Amid crisis, students choose Chabad

(JNS) — Over the course of this past year, university campuses across the country were fraught with turmoil for Jewish students, and those who have a stake in supporting Jewish life on campus are asking themselves important questions. With the start of Chanukah, donors and philanthropists are tasked with where they should make their year-end contributions. Most choose organizations based on several factors, including a personal connection to the organization, alignment of values with its mission or even geographic proximity. However, after the terrorist attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, we need to look at which organizations have done the most for Jewish students on campus.

Recently, 116 Jewish student leaders were surveyed about which organizations have been the most helpful in combating hatred against Jews and Israel on college campuses. Spanning a range of political, religious and social views, these young leaders all shared a common sense of responsibility to help their Jewish classmates address rising antisemitism. The questionnaire was straightforward; it asked the students simply to list which organizations they considered “helpful” in confronting campus antisemitism.

The tallied results were posted on X, and by an overwhelming margin, the group students found most supportive in confronting antisemitism was Chabad. While this came as a surprise to some, these results reflected feedback heard from students and parents over the past year. They’ve shared how Chabad has become an even more critical support system for Jewish students, who are increasingly seeking spaces that offer not just safety and acceptance but empowerment and inspiration.

Why do I bring this up? People often associate Chabad mostly with spiritual or religious outreach—the image of a friendly Chabad rabbi offering passersby a chance to put on tefillin may come to mind. However, the work of Chabad on Campus goes beyond that spiritual framework. With more than 500 Chabad shluchim (“emissaries”) serving 800 colleges worldwide, we are motivated to create a “home away from home” for Jewish students in every sense of the term. Beyond Shabbat meals, Torah classes and social events, Chabad is where students often turn when life throws the unexpected their way.

Emissaries focus on creating a holistic experience that caters to the physical and spiritual needs of young adults. Whether it’s taking a late-night phone call from a worried parent checking on their child in the hospital, comforting a student who lost a friend to suicide, supporting someone afraid to tell their parents they fell victim to an overseas scam or hosting hangouts for students to decompress after stressful finals periods, Chabad is where people turn. We don’t have a defined list of services because we aren’t a service provider; we’re a second home.

This intensified after Oct. 7, when anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric on campuses exploded. Jewish students were targeted, harassed and threatened by hate-filled encampments. Overnight, calls from students and parents seeking guidance and support surged to unprecedented levels, and at many campuses, Chabad’s activities nearly doubled. Some Chabad centers had to erect tents or rent extra space just to accommodate the demand for connection, safety and community.

People often ask, “What motivates Chabad shluchim to do this work?”

The answer is simple: We believe in serving students holistically, attending not only to their religious, cultural or social needs, but their emotional and personal challenges as well.

This approach comes from the teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. One of the Rebbe’s key messages was that the best way to combat antisemitism was by increasing Jewish pride and engagement. When those who oppose us try to silence our Jewish identity, we respond by making it even more visible through public displays of Jewish pride. That’s why this year, Chabad will host more than 15,000 public menorah-lightings in 100 different countries, ensuring that Jewish visibility shines brighter than ever.

Jewish survival has never been about retreating; it has always been about showing up, shining our light, and living proudly as Jews. That’s why I want to pick up where the student who conducted the X survey left off. For donors who’ve never included Chabad as part of their previous charitable giving, I ask you to consider doing so this year.

For those who believe Chabad’s religious or social philosophy doesn’t align with theirs, I share a statistic from the Hertog Study of Chabad on Campus, an academic study conducted at Brandeis University in 2015. The researchers measured many things; however, they found something surprising about the religious affiliation of Chabad participants. While a small number of students became observant because of Chabad, the majority do not identify as Orthodox. Counterintuitively, the researchers found that most students became more actively engaged in Jewish life at the level that they were when they entered college.

This matched with what Chabad consistently sees. To paraphrase Rabbi Jonathan Sacks’s famous quote: “Most organizations create followers. Chabad empowers leaders.”

If you want to support organizations committed to the survival and empowerment of the Jewish people, especially in these challenging times, the younger generation has spoken. In a world that too often tells Jews to be silent, Chabad doesn’t just provide a safe space. It empowers, inspires and uplifts. That’s what being a “home away from home” truly means.