Happy Hanukkah Happenings 黑料传送门
Jewish college students around the world celebrated Hanukkah in fun and innovative ways this year, with campus Hillels leading holiday parties and other events to rejoice in the festival of lights.
Updates
News, stories, and updates from Hillel communities worldwide
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What Even IS Hanukkah?
During Hanukkah, our homes become microcosms of the Temple. For each of the 8 nights, we gather together, light candles, and eat foods fried in oil to remember this miracle. These acts of community and ritual strengthen our resolve to bring light into the world, and to celebrate our collective resilience and unity.
Letters from Alyssa: What Hanukkah Means to Me
As Jewish college students prepare to light this years鈥 Hanukkah candles, I鈥檝e been reflecting on the deeper meaning behind the holiday鈥檚 glow. Hanukkah is often seen as a joyful, fun-filled celebration 鈥 spinning dreidels, eating latkes, and exchanging gifts. And it is! But beyond the festive lights and traditions, there鈥檚 a profound story about Jewish identity and resilience that inspires me.
Celebrating Interfaith Connections with a Feast
At Hillel, we believe in the power of communities to support college students when they need it most. We believe college campuses are safer, more inclusive places when they come together across lines of difference. And we believe that food makes any event better!
Letters from Alyssa: Why Finding Gratitude is a Jewish Value
In Judaism, there is a聽 beautiful value called hakarat hatov 鈥 which literally means “recognizing the good.” It’s about actively noticing and acknowledging the blessings in our lives, from the biggest moments to the smallest interactions.
Letters from Alyssa: On Simchat Torah, Dancing Harder and Remembering Forever
Hi Friend, As Simchat Torah approaches, I find myself caught in a whirlwind of emotions. It’s been a year since that terrible day when joy turned to tragedy, and the festival that celebrates our love for Torah became forever linked with a massacre in Israel that killed over 1,200 people. But as I reflect on […]
Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah 101
Why celebrate one Jewish holiday when you can celebrate four?! After a month of observing the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot, the Jewish calendar finally lands on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, a combined celebration that marks the end of the High Holidays.聽
Sukkot 101
Beginning five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot is one of the three major holidays during the Jewish calendar (the other two are Passover and Shavuot). The word 鈥淪ukkot鈥 means 鈥渂ooths鈥 or 鈥渉uts,鈥 and refers to the structures many Jewish families and communities build to represent the temporary dwellings the Israelites lived in after their escape from Egypt.聽
Letters from Alyssa: Let鈥檚 Talk 黑料传送门 Yom Kippur
With Yom Kippur approaching, and with the intensity of this week鈥檚 commemoration of the October 7 attacks, I’ve been reflecting on what this holiday really means to me. Growing up, I heard all these daunting things about how I was supposed to act on Yom Kippur: fasting, wearing white clothes, and disconnecting from electronics.
What is Yom Kippur?
Imagine taking 365 days of self-reflection, and compressing it into one, single day. That, in essence, is Yom Kippur.
