Ensuring a Jewish Future at Duke: A Historic Endowment for the Campus Rabbi

A decade-long vision becomes reality with collective effort

Jewish Life at Duke has established the Jewish Life Rabbinic Fund, a permanently endowed fund that will secure a full-time Campus Rabbi at Duke University for generations to come. This achievement was more than ten years in the making and was made possible through the generosity of six donor families whose collective commitments totaled $2.5 million.

“We were inspired to make this gift because Jewish Life at Duke helped shape our own Duke experience, and we believe deeply in its importance for future students,” said the anonymous alumni couple whose $1.25 million leadership gift catalyzed the effort. “At a time when Jewish students need both belonging and understanding, permanently endowing the rabbi position is one of the most meaningful investments we could make. A strong rabbi can be a spiritual leader, a community builder, a source of support in difficult moments, and a bridge-builder across campus.”

Rooted in History, Built for the Future

The presence of rabbinic leadership at Duke dates back to 1941, when Rabbi Samuel Sandmel visited campus eight hours per week to serve Jewish students. After that initial year, Duke did not have a regular rabbinic presence until Rabbi Frank Fischer began serving students on a part-time basis in the 1980s through his role as director of North Carolina Hillel, helping expand Jewish programming into what would become a flourishing Jewish student community.

​​Duke did not have a full‑time Campus Rabbi until 2000, when Rabbi Bruce Seltzer (2000-02), Rabbi Michael Goldman (2005–10), and then Rabbi Jeremy Yoskowitz (2010–14) provided consistent leadership following more than a decade of intermittent rabbinic coverage.

A new era of long-term rabbinic stability began in 2015 with the arrival of Rabbi Elana Friedman, Duke’s longest‑tenured full‑time Campus Rabbi and Jewish Chaplain. Rabbi Elana has guided students through moments of learning, celebration, challenge, and discovery. For over a decade, her presence has helped foster a vibrant and welcoming Jewish community during a period in which students have increasingly sought spiritual grounding, mentorship, and connection.

Her leadership has been widely recognized, including honors such as the Provost’s Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award, Hillel International’s Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award, and Duke’s Presidential Award for excellence in partnership with the Center for Muslim Life.

A Gift That Sparked a Campaign

The path to the Jewish Life Rabbinic Fund began with a single commitment: an anonymous $1.25 million pledge toward the $2.5 million needed to endow the Campus Rabbi position. This extraordinary act of generosity created a powerful catalyst and inspired the Jewish Life at Duke Advisory Board, a group of alumni and parent leaders, to take action.

Out of that momentum emerged the Jewish Future Campaign, a comprehensive initiative designed to secure the long-term vitality of Jewish Life at Duke. Since Duke is nationally recognized as a campus where Jewish students feel supported, empowered, and proud, the Jewish Future Campaign aims to ensure that this strength endures. 

The funding will provide a permanent foundation for Jewish Life at Duke: stabilizing core programs, deepening student engagement, and enabling professional staff to focus more fully on students’ spiritual, social, and academic needs. Launched in December 2025, the campaign set a goal of twenty $250,000 pledges to increase Jewish Life at Duke’s endowments by $5 million.

With an eye on reaching what was needed for the rabbinic endowment first, and because the initial anonymous gift covered half of the necessary funding, the advisory board set an ambitious course: five campaign pledges would complete the Jewish Life Rabbinic Fund. Subsequent pledges will build the new Jewish Future Fund — an endowed source of unrestricted support designed to meet students’ evolving needs, expand engagement across undergraduate and graduate programs, support transformative travel experiences, and strengthen partnerships with Duke faculty and staff.

The response has been encouraging. In addition to the initial anonymous $1.25 million challenge gift, nine of the campaign’s twenty $250,000 pledges have already been secured. Five campaign pledges completed the Jewish Life Rabbinic Fund, with support from Jessica and Joshua Lutzker, Lynne and Michael Wolitzer, and three additional anonymous families. Additional pledges from Jordan Feiger, Andrew Hananel, Wendy and Ian Sacks, the Sidman Family, and one anonymous family have established and begun to grow the new Jewish Future Fund. Eleven pledges remain to fulfill the campaign’s $5 million goal, and Jewish Life at Duke continues to welcome conversations with donors interested in shaping the future of Jewish life on campus.

“These families came together with extraordinary generosity and a shared commitment to sustaining a strong and integrated Jewish presence at Duke,” said Joyce Gordon, Director of Jewish Life at Duke.

Strengthening Jewish Life for Generations

The Campus Rabbi plays an indispensable role at Duke: leading services and holiday observances, offering pastoral care, supporting student leadership, and helping cultivate a campus environment rooted in belonging, curiosity, and connection. The position is also central to interfaith engagement and cultural understanding across the university.

