still get a bachelors degree and not subject your children to the extreme hatred of Jews and Torah hashkafa (outlook) found on nearly 100% of college campuses?
What do you think? Are colleges safe places for outwardly-identifiable Jewish kids? Safe for their guf (physical body)? Safe for their neshama (Jewish soul)? Are there ways to still get a bachelors degree and not subject your children to the extreme hatred of Jews and Torah hashkafa (outlook) found on nearly 100% of college campuses?
I think it depends on the college and its physical location.
Send your kid to a school that has a decent Jewish population. Tulane is 40% Jewish, Boston U is almost 30%. Just a couple of examples. And there are lots of state schools with at least 20%.
Send your kid to a school that has a decent Jewish population. Tulane is 40% Jewish, Boston U is almost 30%. Just a couple of examples. And there are lots of state schools with at least 20%.
But aren’t the heavily Jewish populated schools (nearly 100% non Torah Observant students) the ones most likely to have BDS and anti Israel activity? And what benefit is there to an impressionable Observant Jew spending time with fellow Jews who are not Observant? Actually seems harmful, no? The idea that it’s ok to be Jewish and live a life bereft of intentional mitzvos?
But aren’t the heavily Jewish populated schools (nearly 100% non Torah Observant students) the ones most likely to have BDS and anti Israel activity? And what benefit is there to an impressionable Observant Jew spending time with fellow Jews who are not Observant? Actually seems harmful, no? The idea that it’s ok to be Jewish and live a life bereft of intentional mitzvos?
Can't address the first part of your question, but to the second....
There is no harm to a young observant Jew spending time with less observant Jews. To the contrary, less observant Jews may see the beauty and value of a more Torah-observant life and become more religious - and more likely to marry within the faith. Would that not be a mitzvah that the more observant Jew is doing?
It almost sounds as though you are advocating against college. Is it not a major bonus to become educated in a good profession so as to (better) support one's family well and provide for their needs? Besides that, learning for learning's sake is a mitzvah in and of itself, no?
Q: Why do you call yourself flip-flop? Did you grow up secular and "flip" to religious?
This is a difficult question with any number of potential answers. The variables -- the school, the person, the location, the upbringing plus more make it tough to answer on a single level.
Can't address the first part of your question, but to the second....
There is no harm to a young observant Jew spending time with less observant Jews. To the contrary, less observant Jews may see the beauty and value of a more Torah-observant life and become more religious - and more likely to marry within the faith. Would that not be a mitzvah that the more observant Jew is doing?
It almost sounds as though you are advocating against college. Is it not a major bonus to become educated in a good profession so as to (better) support one's family well and provide for their needs? Besides that, learning for learning's sake is a mitzvah in and of itself, no?
Q: Why do you call yourself flip-flop? Did you grow up secular and "flip" to religious?
IS there "extreme hatred" of Jews on college campuses? Serious question. I've never heard of such a thing, but then again, I am not Jewish, and I didn't go to college.
I find that curious. I was at my daughter's university for an event, and in the hall where the event was held, this Torah was on display in a case.
On the other hand, as I've mentioned here before, a few years ago I worked for a company in Borough Park, Brooklyn. The owner was Satmar, and he had graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic (Now NYU Tandon School). He said that at first, when they had to team up for projects, nobody wanted to be on his team. Eventually, because of his remaining who he was and his academic abilities in the engineering program, others warmed to him and began to become interested in working with him.
As an outsider, it seemed to me that it was less about outright hatred toward Jews and more about the common belief that Jews by default don't like non-Jews.
It's oversimplified, but if Jews believe non-Jews hate them just because they are Jews, and non-Jews believe Jews hate them because they are not Jews, how does that get anyone anywhere?
IS there "extreme hatred" of Jews on college campuses? Serious question. I've never heard of such a thing, but then again, I am not Jewish, and I didn't go to college.
There is a lot of anti-Israel activity on many college campuses today, spurred on by claims that Israel is oppressing the Palestinians. And this translates into hatred of Jews in general. Many Jewish college students in the United States today are feeling the hostility and accusations personally directed against them.
It's not only a phenomenon on college campuses – I'm seeing a lot of online hatred directed towards Jews these days. The alt.right movement started up a thing on Twitter awhile back whereby alt-righters identify Jews by placing parentheses around their names, like this: (((Rachel))). This parentheses form of identification is kind of like a latter-day yellow Star of David.
Antisemitism is on the rise, and it's deeply disturbing.
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