November 14, 2003

Stay West Young Man (and Woman):
Success of Orthodox Union Advanced Jewish Studies Program At UCLA Promises to Make Westwood Campus Increasingly Attractive Alternative to Ivy League for Elite Graduates Of Los Angeles Yeshiva High Schools

The success of an Orthodox Union program to bring intensive Jewish study to UCLA is promising to make that highly sought-after campus a formidable rival to the Ivy League and other prestigious eastern universities for the best and brightest Orthodox high school graduates in the Los Angeles area.

The program is the Jewish (Campus) Learning Initiative (JLI), which places a young rabbi and his wife on campus to conduct learning programs and to serve as role models to students who otherwise would feel alienated and even shocked in an atmosphere far different from what they experienced in their yeshiva educations.

Leading Orthodox rabbis in Los Angeles are firmly behind the program and met recently to plan how to spread the word in their communities to encourage more academically talented yeshiva high school students to consider UCLA – provided they do not want to attend any of the colleges under Orthodox Jewish auspices.

There is one problem, however – it helps to be very bright. UCLA, according to its admissions website, “is among the most sought-after (popular/selective) universities in the nation,” and receives about 45,000 freshman applications; only some 24 percent of applicants are admitted. The average GPA of admitted freshmen is 4.24 (out of 5.0), with 1332 (out of 1600) on the SAT I, 667 (out of 800) on the SAT II, and other eye-popping statistics. At present, only about 30 to 40 Orthodox students are admitted to each freshman class, with many of the academic elite choosing to go elsewhere.

That is where JLI at UCLA comes in.

JLI is currently found on seven campuses, all but UCLA on the East Coast. The Ivy League schools are Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, and since the start of the current academic year, Princeton; it is also at Brandeis, and at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York.

UCLA’s JLI couple is Rabbi Uri and Julie Goldstein, who were recruited by Rabbi Menachem Schrader, the Israel-based founder and coordinator of JLI, to leave New York for UCLA, where they are now in their third year of service. Following two years of study in Israel, Rabbi Goldstein received his BA in political science from Yeshiva University and is currently completing his studies at YU’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. Before coming to Los Angeles, he served as rabbinic intern for the Orthodox community at Princeton.

Julie Goldstein received her BA summa cum laude in Jewish history at Stern College of Yeshiva University and her MA in Jewish philosophy at YU. She taught Jewish history at a yeshiva high school in Teaneck, NJ before moving to Los Angeles.

The Goldsteins have a one-year-old child, Shimshon.

When they came to UCLA for the 2001-2002 academic year, the Goldsteins found a campus offering virtually nothing to Orthodox students; now, there is plenty. “Slowly but surely, they have achieved great things,” declares Rabbi Asher Brander, of the Westwood Kehilla, close to the UCLA campus.

“We see our primary goal as creating a Torah atmosphere in which students can continue their Jewish education on a level that is as sophisticated as their secular studies,” Rabbi Goldstein says.

Located in the Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA, JLI is in essence a two-person department of advanced Jewish studies. Rabbi and Mrs. Goldstein this term offer classes in ancient Jewish history; the Prophets; (introductory and advanced) Talmud; Midrash, Zohar (Jewish mysticism); Psalms, major trends in Jewish thought; the Five Megillot (Esther, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations and Ecclesiastes); the weekly Torah portion, or parsha (taught alternatively by Uri and Julie with an occasional guest lecturer); practical halacha (Jewish law); and women in Judaism and men in Judaism. These classes are in addition to the one-on-one tutorials known as chavruta, in which Uri and Julie study with men and women respectively, on topics of the students’ choosing.

“What they want, we give them,” Julie says. She is now preparing a lecture series on the tri-millennium of Jerusalem.

JLI’s “Parsha and Pizza,” featuring a weekly guest speaker, takes place Thursday evenings. There are social events interspersed with the classes, holiday celebrations, and events such as a Shabbaton (a weekend devoted to enjoyment of the Sabbath) at Malibu.

Not only Orthodox students, but other Jewish students on campus who want to deepen their background in Jewish learning and observance attend JLI events as well.

“Rabbi Uri and Julie Goldstein created a Jewish Orthodox community on the UCLA campus from scratch,” declared Rabbi Schrader, the founder of JLI. “When they arrived two and a half years ago, many of the Orthodox students didn't even know each other. Orthodox Jewish prayer on campus was unheard of. Today there is a minyan for Shacharit (the morning service) every day; full prayers and meals on Shabbat, with zmirot (Sabbath songs); shiurim (classes); and a beit midrash (house of study). The Goldsteins and the OU have a great deal to be proud of.”

Indeed, one of the greatest accomplishments of JLI and the Goldsteins has been the establishment of the weekday morning minyan, the quorum of 10 men required for organized Jewish prayer. The minyan is “a remarkable achievement because it arose ex nihilo, from nothing,” declares Rabbi Brander of the Westwood Kehilla. “There was no structure for Orthodox students before the Goldsteins came. JLI brings observance to a new level and to a new consistency – the minyan and the classes take place every day.”

This is not without a cost. The Goldsteins literally work day and night, preparing their classes and teaching. Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest, is a period of intense activity, with Rabbi Goldstein leading synagogue services, reading the Torah, delivering a drasha (sermon), all preparatory to the many Shabbat afternoon classes they offer. Julie jokes that the Shabbaton at Malibu was the only opportunity the Goldsteins have had to visit the beach since coming to Los Angeles. They are training a leadership group to take some of the burdens off their shoulders, but the job is still a tough one.

