HONESDALE, Pa. — In an ode to pop culture, one of the world’s largest annual gatherings of Jewish student activists began with a video spoof of MTV’s “The Real World.”
Last week’s gathering, organized by Hillel and held at Camp Moshava in Pennsylvania, also featured Jewish hip-hop artist Remedy, who sported a Jewish version of the genre’s bling-bling — a monstrous Magen David — and belted an angry anthem about the Holocaust.
And students wore Hillel stickers alluding to college cult favorites like Homer Simpson and John Goodman, who played an over-the-top Jewish convert in the movie “The Big Lebowski.”
Indeed, the extent to which Hillel used pop-culture cool to court students at Hillel’s Charles Schusterman International Leader’s Assembly hints at the key challenge for Jewish activists on college campuses: attracting students.
Heated pro-Palestinian activism on campus has prompted an outpouring of pro-Israel advocacy, but the foremost concern for Jewish organizations on campus remains the basic battle against Jewish apathy and ignorance.
“It’s very easy to make Israel the total issue, and we have got to prevent that from happening,” said Avraham Infeld, Hillel’s interim director.
Apathy, or the possibility to just “drop out of being Jewish” in college, is still the No.1 challenge for Hillel, he said.
The “first step is to coalesce and get a group of people together,” agreed Shoshana Rudnick, 19, who discussed the draw of a possible Hillel sports team with a fellow Ithaca College sophomore, Laura Bauman.
But Israel remains an intense focus.
Many Jewish students are struggling to craft a message on Israel that appeals to the liberal mentality prevalent on campuses — and among many Hillel students.
“The Palestinian Authority is far from perfect,” said Will Dempster, a sophomore at George Washington University, but Israel “leaves them no choice.” He said he was referring to the desperation of the Palestinian population, which he believes fuels support for Hamas.
“It’s so hard being a moderate because no one ever agrees with you,” said Dempster, an intern with Hillel’s Grinspoon Israel advocacy program.
Dempster hopes to create programs for Jewish students “who don’t feel there’s a place for them currently” in groups they consider too pro-Israel, as well as a Jewish-Muslim dialogue group on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.