The Center for Jewish Life moved closer to defining its policy on Israel-related issues at a student board meeting forum on Sunday night in an effort to clarify the relationship between the campus’ Jewish religious organization and the political objectives central to its mission, members of the CJL explained.
The forum, attended by roughly 25 students, was held in preparation for a Board of Directors meeting immediately afterward at which further feedback was gathered. Billed as an “open forum” for members of the campus community, the meeting was closed to The Daily Princetonian and a ‘Prince’ reporter was asked to leave.
“The meeting was open to anyone affiliated with the CJL who wanted to express their opinions in a confidential forum that would be most conducive to open dialogues,” Rabbi Julie Roth, executive director of the CJL, said in an e-mail. “No one who wanted to participate in the conversation was turned away. Once the policy is voted on and passed, it will be available to the public.”
Though the CJL is a center for religious worship for many students on campus, representatives of the center said they didn’t envision a conflict between the CJL’s religious role and any political causes it might espouse.
“The line between religious and political is not a line that applies to our religious identity,” Roth said in an interview, adding that Israel is one of the CJL’s “six pillars” and that it is the role of the Center to help students express “all assets of Jewish identity.”
Rafi Abrahams ’13, vice president of the CJL’s student board, echoed Roth’s sentiment, noting that “religion and politics and culture are not mutually exclusive.”
The forum meeting was intended to gauge feedback on a draft policy created by a working group of students, staff and board members. The CJL Board of Directors will decide whether or not to approve the policy in May.
The drafted policy was crafted to address ambiguities and possible concerns relating to future events, according to an e-mail announcing the forum from Sarah Lux ’12, president of the student board.
“It is meant be to a guideline expressing where the CJL stands on Israel-related issues and how it will handle issues and events that arise on campus, including requests for co-sponsorship,” Lux said in the e-mail.
The details of the Israel policy, however, could divide the campus’ Jewish community due to the community’s diverse opinions on the subject, Roth and Abrahams said.
Abrahams said the CJL recognized this concern, but noted that “the entire idea ... is to limit alienation as much as possible.”
The policy will not become a wedge in the campus Jewish community, Roth explained, saying that members of the CJL have an “umbrella of views.”
The CJL is “committed to fostering debate and conversation on campus about Israel,” she noted, adding that the group must preserve the “marketplace of ideas.”
The policy discussion may have been triggered by the hummus debate that unfolded earlier this year, when the Princeton Committee on Palestine promoted a referendum that would require campus retailers to offer an alternative to Sabra hummus, out of concerns related to the company’s support of the Israeli armed forces.
In an interview on Sunday, however, Roth said the hummus debate played no part in the development of the proposed policy.
“The decision for the CJL to adopt an Israel policy preceded the hummus debate on campus,” Roth said, noting that the CJL chose to reconsider its lack of a policy last spring. “It was something that was clear we needed to do as a part of our strategic plan.”
Although Tigers for Israel opposed the USG resolution, the CJL did not adopt an official position. It did, however, warn students in an e-mail of the statement it believed that the resolution would make.
Roth explained in a November interview with the ‘Prince’ that she signed the e-mail “as the director of an organization that has as part of its mission to be a pro-Israel voice on campus and as part of my role as adviser to the presidents of our organization.”
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