The Hillel at Florida State University is a community for Jewish students and those wishing to convert to Judaism to learn and practice Jewish traditions in a safe and welcoming environment. The Hillel creates a strong sense of fellowship amongst Jewish undergraduate students to assist them in their transition into a large public university. The Hillel partakes in numerous community service events to give back to the community and reach out to as many students as possible to educate non-jews about the culture and lifestyle of Jewish individuals.
The Jewish community heavily values good deeds and giving back to the community as part of our “Tikkun Olam” or “Mitzvah”. A mitzvah is basically a commandment that we follow and Tikkun Olam, according to the Torah, is most commonly referred to as committing selfless acts to better the community and constructively. For instance, when donating money religious Jews oftentimes do not put their name attached to the donation but instead send it anonymously as part of their Mitzvah or Tikkun Olam. The Hillel takes these Jewish values and enacts them within all of their community service endeavors including Challah for Hunger, the Dance Marathon, and Habitat for Humanity.
Out of Florida State’s undergraduate population of over thirty-three thousand, only 3270 students identify as Jewish. This is one of the problems that the Hillel faces quite often. With the lack of jewish students on campus, the Hillel regularly faces a shortage of members because students may not be able to locate the Hillel, which is off-campus and struggle with gaining a foothold in the community. Despite identifying as “Jewish” many students find themselves unwilling to join the Hillel because they see it as a sort of isolation from the rest of the communities that Florida State has to offer. The Hillel has acknowledged this issue and actually partners with Jewish Greek Life to get more students involved and have a larger platform for philanthropic goals. Greek Life such as Sigma Delta Tau and Alpha Epsilon Pi are both current partners with the Hillel and are predominantly made up of Jewish students who are looking to gain a brotherhood and/or sisterhood alongside staying connected with the rest of the Florida State community.
The Hillel attempts to reach out to, and provide information to, current members in a variety of ways. One of their primary ways for member recruitment is club fairs and setting up tables across campus. Florida State holds club fairs for students to engage in the school in categories other than just academics and the Hillel Club sets up a table to inform people passing by about how to get involved and how often meetings are to promote club involvement and gain new members who may be interested. Eager members wanting to join who may have missed the club fair may learn more about the Hillel through their website, Hillelatfsu.org, this website provides a plethora of information about Hillel’s goals, their greek partners (AEPI and SDT), trips to Israel, and their Tikkun Olam (community service). This website also gives you the contact information for the President of Hillel, Lara Tessler, alongside the other board members. For members who are already acquainted with the club, Hillel frequently sends out not only Reminds but texts to individuals to make you feel more welcome. These texts and Reminds contain information about upcoming meetings, club activities, and special events that may be occurring at the Hillel’s weekly Shabbats.
Shabbat is observed every Friday evening and starts a few minutes prior to sundown. Shabbat is a Jewish celebration of the week ending and the day of rest that follows. During Shabbat, a series of prayer and songs are conducted in honor of Hashem (Hebrew for “the name” which is referring to G*d), life, family, and Judaism as a whole and a large meal is eaten. The meal is typically composed of dishes from Israel and the middle east but the entire meal must be kosher. For a meal to be kosher it has to satisfy and abide by Jewish law: dairy and meat cannot be mixed, pork and shellfish are not permitted, and certain items need to be blessed by a Rabbi. Shabbat is a major component of the Jewish faith alongside High Holy Days. Since Shabbat is conducted on a weekly basis it also gives the members of Hillel time to interact with one another and gain more connections but it also allows Hillel’s executive board to provide information about upcoming events.