"Thanks for putting up with me," Jonathan D. Springer '90 told his peers at Hillel's farewell banquet for seniors.

They laughed good-naturedly, not surprised at his choice of parting words, for he frequently tested their patience during his four years as a member of Hillel, Harvard's Jewish student organization.

Unlike, many students active in Harvard's Jewish community, Springer is openly critical of the Israeli government. His exposure to the Palestinian situation has given him a unique perspective and voice among Jews on campus.

Springer is a Quincy House resident concentrating in comparative religion. A native of Brookline, his activities during college have centered primarily around concerns stemming from his Jewish identity. He has been an active member of the egalitarian minion at Hillel, and has served as the co-chair of the Harvard-Radcliffe Zionist Alliance, as well as several other offices.

This commitment as roots in Springer's own family background: his mother arrived in the United States from Irsael in 1951 to work at the United States embassy. His father, a U.S. citizen, volunteered for the Israeli army shortly after Israel's independence. After they were married, Springer's family lived in Israel for several years.

Springer himself went to Israel every other summer as a child, travelling in the country and visiting his grandparents who lived there. He quickly became fluent in Hebrew.

After graduation, Springer plans to return to Israel, with a job at the New Israel Fund, a charity which funds grassroots organizations working for special change there, specifically on the issues of equality for Palestinians, women and non-religious Jews. "He's very committed to Israel, but maybe in a different way," says Karen B. Singer '90, a Hillel member. "He's committed to trying to make Israel better. He cares about it so much that he has an idealistic view of the way it should be and he's trying to make that happen. It's a huge part of his life."

During the past four years, his dedication to Israel has taken a decidedly radical turn. In 1988, he and two friends founded the Progressive Jewish Alliance, which represents alternative points of view within the Jewish community on issues like women's equality and gay and lesbian rights. But the group's and Springer's, main focus has been the question of Jewish-Palestinian relations.

The group takes a stance which is sympathetic to the Palestinian side of the conflict--too sympathetic for many conservative Jews.

"We wanted at least to be a thorn in the side of the community and remind them that mainstream is not the only way of thinking," Springer says. "I've gotten the feeling from people that what we're doing does add a dimension to the community that otherwise might not be expressed."

"Personally, I don't agree with their agenda," says Donald F. Seeman '89-'90, a Hillel member and chair of the orthodox minion. "But it's important that there be a group through which Jewish students with those political views can be represented within the Jewish community."

As a means of presenting alternative viewpoints, Springer brought Taysir Aruri to campus to speak earlier this year. Aruri, a Palestinain lecturer of physics at Bir Zeit University on the West Bank, was deported without a public hearing. The Progressive Jewish Alliance also participated in a petition drive to protest the closing of Palestinian universities in the occupied territories. And Springer helped bring to Harvard a representative from Yesh G'vul, a group of Israeli soldiers who refuse to serve in the occupied territories.

"It's great to have a Jewish group on campus that is to some degree Dina N. Abu-Ghaida '91, a Palestinian member if the Progressive Jewish Alliance who says she admires his efforts to work from within the framework of Hillel to try to influence people. "He belongs to the largest Jewish group of campus, so they can't say he's an outsider."

That same insider status has some-times made Springer vulnerable to criticism from within the Jewish community. Last year, he wrote a letter to The Crimson, claiming that he would not automatically vote no on Question Five, a local referendum that--if passed by the citizens of Cambridge--would call on Congress to support the establishment of a Palestinian state and end military aid to the occupation.

Springer signed the letter--and included his title as chair of Zionist Alliance. Many Hillel members objected to the use of his Hillel affiliation in support of a position which they support opposed, and some wanted him to resign from the position.