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By Jonah James, Beis Moshiach Magazine

On college campuses across America, Jewish students are facing unprecedented waves of anti-semitism, with 73 percent of Jewish students witnessing incidents ranging from vandalism to violence since this fall. In recent weeks, we have witnessed mounting support for militant Islamist groups within America’s halls of academia, where support for Israel earns excommunication. Meanwhile, campus administrations cower behind Palestinian flags, or worse, actively antagonize Jewish students for their connection to Israel.

Shluchim on campus are standing at the frontlines combating anti-semitism and providing a safe haven for Jewish students. Now, more than ever, Jewish students are identifying with the Torah’s view on shleimus ha’Aretz, which the Rebbe so strongly emphasized.

Indeed, the voice of the American-Jewish college student has undergone a sharp transition since the Simchas Torah events on October 7. Students are realizing there is no longer a neutral stance, a potential two-state solution, or an option to innocently stand by. If you are Jewish on campus, your views are demanded to be shared: do you support the “apartheid state,” or do you cleanse yourself of your ancestral blood guilt and stand for Palestine? The Jewish student’s voice now carries a far heavier weight than in the past.

Kasis L’Maor

In the run-up to the Six-Day War, the Rebbe launched Mivtza Tefillin as a spiritual weapon against Israel’s enemies, at a time when otherwise unaffiliated Jews began realizing the severity of the war. So too, and with even greater intensity now, Jewish students are laying tefillin with pride, with shluchim bringing tefillin to Palestinian counter-protests and striking fear into the hearts of our enemies. As the Rebbe said at a Yud-Tes Kislev farbrengen in 5739 (1978), “when the nations are considering attacking, we must go out with weapons, even on Shabbos — even if there are many doubts about the matter.”

At the University of California, Berkeley, Rabbi Gil and Bracha Leeds direct their Chabad center at one of the nation’s most virulent anti-Israel campuses. Palestinian rallies are frequent and often surpass 800 protesters; recently, the school’s monolithic clock tower was illegally desecrated with a 300-foot “Ceasefire Now” banner. One professor from the Gender and Women’s Studies Department even said at a city council meeting that “Many of those killed on Oct. 7, including children, were killed by the [Israel Defense Forces].” The professor was neither suspended nor reprimanded by the Berkeley administration.

Rabbi Leeds is undaunted. “We are channeling all this anti-semitism toward a proactive Jewish response,” said Leeds. “More students are putting on tefillin, more students are keeping Shabbos – they want to connect more than ever before.”

This change is not occurring in a vacuum, but comes amidst a 388 percent spike in anti-semitic incidents since the Simchas Torah events in comparison to last year.

“The focus at Chabad here is providing safety and security for Jewish students,” said Rabbi Leeds. “It’s not about politics, and it’s not about Zionism – it’s about right and wrong. And I think Jewish students are realizing more and more that the Rebbe’s approach to Eretz Yisrael is the only way forward.”

Rabbi Gil Leeds with students at the front gate of the Berkeley campus

Not only shluchim are noticing the shift taking place.

“If you are Jewish on campus, you are automatically seen as an authoritative voice right now if you know what you’re talking about,” said Aaron Sheyman (‘25), an active member of the UC Berkeley Chabad and Jews in Science and Engineering.

“At Berkeley, I’m seeing that people from all sides of the political spectrum are supporting or condemning Israel and the Jewish people. This is an issue that transcends political affiliations. It touches something much deeper. It’s between choosing good and evil now. And there is an incredible amount of unity among Jewish students on campus, including support coming from left-wing Jewish organizations for the first time,” said Sheyman.

Meanwhile, some professors at the campus are giving extra credit to those who attend pro-Palestinian demonstrations, and students have been tearing down pictures of Israeli hostages. Many Jewish students feel like their administration and peers have turned their backs on them. But campus shluchim are unfazed, and are only increasing their support for their students, b’ruchniyus and b’gashmiyus.

Perhaps, then, when the Rebbe Rayatz announced, “America iz nisht andersh,” it not only signified a challenge against assimilation, but it also struck a much deeper chord; that the Jewish soul can not be swayed, not by modern freedoms, not by intellectualism, and not by the voices of hatred that feed off of fear. The neshama only shines brighter in the face of darkness.

For Jewish college students today, holding on to this identity presents unique challenges. Students are more susceptible to letting anti-semitism define their Yiddishkeit, instead of their connection to Hashem.

However, “Jewish students are realizing that terrorists only want us to be more scared of expressing ourselves. And we are not backing down,” said Sheyman.

Across the country, campuses are witnessing attacks on Yiddishkeit with greater force than we have seen in decades. Jewish students are told to repress who they are, as punishment for their complicity in “neo-settler colonialism.” But the Jewish response, spurred and amplified by shluchim on campus, is a consistent and resounding “No” – no to weakening our connection with Hashem, no to backing down to terrorists, and no to compromising on the Land of Israel and the full extent of her borders.

Near Berkeley, at the University of California Davis, pro-Palestine students have been carrying mock caskets across the quad in honor of dead Gazans. Adjacent to the quad, chalk etches the sidewalk with inscriptions like “Glory to Our Martyrs” and pictures of rockets surrounded by pink hearts.

UC Davis’ shliach Rabbi Mendel Greenberg reports that “being a proud Jewish student at UC Davis requires a mesirus nefesh that is unprecedented here. And we are here to make that expression of Yiddishkeit accessible to every student who encounters the Rebbe’s mission,” said Rabbi Greenberg.

