What is Connecticut College Hillel?

The Connecticut College Hillel consitutes the Connecticut College chapter of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. Hillel is an international organization that seeks to foster Jewish activity, Jewish communities, and Jewish education among college-age Jews worldwide. The Connecticut College Hillel is a student-run, non-denominational organization that strives to accomplish those goals at Connecticut College. Specifically, Connecticut College Hillel's main goal is to bring both Jewish and Non-Jewish students together in a social, educational, and religious setting. In order to achieve this goal, Hillel reaches out to all students on campus and encourages them to participate in the many activities that Hillel offers. Hillel encourages non-Jews, and Jews of all sects to come together and enjoy the many benefits a vibrant Jewish community can offer students. Hillel provides programming that enables students to participate in a wide variety of educational, political, religious, cultural, and socially oriented activities.

What do we offer?

Connecticut College has a small but growing Jewish population on campus. This community is composed of Jews from all different backgrounds and upbringings. No matter what your personal Jewish background is, we at Hillel are confident that we can provide programming and opportunities that will be valuable to you. We are committed to Hillel's student-run nature, and anyone can become an active member in helping to organize and run the Connecticut College Hillel. Even if you choose not to become active on the leadership level, we are always anxious to hear and implement any suggestion that you or other students may have. At Hillel, we foster a strong religious and cultural identity within the greater Connecticut College community. Hillel sponsors events such as bagel brunches, lectures, movies, study breaks, and trips. Our weekly Shabbat dinners and the newly introduced havdalah services are both very popular. In addition, Hillel strives to educate the campus community on various subject of Jewish interest. Through lectures and discussion, Hillel helps facilitate campus wide awareness of the Jewish community outside of Conn. Attendance at all events is always open to students who are both Jewish and non-Jewish but are curious to learn about Judaism, or are just interested in having fun! Hillel remains one of the largest and most active student groups on campus. We feel that our success is due in large part to our commitment to serve both the Jewish and non-Jewish members of our college community. If there is something missing in Hillel that you would like to see, let us know, or better yet, join the board and make your ideas a reality. We want to make you happy.

Things to look foward to...

Bringing Jewish Students together with the purpose of having fun is just one of our goals. We recognize that it is important to provide Jewish students with a campus environment where they can relax and enjoy each other's company. While away at college it can be difficult for Jewish students to maintain the Jewish lifestyle they enjoyed at home. For this reason, we do everything we can to engage and sustain Jewish life here on campus. In past years Hillel has sponsored many activities to bring the bring the Jewish community of Conn together. We not only continued our old favorites such as bagel brunches, and the hosting of numerous guest speakers, but we are also adding some new activities. Such events as trips to the local bowling alley, a trips to New York and Boston, and the annual Keg party were met with great enthusiasm. During the major holidays we offer services here at Conn, as well as providing transportation to local synagogues. We have a Hillel break-fast on Yom Kippur, and a Chanukah party, complete with homeade latkes. There is a fun-filled Sukah decorating event and every Passover we sponsor the sale of kosher gift baskets and host a traditional Seder where we encourage all the Jewish students to participate. In addition, we offer "the Shabbat dining experience", where we recite the prayers and enjoy some challah. This allows us to come together and share the beginning of the Sabbath. Hillel is present at the Conn activities fair, and has previously designed an award-winning T-shirt. Our members are involved in community programs, and have recently participated in a series of Interfaith Mission to Israel forums held on campus and helped out at a local Soup Kitchen. New events and activities are always hapenning - come and check it out for yourself!!!

This page maintained by CC Hillel <hillel@conncoll.edu>
Back to Clubs & Organizations Home