Jewish Life
Shabbat
Shabbat is the highlight of the week for our students: a chance to exhale, reconnect with friends, and feel at home. This weekly touchpoint brings consistency and community to the busy rhythm of college life, offering a welcoming table and something to look forward to.
Students take an active role in planning and hosting Shabbat, shaping the experience through their creativity, traditions, and leadership. Across the semester, our services draw on styles ranging from traditional egalitarian to Jewish Renewal, helping students encounter different expressions of Jewish prayer and deepen their own connections to ritual. Delicious themed dinners catered by Kosher Korner bring everyone together over good food and lively conversation.
Whether students arrive with cherished Shabbat traditions or are experiencing them for the first time, they have a place in our community—and a hand in creating it.
Shabbat services are held every Friday at 6:00 PM in Muller Chapel! Dinner is served at 7:00 PM.
Holidays
The Jewish calendar gives shape to life at Hillel, creating opportunities for reflection, celebration, generosity, and renewal throughout the year.
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Students begin the Jewish year surrounded by community. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services feature student leadership, giving students meaningful roles in guiding prayer and shaping our shared experience of the Days of Awe. Our annual Rosh Hashanah Banquet offers a festive welcome to the new year, while Yom Kippur pre-fast and break-fast meals provide nourishment and connection.
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Our sukkah becomes a gathering place for meals, friendship, and celebration. Students share food beneath its leafy roof and experience the holiday’s themes of hospitality and gratitude together. A highlight is Shuk-ah in the Sukkah, our annual marketplace-style festival, bringing students together for activities, Hillel merchandise, and the joy of celebrating Jewish life on campus!
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Nightly candlelighting in Muller Chapel brings warmth and community to the end of the semester, giving students a place to pause and celebrate together. Shabbat Chanukah features a festive latke bar, while Mystery Maccabee, Chanukah parties, and other celebrations invite students to share favorite traditions and create new ones with friends!
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Purim at Hillel combines joyful celebration with opportunities to care for others. Students explore the holiday’s four mitzvot: hearing the Megillah, sharing gifts of food with friends (mishloach manot), giving to people in need (matanot la’evyonim), and enjoying a festive meal. Through Megillah readings, Purim masquerades, mishloach manot making, service work, and more, students experience a holiday in which celebration and communal responsibility go hand in hand
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Our first-night Not Your Bubbe’s Seder welcomes students and the entire Ithaca Jewish community to a lively evening of storytelling, questions, and fun surprises! Before the holiday, students can visit Kosher Korner to stock up on Passover snacks. After Passover, our celebration continues with Mimouna, a joyful tradition rooted in Moroccan Jewish life that marks the holiday’s close with hospitality and sweetness.
Jewish discovery continues with succulent planting for Tu BiShevat, hiking for Sigd, Rosh Chodesh learning, and more! These gatherings invite students to explore the breadth of the Jewish calendar and the diverse communities and traditions that give it meaning.
Support for Every Jewish Journey
Jewish life is deeply personal, and students deserve support that meets them where they are. For some, that means maintaining practices they grew up with. For others, it means asking new questions, trying a ritual for the first time, or finding their way back to something meaningful.
Hillel offers ritual resources for student use and can help students access items such as prayer books, yahrzeit candles, and mezuzot.
Our Jewish chaplain, Cantor Abbe, is available for pastoral care, and every member of our staff welcomes conversations about Jewish identity and observance. We help students explore new pathways into Jewish life, deepen existing practices, and discover what a meaningful Jewish life looks like for them.