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Standing Firm

Hillel and "Open Hillel" meet to discuss differences on Israel guidelines.

Alina Dain Sharon } JNS.org

hen Harvard Hillel refused to
host a planned 2012 event titled
"Jewish Voices Against the Israeli
Occupation," organized by the Harvard College
Progressive Jewish Alliance and the Harvard
Palestine Solidarity Committee, frustrated stu-
dents wrote an open letter to the Hillel commu-
nity criticizing the decision.
That letter has since led to the founding of
"Open Hillel," a broader movement calling
on Hillel International — the Jewish campus
umbrella represented on more than 550 colleges
and universities — to allow the expression of
more diverse points of view, including those criti-
cal of Israel.
The notion that Hillel International is not inclu-
sive is one that the organization's president and
CEO, Eric Fingerhut, wants to dispel.
On Sept. 9, Fingerhut met with Open Hillel stu-
dent representatives in Boston "in order to listen
to their concerns and to personally convey that
Hillel welcomes all Jewish students no matter

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their politics or perspectives," he told JNS.org
after the meeting.
"We had a good and candid discussion, and I
appreciate [Open Hillel's] viewpoints," Fingerhut
said. "I am pleased that they understand the
value in being part of the global Hillel move-
ment. Hillel works hard every day to provide a
high-quality experience for all Jewish students on
campus."
Fingerhut also stressed Hillel's inclusivity in
an interview before the meeting but said Hillel
would not compromise on its pro-Israel mission.
"We are a pro-Israel organization," he said.
"It is part of our mission to encourage students
to build an enduring commitment to Israel as a
Jewish and democratic homeland. That is what
we are, [and] that leaves within it a broad range
to debate Israel's policies and where Israel might
be right or wrong on particular issues."
Lex Rofes, a Brown University alum and a
member of Open Hillel's student committee who
helped organize the meeting with Fingerhut, told
JNS.org that at many campuses, students who
sought "to create Jewish programming that was
meaningful to them" have been told they could
not implement their plans, either because the
programming itself included content or speakers
overly critical of Israel or because they wanted to
co-sponsor the event with a group that supports
the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS)
movement against Israel.
Hillel's official Israel guidelines state that it will
not "partner with, house or host organizations,
groups or speakers that delegitimize, demonize or
apply a double standard to Israel."

106

September 18 • 2014

Eric Fingerhut speaks with student board member JoHanna Rothseid.

"There's nothing involved in Hillel's Israel guidelines that in any way
excludes any student based on any opinion they might have."

— Eric Fingerhut, Hillel International CEO/president

In December 2013, the Hillel student board at
Swarthmore College voted to reject Hillel's Israel
guidelines and align itself with the Open Hillel
movement. In response, Fingerhut wrote a public
letter in which he stated that Hillel "expects all
campus organizations that use the Hillel name
to adhere to these guidelines. No organization
that uses the Hillel name may choose to do oth-
erwise."
This past February, the Jewish Union at Vassar
College in New York took a similar position, elicit-
ing a statement by Fingerhut: "We agree that
Hillel should and will always provide students
with an open and pluralistic forum where they
can explore issues and opinions related to their
Jewish identity. We thank the Vassar students for
their commitment to this value and accept their
invitation for further conversation."
But Fingerhut reiterated that Hillel would

not "give a platform to groups or individuals to
attack the Jewish people, Jewish values or the
Jewish state's right to exist."
"Our expectation is that all Hillel affiliates will
continue to uphold these standards for partners
and co-sponsors," he said.
In April, a group of current and former Jewish
student leaders at Connecticut-based Wesleyan
University announced that the Hillel-affiliated
Wesleyan Jewish Community was also rejecting
the umbrella group's Israel guidelines.
Rofes believes Fingerhut's responses to Open
Hillel's concerns, particularly to the incidents at
Swarthmore and Vassar, have been a "mixture."
"I thought that the initial blog post [Fingerhut]
posted [on Swarthmore] wasn't necessarily the
kind of tone I would have loved, but I understand
their disagreement with Swarthmore's decision
and that's their right," he said.

Fingerhut's wording on Vassar was more to
Rofes' liking, and he added that "in other regards
[Hillel has] responded positively to us."
Hillel's responses to the Swarthmore and
Vassar decisions were the same, Fingerhut said.
"Hillel's guidelines are what they are, and all
Hillels are expected to work within those guide-
lines," he told JNS.org .

Working With Students

Hillel International also sent representatives to
both campuses to address the concerns.
"We try to work with students to accom-
modate as much as they want to do as possible
within the guidelines," Fingerhut said.
For the meeting, Open Hillel student repre-
sentatives did not prepare to raise any specific
concerns, but simply wanted to listen to Hillel