Students have noticed the results and are deeply appreciative of the Goldsteins’ efforts. Liora Shofet, a senior and the daughter of a prominent rabbi, David Shofet of Congregation Nessah Israel in Beverly Hills, recalls that when she was a freshman, “there wasn’t much of anything for Orthodox students at UCLA.” Like other Orthodox students at UCLA Liora lives at home, rather than in UCLA housing; as a result, she didn’t expect to spend much time outside of classes and the library on campus.

Now, JLI is her extra-curricular activity. She spends some five hours a week there in addition to preparation time for her classes and chavruta sessions with Julie Goldstein. She sees the program as a refuge for her and other Orthodox students from a lifestyle they do not share.

Culture shock is a problem on UCLA’s secular campus “to varying degrees depending on the experiences you’ve had with this kind of mentality,” Liora affirms. “Some of the Orthodox, in the past, have their faith and observance challenged because of campus life, but many have now become stronger through the focus on learning of JLI.” Declaring that she and other Orthodox students “must safeguard ourselves,” Ms. Shofet says that “having an active Orthodox Jewish presence here is quite helpful to me. Just because you attend a big, secular school like UCLA doesn’t mean you have to give up your values.”

It is because of this impact that the recent meeting was held of Los Angeles’ Orthodox rabbis with the Goldsteins and OU representatives, including Rabbi Schrader. Uniformly the rabbis agreed that the first choice of graduates of the Los Angeles area’s various yeshiva high schools should be an institution under Orthodox auspices. But for those who want to stay home or who want to attend a secular school, UCLA should top the list, the rabbis say.

Nevertheless, the program is still not well known in the Orthodox community, the rabbis acknowledge, and that is where they come in. To a man, they agreed to spread the word about JLI within their congregations, to invite the Goldsteins to visit, and to create an atmosphere in which UCLA would be given full consideration by the elite of the yeshiva high school graduating classes.

Only a program with the credentials of JLI and leaders with the skills of the Goldsteins could elicit such a rabbinical response.

Having JLI at UCLA is “long overdue. UCLA is not a foreign environment any longer for Orthodox students,” declares Rabbi Daniel Korobkin of Kehillat Yavneh in Hancock Park. Agreeing with Rabbi Korobkin, Rabbi Aron Tendler of Shaarey Zedek Congregation in Valley Village refers to JLI as “a kosher environment, Boruch Hashem (May God Be Blessed), on the UCLA campus.”

According to Rabbi Stephen Weil of the Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills, “We are trying to make UCLA a viable option to the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia, Brandeis, NYU, and the University of Michigan.” Rabbi Weil has brought the Goldsteins to Beth Jacob to meet the congregation and to discuss their work. “Bringing Uri and Julie into our community lets us know that there is a dynamic Orthodox program at UCLA which includes educational, social and religious components,” Rabbi Weil says. He anticipates that the appearance of the Goldsteins will increase the number of applicants from his congregation to UCLA.

“Is the function of JLI to make UCLA a viable alternative to families planning on sending their children to an Ivy League school? The answer is yes,” declares Rabbi Korobkin of Kehillat Yavneh. “Before a family sends a child to Columbia or Penn, it should give UCLA a look.”

There are advantages to remaining at home, declares Westwood’s Rabbi Brander. “For students who don’t want to go an Orthodox university, it is better for them to stay local than to go to Brandeis or Penn because students benefit from the atmosphere at home, from their local religious environment. The Ivy League is still the Ivy League, but there are very excellent kids who will now choose UCLA,” he predicts. Rabbi Brander estimates that as many as 10-15 more Orthodox students a year will be accepted by UCLA if they apply.

Keeping these students home can only strengthen the Los Angeles Orthodox community, the rabbis agree. “If students have a good Orthodox option, if they don’t have to leave Los Angeles, our community can only benefit,” declares Rabbi Elazar Muskin, of the Young Israel of Century City.

Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky of Congregation B’nai David-Judea in Pico-Robertson, goes even further declaring, “The long-term vitality of the community depends on UCLA as a resource. We must put JLI at UCLA on the radar of the Los Angeles Orthodox Jewish community.”

In a reversal of the current migration of students to the East, why not attract students from the East to UCLA, declares Beverly Hills’ Rabbi Weil. “There is a dynamic Orthodox community in Los Angeles and a very significant job market in Los Angeles available to students after graduation. We are looking to attract students from East Coast yeshiva high schools. We feel we have an amazing community and education to offer these young men and women.”

Rabbi Weil has achievers like Miriam Segura of Pico-Robertson in mind. A junior biology major, Miriam is an A+ student. She presented a perfect 800 verbal SAT score when she applied to UCLA. Miriam was accepted by several colleges around the country but the announcement of the JLI program, which arrived at UCLA the same time she did, had a strong impact on her decision to stay in Los Angeles.

“JLI is a great program and the Goldsteins are great teachers,” Miriam declares. “There’s been a radical change at UCLA. We’re building a community here. As the word gets around about JLI, students who are deeply involved in Jewish life will want to be part of the community. It would be fantastic for them to apply to UCLA.”

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