Vice President/Vice Provost for Student Affairs Mary Pat McMahon reflected on the role’s significance: “The Campus Rabbi plays a vital role not only for Jewish students, but for the entire Duke community by contributing to interfaith understanding, promoting cultural education, and advocating for the holistic well-being of all students. I have seen firsthand the profound value of the Rabbi’s role, especially at a time when antisemitism worldwide has been at its highest level. Rabbi Elana provides stability, compassion, and clarity for the entire campus community.”

Among many educational, religious, and spiritual programs, Campus Rabbi Elana Friedman:

• Supports students individually, meeting hundreds each year for one‑on‑one conversations about Jewish identity, personal growth, and community connection, and providing pastoral care during moments of celebration, stress, and challenge.
• Leads signature Jewish learning experiences, including the Jewish Learning Fellowship, Senior Seminar, and B’nai Mitzvah program, guiding hundreds of students in Jewish education and 27 students to date through becoming B’nai Mitzvah.
• Builds bridges across difference, facilitating small‑group dialogue workshops and convening the monthly Interfaith Roundtable for Duke chaplains in partnership with Duke Religious Life.
• Represents the Jewish community campus‑wide, serving on key committees such as the Provost’s Initiative on the Middle East and QuadEx Quad Care Councils, and offering prayer and reflection at major Duke events including the annual MLK Commemoration and the Duke Baccalaureate Ceremony.
• Enriches Duke’s Jewish communal and ritual life, leading weekly Shabbat and holiday services, teaching Seder-hosting and holiday-prep workshops, and overseeing the kashrut of the Freeman Center Café, Duke’s kosher dining hall on the university meal plan operated in partnership with Duke Dining.
• Extends Jewish and spiritual conversation across campus, hosting “Music & Spirituality,” on WXDU 88.7FM, a biweekly radio show exploring music as a spiritual language with guests from diverse backgrounds.

For Dani Levy ’29, Rabbi Elana’s influence began before her first year at Duke. They met at Shabbat services and dinner during Blue Devil Days, Duke’s admitted student day.

“Rabbi Elana made me instantly feel like I had already found my community and my home for the next four years,” Levy said. “She not only knew the names of the entire incoming Jewish freshman class within the first week, but welcomed us all with open arms and a big smile on her face, making us all feel like we already belonged. Her extraordinary ability to make every person feel seen, valued, and included transformed a group of strangers into a community.”

For Benji Satloff ’19, the Campus Rabbi’s support extended far beyond campus life: “Rabbi Elana was a spiritual source of strength to me as I was coping with my mom dealing with cancer. When my mom passed away shortly after I graduated, Rabbi Elana was so there for me, and I am forever grateful to her for being there for me throughout it all.”

Others credit her with shaping their Jewish identity and even their career paths. “As a Reform Jew growing up in the South, she challenged me to think critically about my connection to Judaism and spirituality,” shared Tyler Goldberger ’19.

Sarah Jacobs ’21 added, “Rabbi Elana is one of the reasons I decided to go into Jewish communal work professionally. Through her I have seen the impact just one role model can have.”

As Rabbi Elana herself reflects: “It is an honor and privilege to serve as the Campus Rabbi and Jewish Chaplain of Duke. Every conversation, coffee chat, Shabbat meal, moment of celebration or challenge at Duke is an opportunity for students to discover meaning, purpose, awe, resilience, and hope. I am filled with profound gratitude to do this work every day.”

Endowing the Campus Rabbi position ensures this essential leadership continues uninterrupted — regardless of economic shifts or external pressures — and affirms Duke’s long-term commitment to a thriving Jewish community on campus. As Duke shares this milestone across campus, one message resonates strongly: This endowment is an investment in students today, tomorrow, and long into the future.

“Having a permanently endowed rabbi ensures that Jewish life at Duke will always have the spiritual and communal foundation it deserves,” said Tali Sigal ’27, president of the Jewish Student Union. “The Jewish Student Union is deeply grateful to these families for making this commitment, especially at a moment when it matters most.”

The Jewish Life Rabbinic Fund stands as a testament to vision, generosity, and community. It honors Duke’s past, strengthens the present, and secures the future of Jewish life at Duke for all who will follow.

About Jewish Life at Duke

Jewish Life at Duke (JLD) is an accredited Hillel as well as a department within Duke University’s Division of Student Affairs. Jewish Life at Duke is guided by a mission to empower students to learn and grow intellectually and spiritually; to inspire and nurture personal paths to Jewish identity; and to cultivate community and friendship. Comprising the Freeman Center for Jewish Life and the Rubenstein-Silvers Hillel, JLD takes a pluralistic approach to Judaism to ensure that all students, regardless of affiliation, are welcome and included.

100% of JLD’s operating budget comes from donations from alumni, parents, and friends. Become a donor to Jewish Life at Duke today.