An Interview With Rabbi Moshe Gray

On April 24, 2023, Senior Editor of The Dartmouth Review Olivia P. Becker (TDR) interviewed Rabbi Moshe Gray (MG) of Chabad. Rabbi Gray discussed his life and work at Dartmouth.

TDR: Could you tell us about your life before coming to Dartmouth?

MG:  I grew up in Seattle, and I had a great childhood. My dad played on his company’s softball team. I played little league—I think I was the first Orthodox Jewish kid to play Little League in the city of Seattle. Then at 13, I went away from home. I went to Yeshiva High School in Los Angeles and hated every second of it. I was bullied. I had a big mouth. I was little. I survived, somehow, for two years there. My parents, in my second year, moved to Denmark. 

Eventually, I ended up in a really  good Yeshiva, in this little town called Gateshead, England, which is probably one of the most elite Yeshivas in the world. There were some tough moments for the first six months, but I survived and had a fantastic three years there. But it was not a Chabad Yeshiva; it was in the Lithuanian tradition, and I wanted to go back to Chabad after that experience. So I ended up in Israel at a little Yeshiva in the north of Israel and then  in New Haven, Connecticut, which is where this whole campus thing started. My first Friday night there I went to the Chi Society, which served somewhat as the Chabad at Yale at the time. And I fell in love. Until then, I had thought, “You know, maybe I’ll get ordained,” but the goal was still, of course, to go off and make a billion dollars. After two Friday nights at the Chi Society, I thought, yep, change of plans.

TDR: And that’s what brought you to Dartmouth?

MG: I was given an opportunity. What I wanted was very narrow. I wanted a school comparable to Yale. I wanted students like those at Yale. If that meant going to be Reed College in Oregon, fine. If that meant going to Stanford, fine. It was Dartmouth. Luckily, Chani was on board with it, and here we are 20 years later.

TDR: How long have you been here? What was your experience starting out and how has it evolved?

MG: We’ve been here for 20 years. I’m not somebody who dwells in the past a lot. There are times when it’s very hard for me to believe that it’s been 20 years. People don’t stay at the same job for 20 years. It’s very rare. 

We started off in a really small condo on School Street, meeting with one student at a time. I met one student named Zach. He was a rising senior when we moved here. I told him, “Let’s start something amazing,” and he was all in. Through him, I met two other pivotal students, Iliya and Adam, and they became my partners for the next three years. 

Iliya would get the masses to Chabad. She and I brought the scholar Daniel Pipes to campus together. That was crazy. I mean, we received Islamic jihadist threats against that event. We had the CIA call us up. 

Adam was really instrumental in the maturation of our organization as fiscally responsible. We outgrew the condo really fast. It took eight weeks for students to start coming to Shabbat dinner. We didn’t understand why no one wanted to come for the best food in town. Then they started coming, and, once they started, they didn’t stop. 

We moved to a house on School Street, and that was our home for 14 years. It served us well. We moved here with just little Mendel. Since then we’ve been bringing up six kids in Hanover as religious, Orthodox, observant Jews, which is kind of crazy.

TDR: What are your thoughts on the Jewish community at Dartmouth—in terms of size, observance, et cetera?

MG: It’s small, which is not necessarily a bad thing. You know, you work with what you have. We’ve always had good attendance; we’ve always had mainly kids coming from secular backgrounds. In recent years, the Orthodox community has started to grow a little bit. Things are trending in the right direction.

TDR: Is it hard to be Orthodox at Dartmouth?

MG: It is hard to be Orthodox here. There’s a lot Dartmouth can do, and there’s a lot Dartmouth has done. But there are certain things that can’t be done. 

The College is isolated, so there isn’t a broader observant Jewish community around here. Kids come, and they make sacrifices to be here. We’re at the stage where we can support them a lot better than we could 10 years ago. Being in this house allows us to do more. And hopefully, as we continue to grow, more and more of these students will come. 

TDR: How would you describe your relationship with the administration?

