My alma mater – Columbia – has been in the news recently. (Both billionaire Robert Kraft and I have halted our donations, although presumably Columbia will suffer more because of his decision.) Certainly, the overt and dangerous Jew hatred that prevails on many campuses today should weigh heavily in any decision, but my discomfort with secular college preceded the latest contretemps.
Simply put, parents who send their children to secular colleges are endangering their spiritual survival, and this is true even with the Jewish programming, organizations, and activities that try to fill the gaping void. Some students emerge unscathed; many, maybe even most, do not. It is like bungee jumping with a frayed rope. I lived off campus, so I was spared some of the tawdry excesses of the 1970’s, which in any event would be considered prudish, even monkish, by today’s standards.
College today is a moral cesspool and the cathedral of wokeness. It is a place where religion is mocked and tradition is ridiculed, where shattering norms is encouraged and challenging the world view of one’s parents is expected. Add to that today’s violent assault on Jewish identity and the increased presence on campuses of groups that openly hate Jews and Israel and face little or no consequences for doing so and it is clear that attending a secular college – for most people – is irrational and quite hazardous, spiritual and physically. We can try to construct a Jewish cocoon but in most cases that will not succeed.
Alexis de Tocqueville said it best: “The safeguard of morality is religion, and morality is the best security of law and the surest pledge of freedom.” College today has no religion and no morality, and thus no law, no security, and no freedom. It is true that in the past a degree from an Ivy League school had cachet and made connections. Parents, and employers, should wise up and realize that today, in large measure, it denotes closed-mindedness, moral obtuseness, intellectual laziness, and a rejection of all that is holy and virtuous.
Is that worth an annual tuition of $90,000? Hardly.
– Rav Steven Pruzansky is Israel region Vice President of the Coalition for Jewish Values and author of six books, including the recent “Road to Redemption,” available at Kodeshpress.com.
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When we consider the appropriateness of a non-Jewish university for an Orthodox Jew, our knee-jerk reaction may be to consider the impact that the culture of non-Jewish university may have on causing one’s level of religious observance to deteriorate. Some claim that a high percentage of Orthodox students go off-the-derech in a non-Jewish university, but it’s not clear whether it is the environment of the non-Jewish university that causes many orthodox students to go off-the-derech or whether these students had already inclined to go off-the-derech and one expression of that desire was to attend a non-Jewish university.
Nevertheless, there are certainly more challenges to religious observance in a non-Jewish university as opposed to a Jewish university. I have mixed feelings regarding how much the concern of antisemitism should play in determining whether one should attend a non-Jewish university. At the end of the day, if a student feels unsafe in a non-Jewish university environment because of antisemitic behavior and hate speech on campus, then I can understand why he or she would not wish to attend that university. However, I feel strongly that we as a community must advocate university leadership and politicians to ensure that our Jewish students feel safe in a non-Jewish university environment and we should not simply resign ourselves to retreating from these institutions of higher learning for this reason.
Generally, I think Orthodox students should strive to attend a Jewish university. I, for one, attended Yeshiva University and I found that the immersive Jewish experience there, including the opportunities for high-level Talmud Torah and religious growth, is vastly superior to what can be offered in a non-Jewish university.
There are probably some students for whom a non-Jewish university might be a preferred option. Some students may thrive in a non-Jewish university because they may be called upon to take on leadership roles in a religious capacity, like to help make the minyan or to arrange Torah study opportunities, when they might not be able do so in a Jewish university setting where there are already plenty of minyanim and Torah study opportunities. For some students, a particular university may offer greater career opportunities in a particular field of study. However, for the vast majority of students, I believe that the immersive religious experience at a Jewish university is so qualitatively superior than that which is offered at a non-Jewish university such that the Jewish university should be the default option for most.
– Rabbi Jonathan Muskat is the rabbi of the Young Israel of Oceanside, a rebbe at Shulamith High School, and a pastoral health care liaison at Mount Sinai South Nassau.
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As with every question, the proper answer begins with “it depends.” First, what subjects are being taken and are there halachic or hashkafic issues with the curriculum. Second, what is the nature of the environment of the university and is it an environment that is compatible with the principles of tznius.
Third, how much interaction is necessary between students. Fourth, in today’s world is the university a safe place for Jews. Fifth, are there good reasons why this option is better than attending the same course in a frum Jewish venue (Touro, Y.U. etc.)
After answering all these questions and becoming familiar with the person’s specific factors can one properly decide if this option is proper for this specific person.
– Rabbi Zev Leff is rav of Moshav Matisyahu and a popular lecturer and educator.
