Liberal students’ needs are not met, says rabbi

PROGRESSIVE STUDENTS are missing out on Jewish opportunities on campus, according to Liberal Judaism chaplain Rabbi Leah Jordan.

“A campus could have an amazing chaplain who is cross-communal, but it is nearly always a man and Orthodox,” she said.

“A lot of students grow up in other movements and would like a more Progressive chaplain on campus.”

According to a 2013 Jewish Policy Research survey, more than 50 per cent of Jews identify as nonOrthodox, yet on campus the majority of religious and pastoral support for Jewish students comes from Univ e r s i t y Jewish Chaplaincyunder the auspices of the United Synagogue, or from Chabad.

Rabbi Jordan said: “There is a huge gap. In the United States where they have Hillel there would often be three or four staff members across the religious spectrum, and they don’t have that here.

“It alienates students and means life is less vibrant. The feeling I get from non-Orthodox Jews on campus is that their needs are not met.”

To try to bridge the gap, Rabbi Jordan travels to universities throughout the year and sends out Shabbat kits, which include vouchers for dinner and egalitarian minyan books, as well as kits for festivals.

She reaches out to around 300 students across 30 universities. In London, where she is based, she runs a fortnightly egalitarian minyan at the Liberal Judaism office in the Montague Centre. Rabbi Jordan is the only Progressive chaplain in the UK. Liberal Judaism hopes to employ a s e c o n d c h a p l a i n from the Liberal or Reform movement.