Prayer & Minyanim
One of the timeless pieces of Jewish wisdom is that we all need to periodically gather and reflect on what really matters, in community. Even as the world changes and technology advances, the human spirit remains unchanged. Our need for connection and reflection endures.
Harvard Hillel proudly hosts Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Egalitarian communities where students can connect, reconnect, and give voice to our liturgy in ways that are both traditional and modern. No matter what denominational home you come from or where you’re going, there’s a community at Harvard Hillel where you’ll feel connected and inspired.
Our minyanim are eager to get to know you! Fill out this super quick form and we’ll be in touch.
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Reform Community
Harvard Hillel’s Reform Community is dedicated to creating beautiful Reform prayer services; fostering a warm and welcoming environment; facilitating personal, spiritual, and moral growth, and advancing inter-minyan engagement and cooperation. Our community is open to undergraduates, graduate students, community members, and anyone in between! Our Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services are undergraduate-led and use a mix of English and Hebrew from the Mishkan T’filah prayer book, feature lively guitar and singing, and include provocative discussions of the weekly Torah portion. For further information, please contact our Reform Rabbinic Intern Monica Steiner.
Student Harvard Egal Minyan
The Student Harvard Egal Minyan (SHEM) is an intimate, growing, traditional-egalitarian minyan and community of Harvard undergrads, graduate students, and Cambridge community members. We are lay-led: members of the SHEM community lead our weekly Kabbalat Shabbat and Maariv services and tri-semesterly Shabbat morning and chag (holiday) services.
Vibrant community is a core value of SHEM. We run a yearly shabbaton, cater community lunches, and teach torah. All of SHEM—irrespective of Jewish background—works to build our prayer space and communal atmosphere. We are a developing community; look out for community meals, fun excursions into Boston, learning opportunities, fellowships, parties and more.
Davening can be beautiful, artistic, transcendent, and community driven. To model what great davening can be and inspire us, we host guest artists and master daveners who lead and teach. We also strive to support you in your Jewish evolution: learning how to lead for the first time, following along with our services, taking your davening to the next level, joining our Song Fellowship team.
We hope that you can be a part of our development and contribute to our vibrant vision of Jewish community at Harvard.
We are eager to get to know you! Fill out this super quick form and we’ll be in touch.
Orthodox Student Minyan
The Orthodox Student Minyan (OSM) is a group that offers social, religious, and intellectual programming and community for undergraduate students at Harvard.
In conjunction with the Orthodox Minyan at Harvard Hillel, OSM offers daily and Shabbat minyanim. You can find more information about the Orthodox Minyan, including some davening times, here.
See Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about observant life on campus.
Worship & Study Minyan
Founded in 1965 by former Hillel Director Rabbi Ben Zion Gold, z”l, the Worship and Study Minyan is a welcoming, multigenerational congregation with a deep commitment to Jewish pluralism, egalitarianism, and freedom of inquiry. Our members come to their Jewish practice from a wide variety of backgrounds, including many reclaiming their Jewish identity or choosing Judaism after growing up in a different tradition.
Shabbat services include spirited (prayer) based on traditional liturgy with much congregational singing; a lively, wide-ranging Torah discussion; and a convivial Kiddush. We rely on our members to lead us in prayer and to teach us Torah, so we are always seeking new voices to uncover new facets of our tradition.
In addition to our weekly Shabbat services, we come together for holidays and for social occasions at members’ homes. Likewise, we celebrate together at life-cycle events and comfort one another in times of sickness and mourning. Finally, we make soup every month for the Friday Café at First Church Cambridge.
Membership at Worship and Study is open to all, whether or not you have a Harvard affiliation. We hold Saturday morning services at Harvard Hillel every week starting at 9:30 a.m. The Torah service begins at 10:30 a.m. and the Torah discussion around 11:15.We hope you will come to learn and stay to teach!
The minyan offers tutoring in Hebrew, davening, and chanting from the Torah. Contact Rabbi Jim Morgan for more information. Check out worshipandstudy.org for more information.
Orthodox Minyan
The Orthodox Minyan at Harvard Hillel is a welcoming and inclusive modern Orthodox kehillah that brings together undergraduates, graduate students, professionals, and young families from Cambridge and Somerville to create a vibrant religious community. We encourage growth in knowledge and religious expression for all, regardless of background or affiliation.
The Minyan continues to grow: in addition to students enrolled in universities in and around Cambridge, we welcome many young professionals and families each year. People choose our community for its friendly vibe, spirited tefillot, lively kiddushes, and engaging shiurim and divrei Torah. We encourage you to consider visiting!
We provide daily services, learning opportunities, and social events throughout the year. Each Shabbat, we provide kiddush and seudah shlishit. Please peruse our website to learn more about our community.