Rav Shalom-
I read with interest your exchange with Yitzchok Levine and have a few comments.
First, you are absolutely correct that when possible, data should be used to guide our thinking and decision making.
Having said that, I think that your very important study that was published in 1997 may be in need of an “update.â€
As insightful as the findings were, they are 20 years old and essentially a reflection of a different generation of student. Since the time you gathered your data much has changed. The types of institutions that offer Gap year programs has expanded and changed, the options for Jewish life on campus post Gap year have changed, the students themselves have changed, technology has changed, parental influence and contact during the Gap year has changed, the visitations from parents and visitations to parents and family during the year has changed. The list can go on and on, but I think it is fair to say that anyone who has been involved in educating Gap students over the last decade or so (certainly the last 2 decades) can say that what was true “then†may not be true today. The profile of your students “then†may not be the profile we see now and the conclusions regarding the impact of these programs may certainly not be as they were then.
As to your observations of the USA campus, I think it needs to be pointed out that here too, data is important. And while the conventional wisdom is that campuses are hotbeds of anti-Jewish activity, as evidenced by the video you sent that speaks of a few such incidents, the reality is that incidents of anti-Semitism are “...relatively rare, and the vast majority of Jewish students report feeling safe on their campuses†(http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/israel-international/israel--middle-east/campus-anti-israel-activity-report-2015-11-04.pdf).
ijm
irwin j (yitzchak) mansdorf phd
director, israel-arab studies program
jerusalem center for public affairs
jerusalem, israel
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/2015 08:39AM by mlb.
