By David Levy

There is only one thing that more than 85 percent of all Jews do — go to college. That means that we, as an organized Jewish community, have a unique opportunity to impact a new generation of Jews at the exact time that they are developing their adult identities. That’s what we’re all about at Hillel.

And given that each new generation is different and unique, every year we’re faced with new challenges based on our students’ personal and cultural timelines. The current generation, for example, is completely wired—with cell phones, instant messaging, iPods and e-mail. Multi-tasking is a way of life. They can be listening to their iPod, surfing the internet, and text-messaging friends, while concurrently studying and doing research. And while they’re expert at juggling many things at one time, it follows that they also have complex identities. For many, being Jewish is only one part of their identity. They may or may not have a connection to Israel. More Jewish students identify themselves as “just Jewish” than any other denomination. All studies have shown that this generation is searching for spirituality and meaning, but not necessarily from traditional institutions.

At Hillel, this means that we’ve had to create an approach that’s progressive and diverse, while still maintaining respect for tradition. That’s a great place to be, because it means we’re part of a grass-roots renaissance movement in Jewish life. And that’s indeed what’s happening on our campuses.

Los Angeles Hillel Council serves 20 campuses through seven Hillel Foundations, reaching more than 25,000 Jewish college students. That’s an amazing outreach challenge, and we’re proud to say that we’re succeeding in creating exciting, meaningful, relevant programming in a Jewish context.

The key components of our work at Hillel are: community, pluralism, learning, tzedek (social justice), tikkun olam (repairing the world), and fun. On any given Friday evening we have up to 12 different Shabbat experiences — from Hip Hop Shabbat to a traditional service with a Mehitzah, from liberal services led by students to a discussion group where students can talk about issues of concern. There will be dinners in residence halls and fraternity and sorority houses. Students will eat challah made by other students, with proceeds of the challah sales going to fight the genocide in Darfur. By the end of the evening we will have served almost 1,000 chicken dinners and given more than 1,000 students the opportunity to engage with their heritage, each other, and our future.

Our work also extends beyond campuses. In the past few months, Hillel groups from each of our schools traveled to the Gulf Coast to help rebuild the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina. They partnered with the NAACP on campus as part of their efforts to dialogue with the African American students. One campus sponsored an interfaith trip, working with Christian groups on campus, and included a special Passover Seder as part of their trip.

Israel is also at the heart of what we do. Each year our campuses send groups on birthright israel trips—which students consistently report is a life-changing, amazing experience, and awakens them to a new sense of pride and heritage. We also have pro-Israel groups on our campuses conducting education and advocacy work, which is really a keystone to building a strong American Jewish community.

At Hillel we’re continually rethinking ourselves and reinventing our strategies to make Judaism real for each new generation.We know that by creating vibrant Jewish life we are building a model for future leadership. There really is no better investment in our Jewish future than working with our college students today.

This article originally appeared in the May 2006 issue of Mosaic.