The Justice

How about building a Hillel building and giving the Muslim community a chapel? We may be fragmented, but at least we have a building of some sort. Why in the world doesn't the Muslim community?

As a member of the Class of 2000, I always found it nice to have Jews at Brandeis walking in all directions on Shabbat and during holidays. Unity among Jews can be created in many different ways and no special building is necessary. I think that we need to preserve the history we have at Brandeis and use the buildings that we have. Jews need to come together to support Israel, go to pro-Israel rallies, and support Jewish causes.

I heartily agree with the writer. Jews are a highly fragmented group and need more cohesion. The dispersion he refers to is much like the Diaspora. Witness the State of Israel which brought a multitude of Jews to her shores, proving that Jews can build a nation in spite of their disparate views and backgrounds. Fast forward to Brandeis. A central Jewish location on campus, much like Israel, can bring the community together, providing tolerance and understanding, two badly needed commodoties.

The writer's intentions are good, but his proposition would prove inconsequential. Putting a whole group of people in the same building will not magically solve all of your problems. The Jewish community at Brandeis is fragmented because each denominational group (BOO, BUCO, BaRuCH) has its own social activities. What needs to be done is more joint programming amongst the various demoninations, so that we (that's right, I'm including myself in this statement) can get to know each other on a more personal level. Two people merely walking in the same direction means nada.

Thank you for your sharing of your insight into this matter. The truth is I wholeheartedly agree with you. Historically speaking, the Jewish community has never been so sectarian as it is now. With the creation of the Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reconstructionist Movements (essentially in that order), the Jewish community as a whole unified structure has begun to break down. Nor has this exclusively been a passive issue. Of late, Jewish sectarianism has reared its ugly head as an active inhibitor to cohesion. For example, when last year Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, head of Yeshiva University, the bastion of Modern Orthodoxy, articulated to the media that he was preparing to mourn the demise of Conservative and Reform Judaism, the Jewish community was in an uproar. Responses and responses to responses and responses to responses to responses and so on were flung back and forth. The Jewish community as a whole needs to work together in order for it to be able sustain itself. It can allow such divisiveness to continue. Especially considering the significant contributions that the Jewish community has made to Brandeis as well as the astoundingly high Jewish percentage at the university, this is especially important for Brandeis to handle.

I would like to take this opportunity to respond to some of the other comments that have been made to this article. First of all, we must not negate the importance of having a centralized building to promoting collaboration amongst the Jewish community. It is the key first step to building a stronger community. How can we expect the Jewish community to work together and program together in separate buildings? Though of course it would not be an immediate solution to our problems, it would certainly bring us a significant step forward. It is not the final step, but it should as soon as possible be the first one. In the meantime of course, the Jewish community should start doing what it can to work together, albeit limited in that it is not centralized.

There is, of course merit to Jews walking in all directions and spreading themselves throughout the campus, but a line should be drawn. Keep in mind that it is not Jews walking in all directions but Conservatives in one, Orthodox in another, etc. That is exactly the point Mr. Cooper attempted to highlight in his article. Rather than a metaphorical Diaspora spread around the campus, I would much prefer Rosanne's model of a strong base for the Jewish community that could make its presence present throughout the campus.

That having been said, one point with I feel has not been fully touched upon yet is that the Jewish community should not allow itself to be confined to any single building once it has one. Rather, it should have a base from which it can branch out.

Finally, I believe that if the money existed. Jews, Muslims, Christians, Rastafarians, Atheists, Polythesits, Bahai, Scientologists, conspiracy theorists, and whatever other religious groups exist on campus should have their own buildings. I believe that Republicans, Independents, Democrats, Anarchists, and Communists should have their own buildings. I believe that baseball, croquet, Frisbee, and jousting athletes should have their own buildings. I believe that every community should have a base to strengthen itself. As long as that base is meant to strengthen any community as opposed to confine it, I believe it is very important.

That leaves one question, why does Mr. Cooper advocate for a Jewish community as opposed to any of the communities above. That is not a fair challenge to Mr. Cooper. He is first of all an editorial columnist who is allowed to let his own views of what he believes should happen come to the forefront of his writings. Second of all, considering the particular harshness of Jewish sectionalism relative to the huge presence of a Jewish community is it so unfair to make such a proposal?