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Observant Student FAQs

FAQs About Orthodox Life on Campus

You should attach a mezuzah without a bracha. You can also pick up a mezuzah at Harvard Hillel.

Starting after Labor Day, the Orthodox minyan at Hillel meets at 7:15 a.m. Monday–Friday (7:00 a.m. when Hallel and Mussaf are said) and 8:30 a.m. on Sundays. Mincha varies in time and can meet at Hillel and/or at the Law School. Men and women are invited to say Kaddish and the Orthodox minyan will go out of its way to accommodate members saying Kaddish.

You can sign up for minyan and check its status here.

There is a google sign up sheet for leining. Just add your name!

If you have interest in finding a chevruta, please contact Rabbi Noah Marlowe. Additionally, all the Harvard Hillel rabbis are available to study one-on-one.

The broader Cambridge community offers exciting shiurim at Harvard Hillel every other Sunday night, to which all students are invited free of charge. You can find out more information about these opportunities here.

OSM is the social group for Orthodox undergraduates on campus; despite the word “minyan” in its title, it involves no actual prayer. The Orthodox minyan is the prayer/religious space that meets within the Harvard Hillel building for undergrads, grad students, and community member

There are several mailing lists and Facebook groups you can join:

Most of the year, the Charles River can be used as a mikvah. During the winter and spring, speak with Rabbi Noah Marlowe before using the Charles to tovel. Additionally, there is a kelim mikvah at the Young Israel of Brookline.

Kashrut

A delicious kosher dinner is served Sunday through Thursday during the academic school year from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. and is available to all students on Harvard’s undergraduate meal plan. In addition, weekly Friday Shabbat dinners and Saturday Shabbat lunches are also served. (Shabbat lunch is 12:00 to 2:00; check calendar for Friday Shabbat meal times.)

Every Harvard dining hall has a Kosher Corner, which includes frozen meals, cold cuts, cheeses, tuna fish, etc., as well as a kosher microwave and toaster oven. Make sure to double-check the hechsher on everything in the fridge. The Kosher Corner at Annenberg is always stocked with food, but in other Houses it is only stocked upon request. If you are eating in another dining hall, make sure to inform the dining staff that you will be eating there throughout the year and to keep it stocked.

The combination for all kosher locks is 248, the number of positive commandments in the Torah. It is essential to lock the lock after each use to ensure the kosher status is maintained. It is recommended that you kasher the microwave and toaster oven before using them. Some of the cold, packaged foods (such as cereal, peanut butter, bread, etc.) in the non-kosher areas of the dining halls are also kosher, as are many of the raw vegetables in the salad bar (the lettuce is triple-washed). Ask the dining staff to see the original packaging to check for certification. (There are enough people who ask for other dietary purposes that they normally don’t look at you funny if you ask.)

There’s a kosher microwave, toaster oven, and fridge in the far left corner of the serving area. It is recommended to kasher both before using them for the first time, and to lock them (the combination for the lock, and for every other kosher lock in other dining halls, is 248). Make sure to double-check the hechscher on everything in the fridge, as the Annenberg staff has been known to confuse the word “halal” with “Hillel” and trademark symbols with hechscherim. You can ask David Seley, the Annenberg coordinator, to stock whatever kosher items you want.

Yes. Flyby is a bagged lunch made by Hillel (includes a sandwich of your choice, bag of chips, fruit, beverage, and dessert) that you can order the night before you want it (at dinner at Hillel, the check-in person will have order forms). You can pick up your bagged lunch from Hillel or Annenberg. Practically speaking, there’s usually a lot of food left over from events during the week that can be eaten for lunch, or kosher lunch events at Hillel.

The only kosher establishment in Harvard Square is the ice cream store, JP Licks, which also has oatmeal and a limited supply of bagels and croissants. Everything in JP Licks is certified kosher by the Vaad of New England (KVH). There are also plenty of CVS’s, supermarkets, and convenience stores in Harvard Square and Cambridge where you can buy kosher products. Brookline, which is about a half-hour bus ride or 45-minute walk, has a number of kosher restaurants.

Shabbat and Yom Tov

During Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot (including Chol HaMoed), Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, and Passover (including Chol HaMoed), the Hillel dining hall is open daily for lunch from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Hillel provides tea lights and matches before Shabbat and Yom Tov. For the second day of Yom Tov, the kitchen staff is used to students coming in to get fire from the pilot light. It is against Harvard rules to light candles in your room. This is a serious safety concern and violation of this policy would also be damaging to the reputation of the Jewish community on campus.

There are different opinions on this question. Ask the Orthodox Hillel rabbi or your own personal rabbi for guidance.

If you live in Thayer, Matthews, Hurlbut, or any upperclass House, you can ask for a manual entry key for Shabbat. If you don’t have a key or want to get into a dorm or House that isn’t yours, you just have to hang around the entrance and wait for a friend to open the door to let you in.

If there is no other entrance available, it is halachically permissible to use such a door. For an explanation of this halachic ruling, please consult the Orthodox Hillel rabbi.

This depends on the specific situation. Please consult the Orthodox Hillel rabbi for guidance.

Yes, there’s an eruv that covers basically anywhere you want to go on Shabbat, except for crossing the Charles (to Brookline and Brighton). For more info, see www.nceruv.org.

The Orthodox minyan at Hillel provides a kiddush after Shacharit. Seudat Shlishit is held by the Orthodox minyan at Hillel between Mincha and Maariv, and on motzai Shabbat, Hillel provides a catered dinner for undergrads.

However you feel comfortable.

Totally! Visiting prefrosh can get their Shabbat meals for free at Hillel. Speak with a member of the Hillel staff. Otherwise, guests have to pay for meals at Hillel. Chabad is free for everyone. Nobody in your dorm will mind a guest, especially a prefrosh.

Everyone at Harvard will be extremely accommodating if you ask for help. Notify your professors and TFs at the beginning of the semester exactly which classes you will be missing. If there are problem sets or papers due on or around a Yom Tov, discuss your options with your professor and TFs as early as possible. Don’t approach a professor with a sense of entitlement; explain your situation and express that you will do all that is necessary to keep up with coursework.

Campus Living

People come from so many different backgrounds and cultures that most students don’t question others’ traditions much. You might want to explain sometimes—after all, imagine how confusing it might be to walk in on your roommate whispering in a different language while wearing leather boxes on his head—but as a general rule, people are pretty accommodating and nice.

No. You should feel comfortable wearing your Jewish garb with pride. People, in general, really don’t care how you dress or what you do. They might ask questions about it, but usually out of curiosity.