Latest News from Campus

Thousands of Jewish students celebrated Rosh Hashanah at their campus Hillels, ringing in the new year 5787 with festive meals, meaningful services, and community. At Vanderbilt University Hillel, Rosh Hashanah seders brought in more than 700 students in Greek life, performing arts, sports, and graduate programs. Across Hillels in Philadelphia, Florida, and San Diego, students found different ways to celebrate together, from services and holiday meals to baking and hands-on activities. For Eden Bitton, a second-year student involved with Hillel of San Diego, participating in High Holiday programming showed her “how powerful it is to celebrate Jewish traditions alongside other students.”

For students returning to campus, the High Holidays can bring opportunities for connection while also highlighting familiar tradition. Rabbi Ezra Balser of Metro Chicago Hillel reflects on Yom Kippur and the Torah’s words, “I have forgiven,” or salachti, which come shortly after Kol Nidrei. He connects this message to students navigating a new year, reminding them that they do not need to get everything right or arrive as finished versions of themselves as they explore new traditions, ask new questions, and build their own Jewish paths.

At UMass Hillel, Rabbi Alex Goldfarb is helping students engage with Jewish texts and traditions as an ongoing conversation. Goldfarb is one of three rabbis joining campus Hillels in the Northeast through a new partnership between Hillel International and the Hadar Institute, bringing Hadar’s approach to pluralistic Jewish learning into Hillel communities. Through classes, learning cohorts, and mentorship, the pilot gives students more opportunities to engage deeply with Jewish tradition while building their own relationships with Jewish learning and community.

SF Hillel+, a program built by San Francisco Hillel, brings together Jewish graduate students, young professionals, and nontraditional undergraduates through Shabbat gatherings, volunteer projects, dinners, and community events. The program launched in 2025 to create more opportunities for young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area to build Jewish connections and community after or outside the traditional undergraduate experience.

Hillel International Associate Vice President for Jewish Education Danielle Kranjec reflects on how Rosh Hashanah and the start of the fall semester give students an opportunity to consider what they’re seeking in the months ahead. Drawing on Jewish teachings about community, Kranjec writes,  “With a new academic year beginning… new students are finding their footing. Returning students are reconnecting with friends and deciding what they want this year to hold. Everyone has a fresh opportunity to ask who they want to be, what they want to build, and which communities they want to be part of.” Hillel, she says, giving students a place to begin answering those questions.

Jada Monroe, a third-year student at the University of Georgia and member of the Hillel International Student Cabinet, reflects on celebrating Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur for the first time during her first year at college. After growing up deeply connected to her Black identity and community but with limited Jewish experiences, Monroe describes how Hillel gave her space to learn about Judaism  and build a Jewish life that felt like her own. Her experience led her to Jewish learning fellowships, UGA Hillel’s Jewish Life Board, and efforts to connect her Black and Jewish communities.