Rabbi at Five Brooklyn Campuses Receives Doctorate

by Yaakov Ort – chabad.org

Although verdant campuses may be the norm at most universities, many top leaders in business, academics, the professions and the arts have earned their diplomas in the brick-and-mortar office buildings that house hundreds of inner-city undergraduate and graduate schools nationwide.

One young rabbi who serves no fewer than five of those schools in Downtown Brooklyn, Rabbi Eliyahu Raskin, was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters degree last week from St. Francis College. It was an honor, said the college, that “serves as a testament to his remarkable achievements and the transformative power of his work.”

Only seven years ago, just a few days after their wedding, Raskin and his wife, Shaindy, began to serve students at Brooklyn Law School as part of Chabad of Brooklyn Heights. Today, they serve hundreds of Jewish students, faculty and staff at St. Francis College, Brooklyn Law School, NYU Tandon, City Tech and Long Island University. They host an array of programs, including weekly Torah-study classes, Shabbat meals and one-on-one study partnerships. In addition, they supervise mezuzah installations, purchase tefillin for students, oversee job-placement and internship programs, as well as host Shabbat meals, holiday events and networking breakfasts as part of Chabad’s Young Jewish Professionals network.

Even though the rabbi only began a formal relationship with St. Francis College a year ago, he was appointed to the president’s advisory board after a few months and was awarded the honorary doctorate at the school’s graduation ceremony.

“It’s an amazing journey where we see the hand of the Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, of righteous memory] at every step of the process,” Raskin tells Chabad.org. “We see the Rebbe’s impact on students every day, where we don’t judge anyone but encourage everyone to do the next mitzvah.” The rabbi tells of one student who was engaged to a non-Jewish girl who broke up with him because “she didn’t like his new lifestyle” when he started putting on tefillin daily with the rabbi.

One of Raskin’s students spoke of how the honorary doctorate is a fitting tribute to a rabbi who has had an important impact on his life. “Our school had no Jewish affiliation, despite the number of students here,” says Hillel Josh Kampin, who studies at the 13,000-student City Tech, the technology college of the City University of New York. “In comes Chabad, and it was just amazing—Friday-night meals, one-on-one talks with the rabbi. The rabbi is always there for you, no matter what. As someone who hadn’t been so connected to Judaism, Chabad brought me closer to my roots, only because Rabbi Raskin and his wife really showed up.”

Raskin says he will reach out to any Jewish person on campus. “For the most part, we work with Jewish students. They don’t have that many Jewish students at St. Francis, but lots of Jewish staff and faculty, many of them the children of Holocaust survivors.” Over the years, the rabbi has given Torah classes, hosted a Passover seder for staff and students, and worked with college officials to arrange a Holocaust remembrance event.

Plans for Brooklyn’s First Kosher Dormitories

Looking to the future, the Raskins have started a capital campaign that aims to build the first fully kosher college dormitory building in Brooklyn, which will house Jewish students from nearby schools.

Meant to be a place where Shabbat and kosher observance will be easier for Jewish students of all denominations, the project was also launched as a response to the rise of antisemitic incidents on campuses around the country, with the understanding that Jewish students of all backgrounds living together can only increase feelings of security, pride and solidarity.

With plans for a 6,000-square-foot facility on Atlantic Avenue, Chabad Student Housing will be situated in the heart of five local college campuses and include beautifully furnished suites, a student cafeteria serving three kosher meals daily, laundry facilities, social halls, student lounges and quiet study areas.

“During the formative college years, Jewish students need a living environment that can help them become more secure in their identity,” said Raskin. “We hope to provide them with that.”