Life

The 32 Best Colleges For Orthodox Jews

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By Laura E. Adkins August 15, 2018

As an Orthodox Jew who is a fairly recent college graduate (and proud alumna of NYU), I know firsthand the challenges of being an observant Jew on a college campus. At many universities, Shabbat, holidays and everyday meal planning can be a hassle — especially in universities far from a large Jewish community. Thankfully, I attended a college with an abundance of resources — including delicious kosher food available on the meal plan and at Hillel events, abundant Jewish programming on campus, an engaged and tight-knit Jewish student community, dedicated Jewish professionals and plenty of synagogues nearby.

The schools on this list provide all of these things and more: our formula for Orthodox-friendly campuses is designed to ensure that all of the colleges on this list have kosher food on the meal plan, at least one Orthodox synagogue within 10 miles, abundant Jewish programming and an eruv surrounding their campus (a construct that allows Jewish residents to carry certain objects outside their own homes on Shabbat), allowing community members to observe Shabbat more easily. The following list is presented in alphabetical order:

American Jewish University

Barnard College

Binghamton University

Boston University

Brandeis University

Brown University

College of Charleston

Columbia University

Cornell University

Harvard University

Hunter College

Johns Hopkins University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Muhlenberg College

New York University

Princeton University

Queens College

Rutgers University

Stanford University

Stony Brook University

Syracuse University

Temple University

Touro College

University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, San Diego

University of Maryland

University of Michigan

University of Pennsylvania

Washington University in St. Louis

Yale University

Yeshiva University

Image by Kurt Hoffman

This article is part of the award-winning Forward College Guide — to read more fascinating stories and see the definitive rankings, click here.

Laura E. Adkins is the Forward’s deputy opinion editor. Contact her at adkins@forward.com or on Twitter, @Laura_E_Adkins

Laura E. Adkins is a senior director at Jewish Women International and the former opinion editor of the Forward. Email her or follow her on X.

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