Chabad on Campus Shluchim, Shluchos and their families are front and center, in what philanthropist George Rohr aptly identified as “the leading battleground for the future of Jewish continuity.”
The art of engaging Jewish students with pride and dedication to their Jewish heritage is constantly evolving with ever-increasing difficulty. And yet, Chabad centers on campus are successfully reaching tens of thousands of students, from all religious backgrounds—rekindling the flame of Yiddishkeit and empowering them with the pride and confidence to live Jewishly, whatever circumstance they find themselves in. Emulating the Rebbe’s unconditional Ahavas Yisroel for every single Jew, each Chabad on Campus center is regarded as a true “home away from home” for Jewish students across the globe; providing opportunities for students to learn, grow and connect in an environment exuding warmth and love.
A 2016 snapshot of Chabad on Campus includes:
Over 150,000 Jewish students actively involved in Chabad worldwide
15,000 students weekly at Chabad’s legendary Shabbos meals
30,000 students studying Torah at Chabad
5,000 students attending Mayanot Taglit-Birthright Israel trips
In 1969, the first Chabad on Campus center opened at UCLA, and in the 34 years that followed, approximately one new Chabad Jewish Student center opened annually on campuses across the United States. Since 2003, the number of centers has grown from 32 to 264! Chabad Houses on campus are now open throughout North America, South America, Europe, Israel, South Africa, the Former Soviet Union, and Australia.
The remarkable growth of Chabad Houses on campus is due in large part to the establishment and growth of Chabad on Campus International (COCI), established in 2003 to serve as the central hub of the international network of Chabad-Lubavitch student centers. A division of Merkos L’Inyanei Chinuch and under the chairmanship of Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky, COCI continues to thrive with the generosity and vision of Mr. George Rohr and commitment of the Chabad on Campus Vaad and International Advisory Board.
Founding and running a Chabad center on campus comes with its unique set of challenges as young Shluchim work to build something enduring in a community with consistent turnover. Shluchim are responsible for their own finances and activities, including programming, administration, and fundraising. With these stressors, comes another set of emotional and psychological challenges and COCI has prioritized assistance to alleviate these personal and unique distractions that detract from the quality and spirit of Shlichus.
While each Chabad House on Campus is completely responsible for its day to day finances and activities, the COCI team of more than 20 provides campus Shluchim with a central body which helps them with turnkey programming that would be challenging for a single Chabad house to coordinate. COCI’s day-to-day agenda is focused on anticipating and responding to the needs of Shluchim on campus and by extension, students around the world. Naturally, COCI is evolving, as the amount of Chabad Houses on Campus continues to grow.
The model of COCI primarily serves to strengthen and support the Chabad centers on campus, ensuring the highest level of success for the individual centers. Most importantly, COCI has successfully facilitated a network within which campus Shluchim feel like family; a space for open communication, chizuk and a united sense of purpose.
Some of the resources currently offered by COCI for Shluchim include: The Chabad on Campus Kinus, or conference, for campus Shluchim, Shluchos and their children to share best practices and experiences with one another and learn new techniques, the Ashreinu Society for Shluchos, fundraising and organizational training, resources and a mentor program, where veteran Shluchim advise and guide their fellow Shluchim on a wide variety of issues. In the realm of personal aid, COCI offers emergency funding, counseling services and life insurance.
In addition, COCI coordinates a large number of student oriented programs, including: COCI’s annual student Shabbaton, which recently hosted over 1,200 students from around the world in New York. IsraeLinks, a three-week in-depth educational experience in Israel. LivingLinks, an educational trip to Poland. Sinai Scholars Society, in partnership with The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute, a cutting edge curriculum that integrates the study of classic Jewish texts, social programming, and national networking opportunities. Partnership with Jewish Greek Life providers on campus, including AEPi on a number of initiatives, including projects on Chanukah and Sukkos, as well as a bar-mitzvah program. For students who are interested in continuing their Judaic studies, COCI offers Lamdeni, a Jewish learning program placement program, which helps students find a Yeshiva or learning program that is right for them. Students are given guidance and grants for attending a wide variety of educational institutions to choose from.
As COCI concludes its Bar Mitzvah year, Executive Vice President Rabbi Yossy Gordon is very optimistic about the future. “COCI’s growth is simply an extension of the success of the Shluchim on campus, and visa versa. This burst of activity on campuses across the world is due in large part to this network of support COCI has created. Chabad has established itself as the gold standard for Jewish life on campus with students seeking out their Chabad on campus and not just Shluchim searching for students. We expect this trend to increase greatly with alumni and friends of alumni sending their kids to Chabad,” said Gordon.
Rabbi Avi Weinstein, COCI Director of Administration explained, “The role of Chabad on Campus International during this time of rapid growth is to leverage our network to engage more students on a deeper level. We plan on achieving this with next generation teaching initiatives as well as models for helping Shluchim scale their growth.”
For only 24 hours, from Tuesday, December 6th at 1:00 PM EST to Wednesday at 1:00 PM EST, 35 campus Chabad Houses and COCI are holding a Charidy Matching campaign. Please partner in their critically important work.
To partner with COCI, go to chabad.edu/charidy.
To partner with campus Chabad Houses, please go to charidy.com/itstimeformore.
Moshe Raichik recently moved out to Brooklyn College
By the Grace of G-d, I returned to Judaism, Torah and Commandments, through Chabad. A college student, or anybody else, should know that there is true Jewish life and secular life. I have lived in both worlds— first, I grew up in the secular world, then at the age of 23 I FULLY returned to the Torah and its Commandments through Chabad, and for the last 38 years I have lived a fantastic true Jewish life- Chabad. There is no comparison at all. Chabad has stimulation, joy and liveliness and moral values. The secular world is a free-for-all, anything goes,… Read more »
I’m a student at Brooklyn College where there are LOTS of Jews. Yet Chabad is MIA. We need you!