Building Jewish identity through art

Students at UChicago Hillel quickly discover that our city offers an endless array of opportunities to connect with Judaism. While the Hillel building is the first stop when students arrive on campus, we encourage them to branch out and build connections with Jewish culture in the broadest ways possible.

The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, right here on campus, is our go-to to help students bridge their love of art and a growing commitment to Jewish community. The Logan Center’s mission of serving as a home for creative life makes it a perfect place for students who are proud cultural Jews to deepen their knowledge of, and connection to, Jewish arts. Last spring, we began to explore the Logan Center’s deep cultural networks through our participation in the Korngold Festival, which amplified the work of a little-known composer and offered campus events like ‘The Golden Age of Jewish Film Music.”

Art enables us to gather as a community across differences. The Bronzeville Youth Identity Collaborative is currently gearing up for its third cohort, made possible through the Hymen Milgrom Supporting Organization. This program, a partnership between Hillel and the University Community Service Center, is a forum through which UChicago students mentor local high schoolers as the group discusses topics related to identity and representation.

The collaborative encourages students to explore their identities and tell their stories through diverse forms of artistic expression. Through this cohort, we invite students to question stereotypes and preconceived notions about themselves, each other, and the world around them. One original composition that a student presented in his final showcase left the whole audience in hopeful tears.

But not all of our Hillel’s connection to art is erudite. Much of our music scene takes place around the piano in Hillel’s coffee nook. Last year, two student interns held an “Un-Recital,” which gave students an opportunity to make music together without the formality of a stage. By the end of the night, even students who came by just to study were participating, noshing, and singing along.

UChicago students have the opportunity to celebrate Jewish tradition and history through the arts. This fall, Hillel will host 10 lucky students to see Fiddler on the Roof at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. The fieldtrip will offer an afternoon out on the town delving into the old world of Judaism and tradition-or should I say, “Tradition!”

For many of our students who take music seriously, rehearsal and performance schedules prove as rigorous as a varsity sport. For busy students like rising second year Robert Ukrainsky, musical performance bridges his talent and his heritage. “Music ties me to Judaism and has been essential in my connection to prayer,” he explains. “It has always helped me create a sense of community during Shabbat and holidays.”

This fall, while Kol Nidre services will take place across campus for students from all backgrounds, we’ll once again be joining together in UChicago’s foremost venue, Rockefeller Chapel, as the sun sets through the historic stained glass. And once again, Pritzker School of Medicine faculty and Hillel Advisory Board member Dr. Benjamin Levy will join student musicians by playing cello during one of the most sacred moments of the Jewish year. Here at University of Chicago, we treasure the way that music can speak emotions-and build connection beyond words.

Anna Levin Rosen is the Executive Director and Rabbi of the University of Chicago Hillel.