MG: I think it’s decent. We have relationships with certain administrators. There was a time when I was very close to the provost. I had a great relationship with Ozzie Harris; we met because we were both playing basketball in the gym. We have relationships with specific deans and professors but, overall, more individuals than the administration as a collective. 

I think it’s evolved and gotten better over time. In general, and taking into account what I’ve seen in the last 20 years, this administration has more or less allowed religious life to just do whatever; administrators don’t want to get involved in it. And most recently, with the swastika on the Green, the College’s response was swift. It was clear. It wasn’t wishy-washy. It wasn’t an All Lives Matter type of response. And from what I understand, that was, in part, dictated by the President-Elect. She made sure the rabbis were consulted and were listed in the email to campus. That’s never happened before in 20 years. 

TDR: What are your thoughts on anti-Semitism on campus?

MG: I don’t know if it’s worse today than it was when I got here. Due to social media, we now know everything. 15 years ago, if there was an unruly passenger on an airplane, and that passenger was escorted off, we didn’t all know about it. If you look at the news today, it’s on social media immediately. And within three minutes, there are 18 different Instagram accounts dedicated to unruly passengers. So, does it happen more? Things are being reported more than they ever were. I mean, the reporting agencies say that there has been a rise in anti-Semitism.

There has always been anti- Israel sentiment at Dartmouth. I believe that, in the way this sentiment is formed here, it certainly has anti-Semitic undertones. When you vilify Israel, what you’re really vilifying is the Jews who live in Israel. Not all Israelis are Jews, but it’s always the Jewish state. There is anti-Semitism in the world and there always has been. So, we have to stay vigilant, and we have to stay on top of it. 

The other issue is that Jewish students tend to not make a lot of noise. They have a lot to lose in the middle of the game. So, a swastika on the ground is not necessarily going to get the students to protest. Even when they do protest, it’s done in a very respectful manner by and large. At least that’s what I’m seeing. There are other groups that don’t do it respectfully, and the squeaky wheel gets the oil. 

TDR: As a Chabad rabbi on campus, how have you struggled with stereotypes or preconceived notions? 

MG:  There are definitely people who hear the word Chabad and think, “Oh, I have to be an Orthodox Jew to come.” I have friends who are confused by it.  I live my life and we run this organization as such, but the point is that it’s open to everybody to come and learn, and to observe in that way, for an afternoon or an evening. 

I’ve always said that, if a student comes once, he or she will see what I mean. Maybe it will prove to not be his or her vibe, but at least then any preconceived notions will be dispelled. 

Chabad is not necessarily the first place a Jewish kid in America goes after arriving at college. Students have this preconceived notion of Chabad, rightly or wrongly. But we don’t proselytize. We just lead by example. We educate ourselves, we have conversations, and ultimately students make up their own minds. 

TDR: Let’s talk about the next 20 years. What do you think they will look like? What is the ideal for Jewish life on campus and for Chabad?

MG: I’m 43. So, after the next 20 years, I’ll be nearly 65. I don’t think I’ll be as student-facing when I’m 65 as I am today. I mean, I hope to be on some level, but, you know, who knows? I hope there are people working for us, partners who are helping to grow the Jewish community at Dartmouth, engaging with more and more students.

One of my big goals is to be at a place where Chabad is very secure financially: To build an endowment and grow an endowment. Also, I have some programmatic things that I want to do that would be great—certain fellowships and Jewish-learning things that I really want to do but cannot do right now. 

I’m excited. The foundation we have built is really good. We’ve spent 20 years building this foundation, building this house, building this facility, getting the word out to Jewish students. Orthodox Jewish students are starting to apply to Dartmouth now, and they weren’t when we moved here. I’ve also learned to be very flexible… I have an idea, and something else comes, and that’s okay. But our future is bright. 

You look at the other Ivies, and their numbers of Jewish students engaged on campus are dropping. That’s not the case here. So, I think we have a real opportunity to grow in substantial ways. And of course, there’s CrossFit.  

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.