Campus Corner: Metro Chicago Hillel

This past year “host” was no longer someone whose home you could enter, but rather whoever was arranging a Zoom call. We did not meet people; we “met” them, making sure to always use those ironic quotation marks to say: I know we didn’t really meet each other . For many of us, “a normal workday” really meant “sitting in front of the computer at home.”

After living for more than 18 months in this strange reality, we’re all cautiously optimistic that we will soon revert those definitions to their original meanings. Then, a host will again be a warm face inviting us in to celebrate Shabbat, meeting someone will involve real coffee, and a normal workday will involve putting on shoes again and leaving home.

Staff at Metro Chicago Hillel – a collection of Jewish communities of students and young adults around Chicago – are enjoying a (partial) return to in-person gatherings on campus and are hopeful that students will celebrate the Jewish new year in person.

Now that the school year has arrived, Metro Chicago Hillel’s Jewish Life Associates – staff members who serve specific campuses within the Metro Chicago Hillel network – are meeting students, welcoming them to Chicago, and connecting them to a vibrant, supportive community.

Matthew Levitt, the Jewish Life Associate at University of Illinois at Chicago and Illinois Institute of Technology, is engaging in a hybrid approach – meeting some students in person and some over Zoom – with “welcome back barbecues, lakefront meetups, and coffee chats.”

DePaul University’s Caroline Spikner is “helping Hillel students build relationships with each other while exploring the city, learning together, and making a home for themselves here in Chicago” as students reestablish routines.

Sammi Galinson – the liaison to Columbia College, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Roosevelt University – is hoping to “break the 6-foot barrier with my new students” and connect with them through “art, social action, or a nice cup of coffee.”

This year, the new school year and the Jewish new year overlap, allowing Jewish Life Associates to meet and reconnect with students by celebrating the holidays together.

Metro Chicago Hillel gives students opportunities to find and build community and to honor the holidays in ways that are most meaningful to them. Wherever students’ passions and interests lie, they are bound to find a purposeful celebration at Metro Chicago Hillel. For those who find meaning in sharing food, there will be an apple and honey tasting, a hearty dinner to break the Yom Kippur fast, and a barbecue meal in a sukkah featuring etrog jelly, just to name a few.

In addition to offering services, yoga will be intertwined with learning for students who derive meaning from physical expression. And if students are interested in hearing poetry and its connection to the holidays or participating in open discussions on history and the holidays, they, too, will find it.

Like staff, students are also looking forward to celebrating the holidays in person. After being spread out across the city, and the country, reuniting after so long will “really get the momentum going again,” said Jeremy Cohen, IIT’s new Hillel President. “For most of us, it’s been well over a year since we’ve seen each other in person, and it’s huge that we will finally be able to be back together,” he said.

Jason Hart, student leader at Columbia College, agrees: “I’m absolutely thrilled to be a part of this community in-person again, and I want nothing more than to gather with other students to bring in Shabbat.”

We can already tell 5782 is going to be sweet.

Metro Chicago Hillel is a division of The Hillels of Illinois, a partner in serving the community, supported by JUF/Federation and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

Due to the evolving nature of the pandemic, Metro Chicago Hillel plans to conduct a hybrid approach to the High Holidays on campus and are preparing multiple contingency plans. The organization continues to monitor the situation and will take appropriate steps to ensure the safety and health of their community.

Amy Weiner is a rising sophomore at University of Pennsylvania, and was a JUF Lewis Summer Intern this past summer.