Service at the Heart of Jewish Community: Reflections from AEPi

With educational tools provided by Repair the World, Alpha Epsilon Pi has been able to take our partnership and commitment to service to the next level elevating our impact, deepening our learning, and expanding our reach. In the past three years, AEPi brothers, in partnership with Repair the World, have completed over 77,000 acts of service. 1,348 individual service programs, and we logged more than 128,000 hours of service in communities. I want to put that into perspective: that is 14.7 years of continuous service. It’s hard to imagine the power of that and it’s not just numbers. 

In a community where young Jews face uncertainty about where they fit into the Jewish story, service provides powerful reasons to show up and to connect deeply.

Serving alongside other Jewish organizations shows our youth that they are part of something larger: a movement of service that connects individuals, chapters, campuses, communities, and generations.

They start to understand the full power of what Jewish community can truly be. Service fans spirit, neshama within the students, and especially those that we are most likely to lose to assimilation. 

In a country where young men are facing a health crisis of epic proportions that few wish to recognize or talk about, where rising rates of anxiety and loneliness and burnout lead to staggering rates of mental health issues, self-harm, and even suicide, purpose is no longer a luxury. It’s essential. Studies show that service is a powerful tool for improving mental health, for building resilience, and for fostering a sense of belonging, and we see it at AEPi. 

In a world where antisemitism is on the rise, service reminds us that our Jewish values can also serve as a vital bridge to build broad community coalitions. Last academic year, our peer-to-peer engagement efforts, inclusive of these service initiatives, reached non-member students – many of whom are not Jewish – three million times. That’s three million times people saw that Jews don’t just talk about Jewish values, we actually live universal human values. 

Service matters because when we serve, we connect. When we lead with purpose, we heal, and when we build something bigger than ourselves, we truly become stronger. 

I want to thank our partners at Repair the World, who in the last few years have truly been our destiny, besheret. Repair and its staff and volunteers walk beside AEPi. They challenge us, and they believe in the power of young Jewish men to make a difference and to lead others to do the same. 

Rob Derdiger is the Chief Executive Officer of Alpha Epsilon Pi Fraternity. Prior to filling that role in 2022, Rob served as the Chief Financial Officer of Alpha Epsilon Pi and Managing Director of Esponda Associates, Inc. He has been an active volunteer and board member of a wide range of nonprofit organizations, including The Fraternity Forward Coalition, Fraternal Housing Association, Fraternity Sorority Political Action Committee, The Chi Upsilon Foundation, The Beth Emet Foundation, Temple Judea Mizpah, and the Boy Scouts of America. His volunteer efforts lead to him being named one of the 2017 “36 under 36” by OyChicago and The Jewish United Fund. Rob lives in Chicago with his wife Madeline, and their two kids. He enjoys taking on home improvement projects, skiing, hiking, and kayaking.