Indeed, at some of America’s most extreme pro-Palestinian campuses, the battle has nothing to do with politics – it is a spiritual war, and the only path that overcomes this darkness is through unapologetic shleimus ha’Aretz, shleimus ha’Am, and shleimus ha’Torah.

I saw this for myself firsthand at the University of Massachusetts Amherst when another bachur and I put tefillin on the lone Jewish person counter-protesting forty Palestinian marchers. Within two minutes of placing on the shel rosh, the entire Palestinian fleet scattered and fled in their cars. As they evacuated, we made sure to distribute Sheva Mitzvos cards, and we received the most enthusiastic responses, especially from the somewhat ironic “Buddhists for Palestine.” Instead of calling the Noahide cards “Seven Steps to Jewish Sovereignty,” we called them “Seven Pathways to Global Peace,” b’ofen hamiskabel. The protest dismantled miraculously before our eyes, just as the Rebbe described that “the only way to true peace is when the peace is according to Torah” (Chai Elul Farbrengen, 5738/1978).

A similar incident repeated itself at a protest outside CUNY’s 42nd Street office, where hundreds of aggressive, balaclava-clad Palestinians immediately walked away from us after seeing tefillin and a Moshiach flag hoisted high, soon to emblazon the first Chabad house in Gaza City.

Ahavas Yisrael is the Only Way

Just two and a half miles from 770, on the outskirts of Satmar Williamsburg, Pratt Institute is home to over 1,000 Jewish students. The college is considered one of New York’s most progressive, anti-Israel campuses, and unfortunately, some of the Jewish students have been led astray by social media and a lack of proper education.

But the campus’ shluchim, Rabbi Yossi and Chaya Eliav, are only pushing forward stronger and reaching out with more ahavas Yisrael to students standing with Palestine.

“At the Chanuka event we did Thursday night, I told a student we’ve gotten to know that I recognized her at a pro-Palestinian rally on campus. I emphasized to her that although I disagree with her on this issue, she is still invited to Shabbos dinners and all our other events,” said Rabbi Eliav. “She could not believe it – she was shocked that she is still welcome at Chabad.”

Oftentimes, extending a bit of unconditional kindness is all it takes to dispel darkness.

“The week after Simchas Torah, we wanted to make an event for Eretz Yisrael. Students were so scared to come, and it took two days of working and convincing them one by one to attend. Baruch Hashem, many students came out and they said they’ve never felt more proud to be Jewish,” said Eliav. “Definitely, we are seeing that more and more students are becoming receptive to the emes and the Rebbe’s shita regarding Eretz Yisrael.”

Rabbi Yossi Eliav lighting the menora with college students at pratt in New York

Meanwhile, at one of the nation’s largest Chabad-on-campus venues, the University of Wisconsin Madison, students saw the epitome of darkness a few weeks ago as neo-Nazis marched through the streets, waving flags with swastikas and screaming military-style chants.

Along with numerous Palestinian demonstrations with hundreds of protesters, Jewish students at the university could have plenty to fear. Nevertheless, “there has only been an increase in Jewish unity, and Chabad has been providing the space for students to just be themselves,” said Ayden Wells, Vice President of the school’s Jewish fraternity.

Many students simply need a place where they can freely express their voice, where they can grow in their Yiddishkeit, and where they can heal from both their administrative and social rejection. As the University of Wisconsin’s administration abandons the pleas of their 5000 Jewish students, equating Israel’s response to Hamas’ attacks, “Chabad has only seen more and more Jewish badgers in attendance at Friday night Shabbos,” said Wells.

Of course, not every campus is as welcoming of Islamist rhetoric as others. Just over an hour away, at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, Jewish students and faculty are uniting together with a refreshing energy, reports Gedaliah Lieberman (‘24), a proud Jewish student and Chassid studying Social Work.

“While one professor made a slideshow with Palestinian flags following the Simchas Torah attack, two professors actually reached out to me and asked how they might provide any support during this difficult time,” said Lieberman.

Not only professors are seeking to extend a helping hand toward Am Yisrael. “In fact, as I was walking near the basketball gym, the coach saw me and, recognizing that I’m Jewish, yelled a ‘Happy Chanuka’ across the quad. He admitted he was Jewish, and when I asked if he wanted to put on tefillin, he said he usually doesn’t, but now he would for the people in Israel. Not only that, but he gave me his team’s training schedule so I would know all the times he is available on campus to put on tefillin!” said Lieberman.

Gedaliah Lieberman, Student at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, puts tefillin on the school’s basketball coach

Everything from Above

We know that everything is b’hashgacha pratis, and that the dogma advanced in the universities, government, and media is not by happenstance. The Rebbe described at length how the role of persecution is only to lead to our greater spiritual expression. When the forces we thought we could rely on disown us, we recognize that we have no one to trust in but the Aibishter. As the Alter Rebbe declared, “I don’t want Your Gan Eden, I don’t want Your Olam Haba, I want nothing but You alone.”

It is precisely when our identities are threatened that the neshama’s yechida is triggered, and we understand that we do not want to and we are unable to separate ourselves from Hashem. When we are crushed from galus we can reach the Maor, and ultimately, the etzem ha’neshama can be drawn forth into our kochos ha’gluyim, as the Rebbe explains in Ve’ateh Tetzaveh 5752. We are witnessing the message of countless maamarei Chassidus, especially Ve’ateh Tetzaveh, manifest all around the world. It is only up to us to open our eyes and see the eternal transformation of our kochos ha’gluyim, together with the complete hisgalus of the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach

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