It was a remarkable year at the Hartman Institute.
It was a remarkable year at the Hartman Institute.
It was a remarkable year at the Hartman Institute.
It was a remarkable year at the Hartman Institute.
Campus Programs
Developing a new, values-based framework for understanding and appreciating Israel among the next generation of North American Jews
The Institute’s Campus Programs give campus leaders the competence and confidence to lead a values-based conversation regarding students’ relationship to Israel. Campus professionals and students study the Institute’s iEngage curriculum both on campus and in Israel. iEngage aims to create a new narrative on Israel’s significance for Jewish life, elevating the discourse from crisis-based to one rooted in Jewish values and ideas. Through our work, we are creating a network of campus leaders who feel empowered and motivated to lead a new kind of Israel conversation.
This year we...
Impact on College Campuses
Spotlight on Bay Area Campuses
Nowhere is the growth of Hartman’s campus initiatives more evident than in the Bay Area, where multiple campuses work with the Institute to elevate the Israel discourse.
At University of California Berkeley, two alumni of the Hartman Fellowship for Hillel Professionals work side-by-side with students to create opportunities for students to study and examine Israel through a values-based lens using SHI’s content and frameworks. Director Adam Naftalin-Kelman (Cohort I) and Associate Director Lauren Schuchart (Cohort V) created a fellowship for students interested in developing language, skills, and leadership on topics related to Israel. As part of the fellowship, students participate in the iEngage Student Seminar, where 130 students from across North America study at the Institute’s Jerusalem campus to engage in pluralistic, rigorous text study. Over the past three years, more than 30 students from Cal Berkeley have attended the seminar. Additionally, Berkeley Hillel has invited Hartman faculty to teach students in the Fellowship and other student leaders on the challenging topics around Israel.
At Stanford University, the Hillel staff, including Assistant Director Jeremy Ragent (Cohort V), partnered with the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Bay Area office to build a Fellowship to address the growing challenge of Jewish peoplehood on campus, where Israel, anti-Zionism, and Antisemitism conversations were present at various points of the year. This partnership led to the Stanford Peoplehood Project, which examines challenges confronting Jewish peoplehood today, such as the growing divide between North American and Israeli Jewry. The Fellowship combined facilitation from Hillel professionals and teaching from Hartman faculty to create a one-of-a-kind Fellowship in North America, matching the needs of the Stanford Jewish community and the cutting-edge content of the Hartman Institute.
“Visiting scholars from Hartman elevated our community’s level of discourse on some of the most complex issues facing American Jews today—all without getting wrapped up in partisan politics. Thanks to Hartman, I feel far more prepared to contribute to productive campus-wide dialogue about antisemitism, Zionism, and contemporary Jewish identity.” -Courtney Cooperman, Stanford Peoplehood Project Fellowship participant
“The Hartman scholars who visited Stanford offered important insights about the complexity of Jewish identities and did a wonderful job of creating in-depth, thoughtful conversations.” - Sarah Myers, Stanford Peoplehood Project Fellowship participant
Campus Initiatives are supported by David Agger, Amy & Matt Berler, Jacob & Hilda Blaustein Foundation, the Edward Fein Foundation, Jim Joseph Foundation, The Morningstar Foundation, Lisa & John Pritzker Family Fund, Alan B. Slifka Foundation, UJA-Federation of New York, and other generous donors.
