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About Us

About JFAS Rutgers

JFAS Rutgers (Jewish Faculty, Administrators, and Staff at Rutgers) is a grassroots group of Jewish employees of Rutgers that combats antisemitism and anti-Israel bias and promotes a positive, supportive environment for Jews and Israelis on campus. We welcome all members of the campus community, Jewish and non-Jewish, who support our mission and principles. 

We cultivate relationships with university leaders, partners such as Rutgers Hillel and Chabad at Rutgers, and external entities such as local Jewish Federations and state legislators. JFAS Rutgers supports the “Faculty Against Antisemitism” project of the Academic Engagement Network and the principles enumerated below. 

Statement of Mission

We seek to foster an educational and workplace environment that is welcoming and supportive of Jews and Israelis. We stand against antisemitism and the demonization or delegitimation of Israel anywhere on any Rutgers campus. We favor open dialogue that pursues peace and understanding, including in the following ways:  

  1. We serve as a resource for faculty, staff, and administrators who are Jewish and those who have been affected by antisemitism or anti-Israel bigotry.  
  2. We encourage and promote opportunities for the Rutgers community to learn about and engage with Jewish culture, history and tradition, including Israel, and about antisemitism. 
  3. We speak out against members of the Rutgers community who call for the elimination of Israel or otherwise cross the line from legitimate criticism into antisemitic bias, whether intentionally or not. 
  4. We seek to combat campus antisemitism, including Israel-related boycotts, sanctions, and divestment, and work with the administration in a unified and productive fashion. 

Statement of Principles

(adapted from AEN, Faculty Against Antisemitism Movement)

  1. Antisemitism should have no place on campus. Antisemitism is intrinsically contrary to the academy’s principles of fairness, equality, decency, inclusion, diversity, and community. 
  2. Zionism must be welcome on campus. Zionism is commonly understood as the belief in the right of Jews to self-determination and statehood in their ancient historical homeland. It is a belief shared by most Jews and by millions of other people. Anti-Zionism seeks to strip this right from the Jewish people alone and is therefore seen by many as a form of antisemitism. Anti-Zionism is not to be confused with criticism of Israel similar to that which is directed at any other country, which is a legitimate part of political debate. Anti-Zionism goes beyond ordinary criticism and veers into demonization. It is harmful and invidious and a form of prejudice.
  3. All members of the campus community have a right to be safe on campus, to be treated with respect and dignity, and to enjoy equal access to all that the university offers. Debate and dissent are fundamental to learning and the advancement of knowledge. But antisemitic harassment and discrimination, like other forms of harassment and discrimination, should not be tolerated. 
  4. Open inquiry and free discussion and debate regarding Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Middle East are important and should be encouraged. Divergent points of view should not be censored. But when claims about Jews or Israel are hateful and false, or when they traffic in antisemitic or other ethnic, racial, or religious stereotypes, then university leaders and other members of the campus community have the responsibility to respond. Criticism of bigotry should not be misconstrued or misrepresented as silencing speech. 
  5.  Academic boycotts are antithetical to a university’s mission to produce, advance, and transmit knowledge. Efforts to boycott academic institutions or individuals are antithetical to our mission and should be rejected. No one should be punished or discredited for engaging with Israeli academics and institutions, nor should Israeli institutions or their members be penalized because they are Israeli. Such identity-based exclusions have a long and dark legacy in Jewish history.  
  6. Jews and Zionists are entitled to be full members of the campus community. Jews who support Israel should never face any pressure to reject or disavow the Zionist component of their identity in order to be accepted. 
  7. Academic departments should not adopt a pedagogical mission or political stance that marginalizes and alienates any campus community, including Jews, Israelis, and supporters of Israel. Academic units, and especially degree-granting departments, should refrain from imposing ideological orthodoxies about Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the Middle East.  
  8. Threats, harassment, racial slurs, or slogans calling for violence against Jews or Israelis on campus must be taken as seriously as they would be if directed at any other protected class. 

Our History

Rutgers JFAS (Jewish Faculty and Staff) was founded in 2016 by Rebecca Cypess (Department of Music) and Jenny Mandelbaum (Department of Communication). From the outset, the goal of creating JFAS was to establish a network of Jewish members of the faculty and staff, expanding collegiality and friendship and providing mutual support and assistance if needed. Since 2016, we have:

  • Engaged the university administration in a sustained and extended manner to address problems of antisemitism as they have come up
  • Hosted research talks by JFAS members
  • Brought speakers to campus—most notably, Deborah Lipstadt in 2019—to promote a positive, supportive environment for the Rutgers Jewish community.

In 2024, David Greenberg became chair and JFAS created a three-person executive committee and an eleven-person board. Learn more about our current JFAS Leadership.

Rutgers JFAS is an informal group that welcomes Jews and non-Jewish allies who are interested in improving and sustaining a positive, welcoming campus climate for Jewish faculty, administrators, and staff, and, working in partnership with partner organizations, for students.