Oberlin Student Hillel (OSH) and the Jewish Student Union (JSU) serve as the foundation for Jewish cultural and religious life at Oberlin. They work closely to build a diverse community, full of opportunities to engage and grow. For more information visit the Jewish Chaplain's Office's webpage.
Oberlin Student Hillel is an organization dedicated to facilitating Jewish religious expression at Oberlin. OSH hosts weekly egalitarian Kabblat Shabbat Services, led by different students each time from the Oberlin Siddur (one of the first Siddurim to include transliteration!). It teams up with the Kosher Halal Co-op and the Jewish Chaplain's Office to host a traditional Shabbat dinner serving approximately two hundred people each week. OSH also works with the Jewish Chaplain's Office and Kosher Halal Co-op to facilitate the religious celebration of all of the holidays, with services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, festivities in the Sukkah on Sukkot, a Torah reading and dancing for Simchat Torah, a Megillah reading for Purim, a Party for Chanukah, and a campSeder for Passover.
OSH brings an assortment of speakers that challenge and support Jewish religious life. Past lectures include Elliot Ginsburg's “Mysticism, Spirituality, and the Renewal of Judaism,” Rav Zalman Schachter-Shalomi's “Integral Halachah: Transcending and Including,” Rabbi Art Green's “Radical Judaism,” Paul Mendes-Flohr's “I and Thou: Dialogue in the Postmodern Age,” and Blu Greenberg's “Feminism in Judaism.” Hillel also brought Robert Esformes, who is a professor specializing in Ladino music, for a concert and prayer workshop.
OSH has biweekly meetings which can range from Shana Tova card making to discussions of Jewish identity. Occasionally, Hillel will ask Oberlin Professors to give a talk at a meeting, such as Dr. Mahallati, Professor of Islam, who spoke on “Eid al-Adha and the Binding of Ishamel.”
For more information, please contact:
Alexa Ciciretti <Alexa.Ciciretti@oberlin.edu> - Hillel chair
Samia Mansour <Samia.Mansour@oberlin.edu> - Jewish Student Life Coordinator
Shimon Brand <Sbrand@oberlin.edu> - Jewish Chaplain
The Jewish Student Union is an organization dedicated to facilitating Jewish cultural exploration at Oberlin. JSU hosts cultural celebrations for the holidays, including apple picking for Rosh Hashanah, menorah making programs for Chanukah, a Tu B'shvat seder, a costume party for Purim, and a memorial observance for Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The JSU strives to increase education and awareness of Jewish issues through speakers and educational events. Span the spectrum, ranging from topics of Jewish communal significance to issues of global justice. Past lectures include Judith Plaskow's “Re-conceiving a Judaism Free of Gender Bias,” Maurice Roumani's “Jews of Color in Israel: from Discrimination to Integration,” and John Prendergast's “Genocide, Darfur, and the Bush Administration.” JSU has also hosted such musical guests as the Guy Mendilow Band, which has won numerous awards for its inventive world music compositions, and the Mideast Orchestra.
JSU has biweekly meetings which can range from Israeli dancing to exploring Jewish poetry. This past year, JSU hosted talks from Oberlin Professors at two of their meetings; Dr. Zohar Raviv, Professor of Jewish Studies, spoke about “The Difference between American and Israeli Jews,” and Dr. Mathis Szykowski, Emeritus Professor of French, gave a personal account of how he survived the Holocaust.
For more information, please contact:
Einav Silverstein<Einav.Silverstein@oberlin.edu>- Jewish Student Union chair
Samia Mansour <Samia.Mansour@oberlin.edu> - Jewish Student Life Coordinator
Shimon Brand <Sbrand@oberlin.edu> - Jewish Chaplain