Open Hillel: The Blog

Open Hillel’s asks for the Jewish Federations of North America

November 8, 2015

To the Board of the Jewish Federations of North America:  

We, Open Hillel and our community allies, take a stand here today outside the General Assembly in accordance with the Jewish value of makhloket l’shem shamayim (disagreement for the sake of heaven).  For three years, Open Hillel – a grassroots movement of Jewish students and recent graduates – and our community allies have worked to promote open discussion and debate on Israel in Jewish communities on campus and beyond. We are now asking for “Open Federations”.

We are deeply invested in North American Jewish communities; and we are concerned and saddened to see how Jewish institutional red lines on Israel have served to exclude and alienate so many members of our community. At a time when increasing numbers of Jews are no longer affiliating with Jewish organizations, Jewish institutions must take active steps to welcome all members of our community and promote honest and open conversations about the issues that most divide us.

Time and again, when students or community members have tried to foster open debate in pluralistic Jewish institutions, institutional leaders have told us that they would love to create genuinely inclusive communities, but they do not want to risk losing funds from Jewish Federations.

Therefore, in an appeal to the needs of your constituents and the Jewish traditions and values of open and vigorous dialogue, discussion, and debate, we ask that by December 8th you, the Jewish Federations of North America:

State clearly and publicly that both the umbrella organization and all local federations will not condition support for Jewish institutions and organizations on these institutions’ adherence to red lines around Israel, such as Hillel International’s Standards of Partnership.

If you have any questions or concerns, or would like to meet with us, please contact Caroline Morganti, Open Hillel Internal Coordinator, at morganti@mit.edu. We look forward to working with you and hope to see a policy change by December 8th.

Thank you,

Open Hillel