Universities of Moral Bankruptcy Must Prompt an American Jewish Realignment

Following the 9/11 attacks on America, President Bush stood before a joint session of Congress on September 20, 2001 and explained a simple truth to the world, “Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.”

Shabbat HaShachor, or the Black Shabbat, as Israelis refer to the barbaric Hamas terrorist attacks on October 7, feels like a similar cataclysmic attack that calls for the same type of moment of moral clarity.  The United States government has stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel.  Even European nations such as France and Germany, which do not carry stellar records of strength in standing against evil, have exercised the correct judgment and stood with Israel.   

One would think that the moral depravity of Hamas would have been sufficient to galvanize the world against it.

Israel must eradicate Hamas and other Palestinian factions that supported such an explosion of evil: The murder of babies, the rape and murder of teens, the capture and kidnapping of innocent Israelis including Holocaust survivors.  One would think that the moral depravity of Hamas would have been sufficient to galvanize the world against it. Yet, institutions and individuals around the world and within our own country have rushed to stand with Hamas.

Most of our universities have failed the Jewish community in the wake of October 7. American university presidents, who represent the most educated elite in our nation, produced some of the most profoundly incoherent and plainly stupid public statements.  In almost all of their highly wordsmithed statements, an acknowledgement of Hamas’s attack quickly turns into a concern for lives on both sides.  Whether it be Columbia University or Dartmouth or others, we have to identify the difficulty in reading these statements as supportive of Israel and Jews, because they’re not.

Make no mistake. The world has changed since October 7. We can never go back and unsee the images of blood strewn across baby carriages, cars burned out and the images of the 165 innocent captives who require immediate medical attention and rescue.  We can also never go back and unsee the pro-Hamas rallies staged at Columbia University and UCLA.  We can never ignore the statements crafted by students at Harvard and the actions of professors at Stanford.  These campuses have been defiled – forever.  Those campuses, along with others such as Northwestern, have betrayed the Jewish people in a way that now feels irreconcilable.

Pressure arrives in the form of philanthropy and enrollment. All of these universities boast buildings that carry Jewish donor names. They accept Jewish philanthropy and then spit in our faces.

University of Pennsylvania used to stand as a bastion of Jewish life.  Then, it welcomed a Palestine Writes Literature Festival that unsurprisingly included antisemitic attacks on the Jewish community on campus, the drama of board resignations and donor criticism led by Marc Rowan, the chief executive of Apollo Global Management and chairman of the board of the Wharton School.  Finally, eight days after the Hamas attacks of October 7, President Liz Magill issued a clear statement of condemnation of Hamas. One might ask, what prompted such a university leader to suddenly find a suitable grasp of the English language to construct such a clear message?  The answer is simple: Pressure.  Pressure arrives in the form of philanthropy and enrollment.

All of these universities boast buildings that carry Jewish donor names. They accept Jewish philanthropy and then spit in our faces.  Simply put, they have chosen the wrong side.  They have proven themselves to be morally bankrupt.  They are undeserving of our dollars, and even worse, these campuses are corrosive to our children.

Never in my life would I have imagined that a professional goal of mine would be to redirect Jewish funding away from UCLA and toward University of Florida.  As it happens, Florida and its President, Ben Sasse, have modeled moral clarity and allyship with the Jewish people.  We must realign our philanthropy and pivot the application processes of our children.  We can turn Gainesville into a beacon of Jewish life.  

We must realign our behavior, our philanthropy and our encouragement for our kids toward campuses that are safe for Jews – physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

University of Arizona’s President Robert Robbins nailed his response to terrorism.  Colorado University at Boulder released a good statement. It took USC’s President Carol Folt two tries to get it right.  It took her two days to craft an acceptable statement of condemnation for Hamas after her initial highly disappointing tweet.

These radical rallies for Hamas and protests to stand with the Palestinians are not only grassroot student gatherings. They are fostered by institutional leaders who see value in this abhorrent expression. The ambivalence of their statements reflect the true nature of their morality.  We must respond by ceasing our affiliation and halting our support for these institutions.

Moral ambiguity is not unique to collegiate leadership.  Across Los Angeles, the heads of prestigious private secular schools have participated in this mockery of empathy for Jews as well. The Buckley School issued a statement that absolutely portrays moral equivalence between Hamas as the perpetrators and Israel as the victim.  Four Buckley heads of school signed on to take credit.  Jewish families at Buckley should have enough self-respect to refuse to accept the gesture of its leadership.  

The only manner in which to respond to this nuanced stupidity is with absolute blunt moral decisions.  We teach our children values by sending them to schools that inculcate them to apologize and to distance themselves from Israel.  These schools have become the wrong choice for any hope of strong Jewish character.

 Over the past decade, we have fought antisemitism on campuses around the country.  The rallies at Columbia and UCLA should reveal to us that our efforts have failed. The dam has been broken and the outpouring of support for the murderers of Jewish babies has been revealed.

If we think that the only front of this war is the border between Israel and Gaza, then we maintain an extraordinarily myopic view of this conflict.  This war is a cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil.  It plays out in Israel, in the media, and within the halls of educational institutions around the world. 

October 7 presented the world with a choice. At the end of the war, we must remember who stood with us. We must remember who stood with Hamas. Those are the only two choices.  Now, we can reflect on how we must live differently, learn differently, show our support differently.  We should listen when leaders reveal the moral bankruptcy of their institutions.  We must accept the choices being made and realign ourselves with institutions that promote a healthier environment for Jewish students.  We must realign for Israel’s sake and for our own.

Rabbi Nolan Lebovitz serves as the senior rabbi at Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, CA, and sits on the Executive Board of the Zionist Rabbinic Coalition. A Fulbright Scholar, Lebovitz spent time last year studying at Bar Ilan University in Israel. He wrote and directed two documentaries: “Roadmap Genesis” in 2015, and “Roadmap Jerusalem” in 2018.

CLARIFYING STATEMENT

I am pleased to learn that The Buckley School released two additional, subsequent statements with greater moral clarity after the first statement, which is the one I read and referenced in my article. Jewish students need to feel safe, secure, and supported at school. While I am a strong proponent of Jewish day school education — especially now — if those in the Jewish community enroll our children in secular schools, then I believe that they deserve assurance that the leadership remains steadfast in its support for Israel and its condemnation against terrorism. With their subsequent statements regarding the horrors of October 7, the leaders of Buckley have shown the proper sensitivity.