THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, August 13, 1982
13
Impact of Jewish Professors Debated at Hillel Conference
By BEN GALLOB
(Copyright 1982, JTA, Inc.)
The Jewish president of a
secular university says
Jewish faculty members of
such institutions are too
ambivalent and ignorant
about their Jewishness to be
of much Jewish help to stu-
dents, but a Hillel director
has vigorously challenged
that assessment.
The differing views were
expressed at the recent an-
nual meeting in Washing-
ton of the Bnai Brith Hillel
Foundations Commission
by Dr. Stephen Trachten-
berg, president of Hartford
University and Rabbi
---Richard Israel, Hillel direc-
3r for the Boston area.
However, he said,
Jewish teachers who are
secular humanists feel
they should not identify
with any single culture
and should not be ex-
pected to tolerate "a nar-
row concern" with any
single nation or culture.
Such faculty members
"are normally not very
observant"- religiously
and have little if any ac-
quaintance with Jewish
lore.
Since such academics
think of their Jewishness
"with some discomfort,"
Trachtenberg said, they
may often not only have lit-
tle or nothing to offer to
their Jewish students but
may take special pains to tween the Jewish and aca-
"dis-identify" with those demic community.
Jewish students.
He estimated that most of
Rabbi Israel argued that the nation's 40,000 to
it would not be very useful 60,000 Jewish academics
to tell ambivalent Jewish vii ■ or
faculty members "they
ought not to be the way they
are." He added "if we wish to
keep them as Jews, we must
accept them the way they
are, including their 'un-
connectedness' to the
Jewish community."
Rabbi Israel suggested
that no one is better pre-
pared to deal with that prob-
lem than a Hillel director.
He explained that the Hillel
director, as a Jew who is in
but not of the university,
can serve as a bridge be-
are at schools with Hillel
Foundations. He said that if
Hillel fails to keep such'
scholars with the Jewish
community, "no one else
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Trachtenberg said most
Jewish faculty members,
especially those in the social
sciences, seek to communi-
cate to all their students
general humanistic and so-
cial values and the specific
values of their Jewish cul-
ture.
New Ulpan Set
'75
,
NEW YORK — The sec-
ond session of Ulpan Marva,
a three-month program in
Israel for North American
men and women, 18-28,
which combines physical
fitness training with cul-
tural activities, is scheduled
to begin in October.
From their base in the
Marva Hills of the Galilee,
Ulpan Marva participants
will travel extensively
throughout the country, but
not as tourists, explained
Ehud Gannot, program
coordinator. "Ulpan Marva
participants," Gannot said,
"will experience the country
through hiking, camping
and special seminars con-
ducted by Israeli educators,
all designed to stimulate
the mind as well as the
body." Intensive Hebrew
language training will also
be provided.
For information, call the
Israel Aliya Center toll'free,
1-800-221-1251.
NCJW Actions
Designed to Aid
Nursing Homes
NEW YORK — The Na-
tional Council of Jewish
Women (NCJW) signed a
statement issued by the Na-
tional Citizens' Coalition
for Nursing Home Reform
to Secretary of Health and
Human Services Richard
Schweiker which urges the
government "to maintain
its leadership and fulfill its
responsibilities in working
to assure a high quality of
care and life for the na-
tion's 1.3 million nursing
home residents."
In addition to this coali-
tion effort, the NCJW plans
r = "`o submit written testimony
) the Joint Hearing on
Nursing Home Regulations
of the Congress. The tes-
timony voices concern "that
the enforcement shift from
government agencies to the
Joint Commission on Ac-
creditation, a private
agency, will invite cases of
abuse."
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