Jewish Fraternity

By Joshua Borenstein
New York University

Jewish fraternities have been around for over a hundred years with the creation of Alpha Epsilon Pi (AEPi), Sigma Alpha Mu (Sammy), and Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT) all taking place between 1898 and 1913. Though initially created as an outlet for Jewish students in response to rampant anti-Semitism, the historically Jewish fraternities have gone in different directions over time, as anti-Semitism has waned and non-sectarianism has become more popular. Today, while Sammy and ZBT still have a large number of Jewish members, it is only AEPi that has stuck to its original mission as a Jewish fraternity, committed to developing leadership for the North American Jewish Community.

But what does it mean to be a "Jewish" fraternity? This is a question that I have been struggling with since my freshman year when I, with a small group of similarly motivated freshmen, decided to reorganize AEPi at NYU. Is a membership of all Jews enough to qualify us as a "Jewish" fraternity? None of us believed it was. We agreed that if we did not work hard to incorporate Jewish values into the identity of our chapter, then we would be no different from any other fraternity on campus. We understood that as a Jewish fraternity we must strive to be distinctively Jewish, to rise above the hazing, to contribute to our community, to advocate for Israel and to fight for those less fortunate than us. And this realization has brought our chapter much success.

Though only reorganized three years ago, AEPi at NYU has grown to become the largest fraternity on campus and was named NYU’s Fraternity of the Year last April. But the gains from our growth have not been limited to the individuals in our chapter. Take our Recruitment Week: at a time when most fraternities are taking their "Rushees" out to Hooters, you can find the brothers and "Rushees" of AEPi at NYU making sandwiches for a homeless shelter or painting Mezuzot for the Jewish Hospice of Greater New York. Look at our pledge process: at a time when the "pledges" of most fraternities can be found cleaning the rooms of the "brothers," you can count on the "brothers" and the "pledges" of AEPi at NYU to work together as equals to build a Sukkah for the entire Jewish community on campus.

Some people ask, "Well fine, you’re not like the other fraternities on campus, but how are you any different from the other Jewish clubs at NYU?" Our response to them is that there is a much stronger sense of belonging and a much greater sense of commitment to one’s fellow members in a fraternity. And this reality enables our chapter to mobilize to do things that other clubs simply could not do. For example, last year, we organized an event called "We Walk to Remember" in honor of Yom HaShoah, and though we invited the rest of the Jewish community, the only people who participated were the brothers of AEPi, with the majority of the chapter in attendance. We wore signs that read "Never Forget" and walked together in silence around campus while handing out materials delineating all that we were remembering on that solemn day. The following day, an article appeared in NYU’s newspaper entitled, "Jewish Fraternity Walks to Remember the Holocaust," thus bringing the issue to the rest of campus.

There’s no question that "Jewish" fraternities can uniquely mobilize to advocate for Israel studies on campus, to fight for Darfur or to educate about the threat of a nuclear Iran. The real question remains, how many will?

Joshua Borenstein is a senior at NYU studying economics and international relations. He is a recipient of the NYU President's Service Award and a member of the academic honorary, Phi Beta Kappa.

[Posted 10/12/07]