Undergraduates
Welcome to Harvard Hillel!
Hillel is a catalyst for Jewish life on Harvard's campus. What does that really mean? Hillel is different things for different people. Harvard's Jews are a highly diverse community and Hillel strives to provide a wide range of programming to fit all people. We have a wide variety of student and staff-run social, religious, educational, and cultural programs. Hillel has a kosher dining hall with the best food on campus serving dinner Sunday through Thursday, as well as a festive Shabbat Dinner on Friday and Lunch on Saturday — all covered by your Harvard meal plan, like any other campus dining hall. The Hillel building is always full with people meeting friends, eating, engaging in social action, praying, learning, and celebrating Jewish holidays.
How does Hillel work?
The majority of our undergraduate programming is coordinated by our five Programming Committees (Communications, Community Building, Community Relations, Education, and Shabbat and Holidays). Each committee is headed by a vice president who sits on Steering Committee. Check out further details on the Undergraduate Leadership Structure.
There are many groups that fit specific interests in our community. Hillel has a Jewish rock band and klezmer band, an Israel advocacy group and a literary magazine, among others. Click here for more information on Hillel's many Affiliated Groups.
In addition to these affiliated groups Hillel also hosts three prayer communities. Each community has their own e-mail list and web page. Click here for more information on Hillel's Prayer Communities.
Getting in Touch
In order to communicate information about all of its programming, Harvard Hillel makes use of a variety of email lists. To make it easier for you to decide which lists you would like to become a part of, here's a brief description of what each is used for.
- Hillel-announce is used to send out weekly announcements about Hillel events, including Shabbat service and meal times.
- Hillel-undergrad is used solely by the undergraduate community for discussion and to communicate information about upcoming events. This list is only open to undergraduates.
- Hillel-community is used by the greater Harvard and Cambridge communities for discussions and announcements that are relevant to the Jewish community at Harvard.
Please subscribe to any and all that you're interested in!
If you have any questions...
... please don't hesitate to get in touch with me!
As the current Undergraduate Steering Committee President, I'd love to get to know you and help you in whatever way I can. I'm a Senior Government Concentrator in Quincy House from Baltimore, MD and I'm happy to talk about whatever is on your mind. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns about Hillel, being Jewish on campus, or about Harvard in general, please feel free to send me an email.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Best wishes,
Rebecca Gillette '10 (rdgillet@fas)
Our immediate past president can also help answer any of your questions. 2008 President Sarah Joselow '10 (sjoselow@fas) is a Senior History Concentrator in Eliot House from Ossining, NY. She would be happy to hear from you!