As a prospective student, I was told Brandeis would be a place to explore my Jewish identity. Quickly, I learned I was a lesser member of the community than the legitimate Jewish students — the ones who grew up going to Jewish day schools and went to Israel during their gap years. I was an aberration, a Jew who felt no connection to Israel and wasn’t particularly interested in making one.

I came into Brandeis not understanding why Israel is so important to so many Jews. I am so grateful to the leadership of J Street U at Brandeis for providing a safe space for me to listen and learn about that aspect of Jewish culture. Yet it still held no interest for me. My parents, grandparents and great-grandparents never set foot in Israel. Why would I go? Why should I have a “birthright” to do so?

In the midst of all this internal conflict, I met with Rabbi Seth Winberg for guidance. Rabbi Winberg is the executive director of Hillel at Brandeis, the director of the Center for Spiritual Life and the Senior Jewish Chaplain. During our first meeting in November 2023, Rabbi Winberg told me his job was to make sure Jewish life at Brandeis is a big enough tent that everyone can feel welcome. As you read this, can you honestly tell yourself that said tent is extended equally in each direction? When the Hillel Shabbat dinners take place in the Sherman Function Hall with catered food, but the Brandeis Jewish Bund must gather in the atrium of the Shapiro Campus Center with a potluck? When Israeli flags have been on display multiple times in the Kosher section of Sherman Dining Hall, making it clear that on this campus, to be Jewish comes with the attached, inseparable identity of being Israeli? When Professor Jonathan Sarna ’75 (NEJS) is chosen as our graduation speaker, so that a day meant to celebrate the achievements of my classmates is instead turned into a chance to virtue signal to Zionist donors upset by the lack of police violence at the latest protests? 

If you’re not familiar with Professor Sarna’s work, I encourage you to read his piece “The Surge” in The Jerusalem Report, published on Aug. 12, 2024. It’s a shockingly racist and Islamophobic rant which, among other things, accuses international students of being paid agents of their governments sent to sow antisemitism on campuses. It claims, without any sources, that “the overwhelming majority of young American Jews, 65-80%, feel deeply connected to Israel,” and concludes that “one may be critical of Israel as a young person, but the older you get, the smarter and better Israel gets,” effectively dismissing young Jews’ concerns with Israel as a passing phase. Is this the face of Brandeis? If so, it is one I am ashamed to be affiliated with.

Is it any wonder that my experience at Brandeis turned out how it did, when the system is designed this way? Hillel is considered to be the place for Jewish student life on campus. And yet, its first allegiance is not to Brandeis students but to its parent organization and to Israel. This is a fundamental conflict of interest. 

Brandeis prides itself on its social justice reputation. Its fatal blind spot is Israel. Without allowing legitimate criticism of Israel, Brandeis has no business pretending to be on a moral high ground. Allowing the Israeli government broad freedom from scrutiny for actions that, if committed by any other country, surely would have been condemned, exposes a lack of true conviction behind the University’s motto, “truth unto its innermost parts.”

Without acknowledging the large percentage of Jews who do not feel an affiliation with Israel, or are actively anti-Zionist, Brandeis can never truly be a safe space for Jewish students. Brandeis’ administration is perpetuating the myth that all Jewish students feel the same way and, in doing so, commits violence against us. They are trying to homogenize us and put their words in our mouths to manufacture consent for the Israeli government’s actions. They tell us that it can only be this way — that for Jews to be safe, Palestinians must suffer. This is the same rhetoric used to justify the persecution of immigrants everywhere and the deaths of millions during the war on terror post 9/11.

I do not want my safety to come at the expense of others’ suffering, and I reject any claim that to criticize Israel is to hate Jews. I believe that to criticize something is to love it, because you believe it can be better and you want to fight for it. I criticize the U.S. government every day, but I don’t want to live anywhere else. 

Israel is not, and should never be, synonymous with Judaism. Otherwise, any criticism of its actions can be dismissed as antisemitic, instead of reasonable critiques of an imperfect human organization. Governments are just the people running them, and those people are as liable as anyone else to make mistakes or act maliciously. No government should go unscrutinized. It is our imperative to hold our leaders to the highest standards. Why should Israel be any different? 

Brandeis’ role must be as a space for Jewish students to form their own opinions and develop their identities, not an authority on how to fit into one definition of Judaism. The University cannot hold both Israel and its students in equal measure and the administration has made its top priority very clear. 

Despite feeling unwelcome, I decided not to transfer out of Brandeis. If I did, I would be admitting that there is no place for non-Zionist Jewish students. I love my Jewish family, Jewish traditions, foods and values. I love being Jewish. I can’t wait to continue learning more about this part of me outside of the Brandeis administration’s narrow view of what Judaism can be.