Jacksonville rabbi: Chabad of Southside a ‘home away from home’ for Jewish students at UNF

This week marks a highly anticipated moment in the lives of millions of high school seniors around the country — receiving their college acceptance letters. This comes after a long process of selecting and visiting schools, writing application essays and waiting anxiously for the verdict.

For Jewish families, in addition to academic and scholastic considerations, Jewish life and practice is a key component in choosing a college. One of the first priorities is to visit the campus Chabad Center. One of the world’s largest Jewish outreach organizations, Chabad has a presence on over 850 college campuses and serves over 150,000 students each year.

As the co-directors of Chabad at the University of North Florida since 2001, my wife Chana and I made it our mission to nurture and facilitate Jewish life for UNF students. From Shabbat dinners and holiday gatherings to educational classes and social events, we strive to create a welcoming space where every Jewish student feels they truly belong.

While Chabad is best known for full-course Friday night dinners, engaging Torah study classes and enriching social opportunities, what is less known are those unique scenarios that don’t fit neatly into a “list of services.”

When students feel alone or isolated, many feel like they can turn to Chabad in a tough situation.

Whether it’s taking the phone call of a worried parent in the middle of the night to check on his son in the hospital or a student caught between dueling parents who stayed at our building until tensions blew over, to another who sought guidance when she fell victim to an overseas scam and was afraid to tell her parents — we want students to know someone has their back on campus.

Adding to the standard anxieties of a college student away from home for the first time, in recent months Jewish students have also grappled with a disturbing new reality. Since Oct. 7, the amount of blatant anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric has increased dramatically on college campuses across America, to the point where many Jewish students are wary of applying to certain schools.

While UNF has been calm relative to other campuses, students and community members alike have turned to us for support at this fraught time.

One such student who recently recalled her experience in Jacksonville’s Jewish Life magazine was Abby Rabin, class of 2026. She wrote about a protest by UNF students that went by while she was in class, and it was a very difficult and disturbing experience for her. She couldn’t focus on the professor and felt helpless.

A few weeks ago during Shabbat services, another protest was underway adjacent to our building. One of our community members, feeling unsafe to walk home through the protests, stayed with us over Shabbat until she felt safe.

You may ask: What motivates us and the hundreds of other Chabad couples across the U.S. to do this work? We simply believe that our responsibility involves holistically catering to students’ every need — not just religious or cultural programming.

This ethos is gleaned from the teachings of the Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory. The Rebbe will be honored on April 19 when President Joe Biden, along with countless local and state governments, will proclaim the 46th annual Education and Sharing Day USA, to honor the Rebbe’s contribution to promoting education and tolerance in society.

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One of the Rebbe’s key teachings was that to fight antisemitism, we should double down on our Jewish engagement and pride. When those who oppose us want us to be less Jewish, we respond by increasing our “public displays of Judaism” and our acts of kindness, refusing to hide or cower.

That is why we held a public menorah lighting in December, attracting the largest crowd we’ve ever seen, as well as several prayer rallies in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Israel.

When Chabad at UNF was started, my wife and I were of similar age to the students. Back then, everyone knew they could turn to their “big brother Shmuli” or “big sister Chana” when something was wrong. However, as cohorts of students came and went (and around half a dozen university administrations), today’s incoming freshmen are of similar age to our own children.

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It’s a unique situation where we’ve evolved from the student’s “older siblings” to their “parental figures” on campus. It’s not an exaggeration to say that our concern for the students is reflective of that which we have for our own children.

In this way, we not only provide a safe space for students to find refuge in the tumultuous world around them, but also foster lasting meaningful relationships. It is on this springboard that our next generation of Jewish leaders can find their genuine identity (in a world that often tells them to be silent) and work together to make our campuses — and the world — a place of acceptance, pride and sanctuary.

Rabbi Shmuli Novack is the director of Jacksonville’s Chabad of UNF. For more information, visit ChabadUNF.com.

This guest column is the opinion of the author and does not necessarily represent the views of the Times-Union. We welcome a diversity of opinions.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: UNF Chabad campus provides college 'family' for Jewish students