Academic Repentance

During the month of Elul, Jews begin the process of atoning for our sins by reflecting on our misdeeds and asking for forgiveness. It’s a meaningful tradition. So meaningful I think we should share it with others who also need it. Like, for example, universities.

I’m not suggesting that universities need to repent more than others. I’m just saying that universities are supposed to set an example of ethical conduct — of noble aspirations — so why not start with an ancient tradition that will at least make administration executives begin to, well, think again?

I’m also not putting all universities in the same camp. Some need repentance more than others. With that caveat, here are 10 suggestions for where many universities could begin their spiritual journey of repentance:

Please forgive us for the sin of choosing professors based on their political ideology, not merit.

Please forgive us for the sin of allowing professors to hide 3,800 years of Jewish history from their students, and then indoctrinate them with illogical, ahistorical lies that promote violence. 

Please forgive us for the sin of allowing syllabuses full of books that are brimming with politicized fallacies and historical distortions.

Please forgive us for the sin of allowing the toxic ideology of “critical theory” to destroy the main function of a university: critical thinking and the search for truth.

Please forgive us for the sin of promoting the resegregation of race; the privileging of one religion over all others; and the bigotry of low expectations for all students.

Please forgive us for the sin of allowing virulent antisemitic groups like Students for Justice in Palestine to dictate policy.

Please forgive us for the sin of allowing viciously antisemitic speakers to lecture about Israel, promoting violence with their malicious lies.

Please forgive us for the sin of canceling speakers who don’t adhere to our prevailing political ideology.

Please forgive us for the sin of allowing keffiyeh-garbed rioters — both students and professors — to fly terrorist flags; burn American and Israeli flags; block Jewish students from entering buildings; assault, harass, and spit on Jewish students; and normalize hatred and violence against Jews, both in the classroom and out. 

Sure, it’s a lot of work. But this is what actual spiritual growth looks like. Don’t you want your university’s soul to be fully cleansed of ethical transgressions?

Sure, it’s a lot of work. But this is what actual spiritual growth looks like. Don’t you want your university’s soul to be fully cleansed of ethical transgressions? 

Imagine the privilege you will feel of rebuilding your university based upon the original precepts of academic freedom and civil discourse, the unhindered pursuit of knowledge — through truth, reason, history, and ethics. 

Perhaps most of all, imagine what all of this will do for the future of not just our children and this country, but of humanity. To borrow the words of one of our greatest thinkers, Albert Einstein (who you now call an “oppressor” or “settler-colonist”): “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.” 

Or perhaps more apropos: “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”

T’shuvah, the concept of repentance and new beginnings, really means “return.” When we repent for our sins, we return to the state of mind and moral behavior God requires of us — and loves us enough to know that we can muster. The only chance our university system has for redemption is a full return to the ethical principles that make education possible, and that includes, above all, an honest search for truth.

Karen Lehrman Bloch is editor in chief of White Rose Magazine.