Student Life: Jewish Life

The Jewish Life collection documents various aspects of Jewish student life at Oberlin. The majority of the materials are from various Jewish student groups and publications, Kosher Halal Cooperative (founded originally as Kosher Cooperative), the Judaic and Near Eastern Studies (JNES) Department, and Hebrew House. There are also smaller amounts of religious materials, materials concerning interfaith/intergroup work and the role of non-profit organizations, and discourse surrounding antisemitism and Zionism. The materials are organized into subgroups based on their provenance. Subgroup I (1964-2015) consists of materials accumulated and stored in a file cabinet belonging to the Jewish student group Oberlin Hillel and Cleveland Hillel staff. Subgroup II (2016-2023) consists of materials collected and curated by Elliot Diaz ‘23 in his capacity as a board member of Oberlin Hillel, member of Kosher Halal Co-op, and advocate for the preservation of Kosher Halal Co-op. Subgroup III (1987-2021) consists of the materials left behind by Kosher Halal Co-op in Talcott Hall. Subgroup IV consists of materials donated from alumni related to Jewish student life and Kosher Halal Co-op. Subgroup I is divided into alphabetical series by topic and into folders by type of material. There are instances in which a folder contains multiple types of materials due to the paucity of certain materials. The dates of materials range from 1964 to 2015, but the majority of the records are from 1974 up through the 1990s. These materials speak to the interconnected nature of Jewish life at Oberlin College through records primarily assembled (and often written) by the Advisor to Jewish Students. The majority of the records were compiled by two Advisors during their tenure: Neil Kauffman (1974-1977) and Rabbi Shimon Brand (1977-2015). The subgroup also contains some religious materials compiled by Rabbi Megan Doherty (2017-2022). Kauffman and Brand’s role as Advisors both shapes this subgroup’s provenance and documents the variety of groups and issues pertinent to their role. The materials that the Advisor and Oberlin Hillel collected are inclusive of smaller organizations that either fell under Hillel’s purview, Hillel members or staff helped to organize, and/or broke away from Oberlin Hillel. These groups include the Jewish Women’s Group, Hoshen (a Jewish men’s group), Kadima (a reform/progressive Jewish group), a Soviet Jewry group, the Oberlin Zionists, the Progressive Zionist caucus, Tiferet/Zehut, and Kosher Halal Co-op (formerly Kosher Co-op). Many of these organizations have their own series or are otherwise included under the series ‘Jewish Life.’ The series ‘Jewish Life’ consists of materials that relate to multiple organizations, speak to the experiences of multiple aspects of Jewish life on Oberlin’s campus, or materials related to Jewish life that necessitate an item-level description. Further descriptions of the contents of the series can be found in the Jewish Life case file. Overall, one of this subgroup’s strengths is its documentation that captures the complex nature of Jewish life on Oberlin’s campus. However, there are gaps within the collection due to missing pages, lack of dates, or unclear authorship. Subgroup II consists of materials collected and curated by Elliot Diaz ’23. This subgroup contains two series: Series 1. Oberlin Hillel and Series 2. Kosher Halal Co-Op. Materials in Series 1 include materials from Diaz’s time on the board of Oberlin Hillel and materials found on Oberlin Hillel’s social media accounts and Google Drive. The contents pertain to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oberlin Hillel leadership and events, the departure of the Director of Oberlin Jewish Life, Rabbi Megan Doherty (2022), and materials used during Oberlin Hillel religious events. Materials in Series 2 document Diaz’s time as a member of Kosher Halal Co-op (KHC), his time as an advocate for KHC and students with religious dietary restrictions, the khcoberlin@gmail.com