A proposal urging Jewish seminaries and yeshivot to introduce specialized courses on ministry to college students was adopted today at a national commission meeting of the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundations.
Dean William Haber, of the University of Michigan, a former chairman of the Hillel Commission, recommended the action “for the education of rabbinical students generally and to encourage more of them to enter the campus ministry.” A companion proposal by Dr. Haber, that Hillel offer rabbinical schools training opportunities by providing internships at its campus foundations, was also approved.
Both actions were a response, in part, by the Hillel Commission to its growing problem of recruiting rabbis qualified for chaplaincy work on campus against the pressures of constantly expanding Jewish student enrollments. Dr. Haber, reporting as chairman of a subcommittee which probed the question, warned that “the years young Jews spend on campus are too precious from the viewpoint of Jewish identification, and perhaps even Jewish cultural survival, to be treated lightly.”
A Hillel-conducted census disclosed that 44 schools have requested but lack Hillel programs in institutions attended by over 500 Jewish undergraduates.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
