Director of CSUN’s Hillel Center Retires

Rabbi Jerrold Goldstein says he’s not one to sit behind the table.

When recruiting for Hillel members at Cal State Northridge each September, Goldstein taps the shoulders of freshmen in the registration line and asks them if they are interested in joining the campus Jewish Student Center. His assertive personality offends some, but he simply shrugs--that’s who he is, he says.

Goldstein, who this month retired as head of CSUN Hillel, has been a go-getter from the get-go. He stood up for civil rights as a young rabbi in 1964, called on by Martin Luther King Jr. to march with him, blacks and other rabbis through the streets of St. Augustine, Fla.

When Khalid Abdul Muhammad spoke at CSUN in March and told a crowd that he wanted to take the yarmulke off Goldstein’s head and eat it, Goldstein used the opportunity to sponsor discussions about multiculturalism.

In the news, Goldstein is best known for his role as a mediator, getting students of various races and religions to talk about their differences when Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan and former Ku Klux Klansman David Duke spoke on campus.

But those in Hillel who worked most closely with Goldstein said his day-to-day accomplishments were more important.

“He’s a patient, warm and understanding person who’s taught hundreds of students over the years,” said Rabbi Michael Katz, CSUN Hillel’s interim director. “He’s good at walking with the big leaders on campus and Martin Luther King and better at being someone who teaches and facilitates growth.”

After 25 years as a Hillel rabbi, spending 10 of those at CSUN, Goldstein, 61, said now is a good time to go.

Goldstein leaves for a trip with a group of CSUN students to Germany next week. When he returns, Goldstein will help a group of Agoura Hills residents start a Reform synagogue. He intends to stay on as a rabbi for the new synagogue, but insists it will be only part time.