Rutgers Hillel

Rutgers Hillel is a thriving, dynamic, diverse Jewish community dedicated to exploring and celebrating Judaism and everything it means to be Jewish.

Hillel’s case is one of the best in the Jewish world: a compelling need, a proven methodology, a global platform.

 1) Hillel is entirely focused on the most critical age cohort in the Jewish world:

• Young people are on their own for the first time, making critical decisions regarding their future, and the future of their families.
• The college years are the last years in which the organized Jewish community can make an impact on young people before they begin their careers and families.
• Hillel is ideally positioned to make a positive difference.

2) Hillel is present where the young Jews are:

• Going to college is the single most common experience of Jewish young people: more common than bar mitzvah, camp, day school or an Israel visit.
• 85-90% of college-age Jews attend an institution of higher learning.
• The college campus is the ideal location for engaging the next generation.

 3) Hillel is affiliated with most enduring institutions in society.

• The Jewish community is highly transient and mobile.
• Synagogues, JCCs, Federations, day schools, camps all exist at the whim of demographics, economics, and the ever mobile Jewish community.
• BUT - the university is perhaps the most enduring institution in our society: Most leading universities have been in existence at the same location for 100-350 years.
• As long as there are universities, Jewish students will attend them.  And Hillel will be there.   

 4) Hillel is a global enterprise. 

• Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, present on campuses and in communities across North America, the former Soviet Union, South America, and Israel.
• Hillel has partner relationships with campus networks in Australia and Europe.
• Every Hillel is a self-sufficient local institution, but is part of an interdependent global network.
• Hillel is a global platform for Jewish Peoplehood.

 5) Hillel’s Methodology is a Proven Success

• Studies show that Hillel reaches 45% of students and that close to 60% have a positive view of Hillel.
• Involvement in Hillel is the greatest predictor of future leadership in the Jewish community.
• Hillel’s engagement methodology is proven; greater success is just a question of scale.

Given Hillel’s focus on the most critical age cohort in the Jewish world;

Our presence at the most enduring institutions in society;

Where more young Jews are found than anywhere else;

Our global platform for Jewish Peoplehood;

And our proven methodology and measurable success;

Hillel is arguably the 2nd most important organization in the world for Jewish continuity – next to the State of Israel itself.

Hillel is an aspirational organization. We aspire to goals that far outstrip the service we may provide at a given moment, such as a Shabbat meal, Jewish learning, or a community service opportunity. These are important, but we provide them in the service of something more: to create a sense of community, to instill values and a desire to act, and to create the Jewish community of the future.