Hillel connects Jewish community through Initiative for Innovative Community Building

Each student has their own unique experience with Judaism through their individual upbringing, which can make Tufts Hillel feel intimidating to some. With this in mind, theInitiative for Innovative Community Buildingworks to focus on meeting students where they are.

"I think people ... come from very different Jewish backgrounds, and Hillel is not always comfortable for people to find their Jewish community,” senior Community Building Fellow Dani Musoff said. 

The Initiative for Innovative Community Building serves to expand the Jewish community on campus beyond the walls of Hillel. Focused on student voices, the initiative works to create space for those who want to be involved.

Rabbi Jordan Braunig, director of the initiative, acknowledged that while he sees the Hillel center as a wonderful space, he understands that some individuals may not see it in the same light.

"I'm always thinking about what can be happening in this building to make it feel more radically inclusive and welcoming to every person who steps into it," Braunig said.

At the same time, he expressed excitement about using the spaces that already exist on campus for the community to continue to grow. The Initiative for Innovative Community Building existed before Braunig came to Tufts, but it has expanded greatly since he assumed the role of director. 

"It used to be in its prior iteration about eight to 10 students doing a lot of … far reaching networking and engaging people in Jewish life around campus, and since I’ve been here now we have like 24 fellows," Braunig said.

The program provides monetary support for fellows in the form of a "coffee budget," aiming to bring as many people into the community as possible.

“If what’s getting in your way of having the conversation is a $3 latte at the Rez, I can cover that,” Braunig said.

Fellows facilitate conversations about students’ experience with Judaism, or just about their life.

"Fellows this year essentially just take people of their choosing that are Jewish on campus out to coffee and ... maybe putting a Jewish lens on any other things going on in their lives, not just traditionally Jewish discussions," senior Community Building Fellow Rebecca Gertler said.

Braunig mentioned that he hopes students go beyond the surface level interactions that happen every day. Braunig also said that he welcomed questions about the group's identity and who exactly they were within Hillel.

"I feel like when the program is working its best, sort of full throttle, students are opening up space for different types of conversations than the norms," Braunig said.

The idea of making space and listening is central to the program. Musoff, a senior, said that there's no agenda associated with these conversations. The goal of the conversations is to get to know someone else on campus. Fellows serve the role of reaching out and facilitating this exchange, and the program evolves based on those who are participating.

“[We] listen to what their needs are and just what they’re interested in and build [the program] around them," Musoff said. “There’s no ask at all, it’s really just creating a space for them."

Innovative programming can come out of the conversations between students and fellows. Rabbi Naftali Brawer, Neubauer executive director and university Jewish chaplain, said he believes a Jewish ritual is able to be expanded and made applicable to more people, even those who are not Jewish. He emphasized that the initiative is not about formal committees deciding what works best from the outside, but about having students shape the programming from the inside.

“From these conversations with students, fellows are able to create programs that really answer the needs of the students,” Brawer said.

One example Braunig pointed to is the topic of climate change. Multiple fellows have heard students bring this up in their conversations. From this, Braunig wants to think about what Hillel, as a Jewish life center on campus, can be doing to address some of these concerns. 

Yet a conversation does not have to be about the policies at play.

"[It can be] having a conversation that’s not always about the issue, but also about the values that are at play behind the issue and our human experience,” Braunig said. 

The program depends on its fellows to make it possible. Gertler and Musoff are responsible for logistical coordination and support of the program fellows, along with reaching out to students on their own. Braunig assists fellows in learning how to make space in conversations. 

“In my training, one thing I feel like I want students to see is that you can create meaningful relationships without being the primary person in every conversation … It’s not about the questions we ask, but it’s all about the spaces we give and about that act of contraction and stepping back,” Braunig said.

Braunig also provides practical knowledge on how to actually ask someone out to coffee in a way that feels inviting.

Along with aiming to create a community on campus, program fellows also said that they gain valuable skills. Gertler highlighted communication skills as one of the benefits of being a fellow. She said that part of this is learning how to truly listen.

“We do a lot of training about how to reflectively listen and be a support system for someone, which is really helpful in life,” Gertler said.

Musoff echoed this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of making space for others. Through the program, she said that fellows are able to create a community for the students involved and also for themselves. The program gives her the excuse to reach out and ask people to coffee, in the interest of getting to know them better.

"I would reach out to people I normally wouldn’t have reached out to, but also it ... led to conversations with some of my best friends who I see every day, who I thought I knew a lot about, and I did, but it made our relationships even deeper," Musoff said.