Rabbi associated with Columbia University recommends Jewish students ‘return home’ amid tense protests on campus

A rabbi associated with Columbia University’s Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus recommended that Jewish students “return home as soon as possible and remain home” amid ongoing protests denouncing the war in Gaza and demanding the university divest from Israel.

A rabbi associated with Columbia University’s Orthodox Union Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus recommended that Jewish students “return home as soon as possible and remain home” amid ongoing protests denouncing the war in Gaza and demanding the university divest from Israel. Rabbi Elie Buechler, the learning initiative’s rabbi at the Columbia/Barnard Hillel, confirmed to CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday that he sent a WhatsApp message to a group of about 300 mostly Orthodox Jewish students “strongly” recommending they return home and remain there. His message came ahead of Passover, a major Jewish holiday set to begin Monday evening. Recent events at the university “have made it clear that Columbia University’s Public Safety and the NYPD cannot guarantee Jewish students’ safety,” Buechler wrote in the message. “It deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improved,” the message reads. By contrast, the campus Hillel said in a Sunday post on X that they “do not believe that Jewish students should leave” the campus. “This is a time of genuine discomfort and even fear for many of us on campus,” the Hillel said in a statement. “Columbia University and the City of New York must do more to protect students. We call on the University Administration to act immediately in restoring calm to campus. The City must ensure that students can walk up and down Broadway and Amsterdam without fear of harassment.”