Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) By Rabbi Ilan Haber ’05R

Reprinted with permission of Yeshiva University, copyright 2008, originally appeared in Chavrusa, April 2008, Vol. 42 No. 3.

Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC)
By Rabbi Ilan Haber ’05R

The Heshe and Harriet Seif Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC), was conceived by Rabbi Menachem Schrader ’78R, who had experience teaching college and post-college-aged students at Yeshivat Hamivar. While a few key secular universities had well-developed traditional student communities, Rabbi Schrader perceived that they mostly had no professional religious mentorship. After investing millions of dollars in day school education, the organized Orthodox community provided no support for students once they entered the sphere of the secular college, an environment that often posed significant challenges to their religious upbringing. Rabbi Schrader spent almost ten years trying to convince key people and organizations of the necessity of the program. That is until the Orthodox Union, through Rabbi Schrader’s advocacy, and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, under Richard Joel’s stewardship, stepped in together to create JLIC in an attempt to fill this gap. The program has grown quickly over the eight years since its inception, and is now active on 15 major universities including University of Pennsylvania, University of Maryland, University of Illinois, UCLA, Brooklyn College, Cornell University, Yale University, Princeton University, Brandeis University, University of Massachusetts, Rutgers University, New York University, University of Florida, Johns Hopkins University, and Boston University.

JLIC educators strive to enhance the learning opportunities available to students, and also to bolster an infrastructure for Orthodox life to flourish. The educators offer weekly shiurim and classes, bring guest speakers and events to campus, and make key Orthodox necessities, such as kashrut, chagim and Shabbat, easier to observe and more meaningful. The Orthodox population at these campuses is equivalent to what one would find at both Yeshiva College and Stern College, and the program is responsible for almost 1,500 students learning Torah regularly on a weekly basis, with many more participating in ongoing events throughout the semester. However, instead of taking only a generalized approach, JLIC families strive also for a more individualized touch. Students grace their Shabbat tables as regular guests, interact with them in informal settings, such as the cafeteria, and learn with them b’chavruta. The regular ongoing availability of the families creates a comfort level that enables students to confide in them and seek advice for their more serious issues, whether of a halachic, personal, or intellectual nature.