Right before the Daily sits down for an interview with the University's Jewish Chaplain Rabbi Jeffrey Summit, he sees a group of students he recognizes sitting on the couches in the Granoff Family Hillel Center. His face lighting up, Summit walks over to the students and asks them what they're working on. He tells them he's excited to hear what they're doing, and offers them his assistance should they ever need it.
Perhaps best recognized at Tufts for the tremendous part he's played in the growth of the University's Hillel chapter, Summit -- despite the accolades and awards he's earned during his Tufts tenure -- remains down to earth and accessible: he even seems, somehow, to remember all of the students' names.
But then again, students are a big part of the reason Summit has spent a successful 25 years at Tufts -- and a big part of why he came to the Hill in the first place.
"When I decided to be a rabbi, I was very excited about working on a college campus," he says. "I've always been academically-oriented, and college is a wonderful time when young adults are still making important decisions and thinking about serious issues in their lives."
The opportunity to incorporate his spiritual guidance with his academic interests was an important factor, too. "I've had the chance to work with great people at Tufts, be a spiritual leader, and concurrently pursue my interests in music, identity, culture and religion," Summit says.
When Summit came to Tufts in 1980, the University's Jewish community was relatively unorganized, and Summit started the Hillel chapter with meager resources. "One of the students moved a refrigerator out of a closet in Curtis Hall so that we could have an office," he explains, laughing. "What started off that way, over the years, has really developed into a vibrant community on campus."
When Summit formed Tufts Hillel, the University's population was about one-third Jewish. Until the 1950s, "the University had strict quotas [for admitting Jewish students]," he says. "In the '60s and '70s, the potential for an organization like Hillel was really able to develop." According to Tufts Hillel's Web site, the current Jewish undergraduate population is about 25 percent.
Since its beginning, Tufts Hillel has moved from a closet to a second-floor office in Curtis Hall -- and eventually into the Granoff Family Hillel Center in 1994. Summit's devotion to the community and its potential for accomplishment has earned the organization five awards from Hillel International. Summit himself received the Exemplar of Excellence Award from Hillel International in 2003.
Summit has witnessed many changes in the Jewish community at Tufts over the past quarter-century. "I've seen a tremendous growth of dialogue between the Jewish community and different ethnic communities," he says.
"It was meaningful to be awarded for our work with black, Arab, and Christian communities, for example," he adds. "We've had different initiatives with other groups on campus throughout the years."
Why so much work outside of the core community of Hillel? "If you can't talk to other people in a college atmosphere, when are you ever going to?" Summit asks. "College provides an opportunity to broaden and deepen relationships with different people."
Summit has also seen growth of a different nature. "At the same time, I've seen from a Jewish perspective that students try to understand the depth of the Jewish tradition to answer questions about their lives today," he observes, offering an example of one such question: "How do people create lives with meaningful relationships to the community and family that are loving and supportive?"
Summit counts building relationships with Tufts community members as an important part of his experience here. "When I think of my accomplishments at Tufts, I think about how fortunate I've been to develop deep relationships with faculty, staff and students," he says. "Everything we do is based on the quality of the relationships we build -- I've had a wonderful experience of forging strong connections with people at Tufts."
The growth of Hillel has been one physically tangible result of that relationship-building. An unavoidable presence on campus today, Hillel provides more than just social and religious activities: "My hope is that it gives the Jewish community at Tufts a focal point," Summit says. "It also provides a place to come in contact with other ethnic, religious, and cultural groups on campus."
Summit is thrilled that at Tufts, the Jewish community has come to extend beyond those students of the Jewish faith or ethnicity. "I'm always happy to see Shabbat on a Friday night: it's a Jewish celebration, but people bring their friends and roommates who aren't Jewish, too," he says. "Hillel provides a chance to reach out and include a broader range of members of the Tufts community. It's all about breaking down barriers."
Currently, Summit is focusing on crossing the barriers of different faiths. "I'm very dedicated and committed to the Jewish-Muslim-Christian dialogue," he says. "When the world is more fractionalized, it's even more important to bring people together over religious and ethnic lines."
Like many other leaders and innovators, Rabbi Summit never seems to feel as though a task is complete. "I want to continue doing the work I've been doing, but in a broader and deeper way," he says. "I would like to see more students involved in groups and activities, and I would like to broaden dialogue with the rest of campus as a whole on religious and cultural identity."
In keeping with Summit's open-mindedness, one theme for his work comes from the Dalai Lama. "I really believe in what the Dalai Lama said: 'If it doesn't bring more love into the world, it isn't religion,'" he says. "Real religion helps people be better contributing citizens," which is a foundation of the Jewish faith, he adds.
After 25 years as a driving force at Tufts, Summit does not sound as if he is likely to leave anytime soon. "I really love Tufts, and I can't imagine working at a better place," he says. "I've been so fortunate to come find a job where I've been able to work with such extraordinary people and do work I'm proud of."
"Tufts people are very smart and very nice, and this is a wonderful atmosphere to explore important issues," he adds
