OPINION: Jewish life on campus can be difficult but there’s so much to look forward to
Embrace what being a Jewish student can mean: building a community and creating enduring bonds, says Edinburgh JSoc's Louis Danker
It’s that time of year again. Freshers’ weeks are under way across the UK and attention turns to campuses. For Jewish students, the combination of new-year anticipation and post-holiday blues may be tinged with anxiety. Will the turbulence of post-7 October campus life continue?
No one can fault incoming freshers for their unease. They will have seen Community Security Trust (CST) figures showing rising campus antisemitism, and heard stories of intimidating academics and violent slogans. Truth be told, the diagnosis is a cultural antisemitism problem on campus, and the prescription is massive work towards wholesale change in our universities. Wonderful organisations like the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and University Jewish Chaplaincy continue to lead this fight admirably.
Given all this, splashed across the front pages, I worry we might lose sight of the joys of Jewish life on campus. What if our freshers only hear of the challenges we face and not the opportunities that await them? I reject the idea that Jewish life on campus should be defined by those who sow hate. It’s time we celebrate our campus Jewish communities, so new students can see all they have to look forward to.
In the very first week, a stall of Jewish Society (JSoc) committee members will welcome the new crop. They’ll get signed up to memberships, added to WhatsApp groups, pencilled in for the first Friday Night Dinner of the year. There, they’ll meet fellow Jewish students from across the country and the world, of different backgrounds and denominations and outlooks, a cross-section of our diverse community. I built lasting friendships over that first meal. That’s just week one.
The first term will bring countless opportunities. Those lucky enough to be a part of my beloved Edinburgh JSoc can join the football or netball team; the JSocks knitting group with our incredible Jewish chaplains; the en-masse Rosh Hashanah dinner or Yom Kippur fast-breaking.
They’ll meet their JSoc family, with second-year ‘parents’ and fourth-year ‘grandparents’ laying on potluck dinners, movie nights and pub socials. On every campus, from Mitzvah Day volunteering to Chanukah candle-lighting, JSocs will create spaces for students to not only feel safe as Jews, but to be proud of their Jewish identities.
That’s not to say JSocs are purely social affairs. They are support systems and campaigners, resilient amidst the noise. They work with UJS, chaplains and local communities to provide for the wellbeing of every Jewish student. They represent the joys and the fears of Jewish campus life to their university administration. They fight for more action to tackle antisemitism; for better policies on free speech; for spaces of dialogue, not hatred. This work is critical, it is transformative, and it is done by us students. New to campus? Join your JSoc committee, and get stuck in.
None of this would be possible without UJS, for whom Jewish student life is a labour of love. The brilliant new team have picked up where the last left off, spearheading nationwide campaigns tackling antisemitism and delivering a programme of great events. They also support Jewish students at universities without a JSoc, as well as those on apprenticeships and vocational training programmes. No matter the path you’ve chosen, there are plenty of ways to meaningfully engage in Jewish life.
My Jewish campus life is incredibly special to me, and with one more year at Edinburgh, I plan to squeeze every last drop. To parents about to send their children off, you should encourage them to do the same. Embrace what being a Jewish student can mean: building a community, celebrating Jewish identity, creating enduring bonds. Nerves make sense, and it’s not always easy – but I return to Edinburgh hopeful, and excited to see the home away from home that our new committee create. No one can take away the agency of Jewish students to define our Jewish campus lives.
And, to those who’ve just bagged their A Levels, preparing for university with that classic mix of excitement and trepidation, I’d say this: don’t feel you need to shy away from your Jewish identity on campus. Show up. Throw yourself in. Be proud to be Jewish. The antidote to hate is the embrace of community. Know that there are JSoc committees across the country, awaiting you with open arms, packed schedules and Shabbat dinners that taste like home.
- Louis Danker, final year student and former president of Edinburgh JSoc
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