1970s Timeline

The 1970s were a period of rapid change nationally and on campus – and also for the Jewish community in Blacksburg. A community with Jewish families had begun to grow up around the campus, and this became a source of support for campus life. Growing diversity and changing values on campus helped open up Jewish life in other ways.

Life in Blacksburg Jewish Community Center

Throughout Hillel’s earliest years, it came to rely on and was active in supporting the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center.

In 1973, the Jewish community of Blacksburg began hosting Sunday School classes in Squires Student Center and Hillel students served as the teachers.

A key figure in the growth of the BJCC was Dr. Dan Farkas, who was active at Hillel at Virginia Tech starting in 1975 along with faculty advisor Dr. Marvin Blecher. Farkas led services for 20 years for approximately 10-40 families within the community. He eventually helped grow the Blacksburg Jewish Community Center as it moved into its permanent home on Roanoke Street in 1979. The building had been a social lodge and was purchased originally by a group of Jewish community members through a partnership; the BJCC was eventually able to purchase the building from the partnership outright a few years later.

Jewish Women Face Special Challenges

The experiences for Jewish women were unique; they were minorities on campus twice over. For example, Nancy Zeitman, a student at Radford, experienced a certain amount of social distancing and discrimination. Her junior year suitemate, for example, thought Jews had horns due to a mistranslation of the Torah that has been promulgated for centuries. Due to Zeitman’s experiences, many Jewish women from outside the area tried to hide their Jewish identity on campus.

In an effort to combat this, a local business owner, Morris Litshipt, would drive women from Radford to Roanoke for high holiday services and observances. Meanwhile, Jewish professors often hosted Passover Seders at their homes.

Jewish women on campus – like all women at the time – faced other restrictions. Even in 1971, women were expected to wear dresses and gloves in downtown Blacksburg. Female students were not allowed to wear jeans to class until 1973. All female students had curfews and house mothers.

Key Leaders at a Key Time

In the mid-1970s, Hillel was lucky to attract the support and activism of a student and a family – and Jewish life on campus was never the same.

Bruce Kaplan came to campus ready to put some significant personal effort into Jewish life. He took an active interest in helping Jewish students celebrate holidays. In 1978, Kaplan and a few other students organized, cooked for, and led a Passover Seder for over 80 students, half the Jewish students at that time! He also actively recruited Jewish women by hand writing them notes inviting them to Hillel events. He would also wear a “Shalom Y’All” t-shirt during orientation, and when students or their parents approached him to say hi, he would get their names and make sure they knew about Hillel activities.

During this period, Dr. Larry & Ina Perlmuter and family had moved to the area and hosted Shabbat morning services in their basement. The family was Orthodox and had eight children – so they created a vibrant community all on their own.

Kaplan was invited frequently to their house to help make the minyan (quorum) for services. Students were invited regularly and stayed for Shabbat lunch. Kaplan recalls these afternoons fondly and says they led him and several others to become more observant.

In 1977, Lenny Polishuk, a graduate student, began a Torah study group that encouraged lively debates over all manner of issues. It attracted both students and faculty!

Towards the end of the 1970s, Jewish Greek life took off, with the founding of Sigma Alpha Mu, mostly by students from the Tidewater region.

There is great fulfillment in being a blessing to others and helping to relieve their challenges.
Proverbs 11:25