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Retirement near, Kohane reflects on 30 years at OSU Hillel

After 30 years, Joseph Kohane will retire from his position as executive director of The Ohio State University’s Hillel in Columbus on June 30. Joseph Kohane, executive director of The Ohio State University's Hillel in Columbus, will retire from his position on June 30 after 30 years in charge. He said he wanted to contribute to a Jewish world that is robust and self-confident and tolerant of the differences. Kohane was born in Poland to Holocaust survivors and attended a yeshiva day school in Brooklyn, followed by Yeshiva University Modern Orthodox High School in Brooklyn. He also spent time at OSU and Hillels to become as accessible as possible for students, helping shape the organization to become a model for other universities. He created a speaker series so guest speakers could be invited to the university, and said his goal as executive director was to make Hillesl a welcoming place for all students. He has acquired such great and supportive staff that his departure will be easy for the organization, and his departure from his post will be seen as a sound budget and a source of inspiration for students.

Retirement near, Kohane reflects on 30 years at OSU Hillel

Published : 10 months ago by Nora Igelnik in

After 30 years, Joseph Kohane will retire from his position as executive director of The Ohio State University’s Hillel in Columbus on June 30.

“I love Jewish learning, the span of Jewish thought that covers millennia of our people’s grappling with intellectual and spiritual matters,” Kohane told the Columbus Jewish News. “I am also interested in the literature and thought of diverse cultures. All this has informed my work at Hillel.”

Kohane said he was attracted to work at Hillel because it was a “very pluralistic place” that housed Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, non-religious, atheist Jews and more.

“I want to contribute to a Jewish world that is robust and self-confident,” he said. “That engages with the diversity of Jewish experience, and is tolerant of the differences – where we are compassionate and learn from one another.”

Kohane was born in Poland to Holocaust survivors. After leaving Poland in 1958, his family lived in France for one year before moving to Brooklyn, N.Y. He attended a yeshiva day school in Brooklyn, followed by Yeshiva University Modern Orthodox High School.

After high school, he attended Hunter College in New York. Following his undergraduate education, he spent a year in a reform rabbinical seminary and then spent his graduate education studying parshnut, the history of the Jewish interpretation of the Torah, at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

During his time at Hillel at OSU, Kohane said he worked for the organization to become as accessible as possible for students. This effort helped shape Ohio State’s Hillel, which is housed in the Wexner Jewish Student Center, to become a model for other universities, as it was one of the first to have a student fitness center and free Shabbat dinners, Kohane said.

“It’s really about, how do you lower the barriers of participation in Jewish life (and in the) Jewish community on campus?” he said.

Kohane said he created a speaker series so guest speakers could be invited to the university. The speaker series was one of many efforts he made to break the mold of what people perceived a Hillel to be and do, he said. In the past, speakers included Carrie Fisher, Ilana Glazer, Richard Dreyfuss, Terry Gross and Ira Glass. In his first year as executive director, Hillel invited Adam Sandler.

“This was many years ago,” Kohane said. “This was, what, 29, 30 years ago. We couldn’t afford him today.”

Kohane related his outlook on Hillel with James Carville’s famous quote, “It’s the economy, stupid.” Carville was a lead strategist on Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign.

“My riff on this in the Hillel context is that ‘It’s the relationship, stupid,’” he said. “Nothing is more important than Hillel reach out broadly to every kind of Jewish student, and that we understand that the quality and genuineness of that relationship is of primary importance.”

Kohane said one of his goals as executive director was to make Hillel a welcoming place for all students.

“It’s about Hillel being that special place on campus where the people who work at Hillel love and care about the well-being of students,” he said. “Where any student who enters through our doors is greeted and made to feel that they matter.”

Kohane said he has acquired such great and supportive staff that his departure will be easy for the organization.

“Part of my legacy is that when I go, Hillel will not skip a beat,” he said. “A highly experienced and dedicated staff is in place, and a sound budget.”

Kohane said in his years as executive director, Ohio State has largely been a hospitable place for Jewish students, but there have been instances where antisemitism occurred and Hillel had to intervene.

“Some Jewish students, for example, must deal with remarks in a residence hall or in a Greek context that convey negative stereotypes out of ignorance about Jews that is spoken by a fellow student; or a student must confront the double standards regarding Israel expressed in a class or among some student organizations,” he said. “Our work at Hillel is to equip our students with self-confidence and knowledge, and for Hillel to intervene wherever the source of the negativity comes from, including on rare occasions from members of the faculty. We are also active cultivating relationships to forge alliances with non-Jewish groups and influencers. As antisemitism and extremism is on the rise in our country, our efforts at Hillel must be proactive.”

Kohane said he does not have fixed plans for retirement, but said he wants to be closer to his children – one of which lives outside the United States, and the other in northern California. Along with spending more time with family, Kohane said he might serve as an asset to other organizations that need advice on sustainability and growth.

“I would imagine that I have so much experience in this work that I will be used as a resource maybe to other places and not-for-profits,” Kohane said. “Doesn’t have to be a Hillel. Doesn’t even have to be Jewish life. But how do you create a vitality in an organization? How do you raise funds to pay for it? What type of relationship to staff should an organization aspire to?”

Adam Lehman, president and CEO of Hillel International, spoke to the CJN about Kohane’s contributions to OSU Hillel over the years.

“Hillel International’s impact on campuses around the world would not be possible without talented professional leaders building their Hillel communities on their campuses,” said Lehman, a former resident of the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights. “Joseph Kohane has been one of Hillel’s most influential and impactful leaders during his remarkable 30-year tenure as executive director of OSU Hillel. His impressive legacy will continue through the strength of OSU Hillel and through the countless Hillel professionals and student leaders he has mentored and supported, and who are carrying forward Joseph’s inspiring commitment to Jewish life on campus and beyond.”

OSU Hillel is conducting a search for the next executive director, Kohane said. The search committee includes representatives on the Hillel board, community members and faculty. Candidates will be interviewed by students.

“An important goal of OSU Hillel is developing the next generation of leaders and active community participants who, after they graduate, will eventually take their place in communities where they live and commit to enriching Jewish life here, in Israel and the life of people around the world,” Kohane said.

Nora Igelnik is the Linda and Clifford Wolf Editorial Intern at the Columbus Jewish News.


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