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Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ...

Rebecca Shapiro Thesis (11 May 2011).pdf - Brandeis Institutional ...

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Chabad on Campus Initiatives, Aish Campus, the Israel on Campus Coalition, Birthright,the David Project, JStreet U and many more. Despite these diverse access points, Hillelargues, in its Slingshot 20<strong>11</strong> entry, that only 35% of Jewish students are involved withorganized Jewish life on campus. 204 The Jewish community as a whole struggles withhow to engage the Jewish youth of the current generation. This is a notable concern withJewish males. A recent study by Palmer and Fishman revealed that "Nationally, girls andwomen outnumber men in weekly non-Orthodox worship services, in adult educationclasses, in volunteer leadership positions, and in Jewish cultural events." 205 A furtherdeveloped Jewish Greek system would serve as an additional access point for Jewishexploration, especially for males. Yet few Jewish professionals have focused on theuntapped potential of the Jewish fraternity and sorority system.As the “past” section of this thesis demonstrated, the Jewish fraternities andsororities served as the earliest means of Jewish engagement on college campuses, predatingthe Menorah Societies and Hillel. They served as Jewish clubs offering Kosherdining, Jewish housing, Jewish activities, matchmaking and a Jewish family for thoseaway from home. They ceased to exist as exclusively Jewish under intense pressure fromthe Jewish community, and from campus administrations. ADL and AJC urged JewishGreek organizations to remove their discriminatory clauses, opening Jewish fraternitiesand sororities to all, regardless of religious affiliation. Since the 1980's, virtually theentire Greek system veered from its more traditional structure, and newer organizationsin the third wave of Greek life development have embraced diversity and ethnic culture.204 204 Slingshot: A Resource Guide for Jewish Innovation (2010-20<strong>11</strong>).205 Sylvia Barack Fishman and Daniel Parmer, Gender Imbalance in American Jewish Life, report(Waltham, MA: Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies <strong>Brandeis</strong> University,2008).69

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