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anyone know anything about nortwestern's hillel. like how many poeple go thier?

By Politics26 (Politics26) on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 11:50 pm: Edit

i was just wondering the same thing. How's the jewish life at northwestern?

By Sing (Sing) on Sunday, September 12, 2004 - 02:51 am: Edit

I was just at Northwestern for the summer (NHSI, theatre arts), but I know from word-of-mouth that the Hillel is quite active. My parents are friends with their last rabbi, and the new one's supposed to be pretty good. Jews at NU aren't terribly connected Jewishly, but there's still a pretty substantial bunch. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have more questions.

By Zcat18 (Zcat18) on Sunday, September 12, 2004 - 06:40 am: Edit

Hillel is a great resource, especially for freshmen. I find that its usefulness as a group diminishes as you progress through college and find your niche, but it's a wonderful way to meet people during your first year at NU. They have a great program for freshmen called Freshman Fest, where you come to campus a day early and basically just camp out and play games around the NU campus. It's a little tacky, but those first people you meet are people that you'll always remember and at least say hello to, even 3 or 4 years later.

NU is about 14% Jewish--not quite up to the level of Penn or Emory as far as the Jewish influence is concerned, but certainly adequate. If you want more info., contact Rabbi Michael Mishkin, the director of the NU Hillel. He's a wonderful guy and would be more than happy to tell you everything you want to know about Jewish life at NU. Another person to contact, believe it or not, is our Chabad rabbi, Rabbi Klein. He's been a fixture on campus for years and is always mega-active in campus life, despite his Chabad background. Imagine a guy with a long beard and tzit tzit in shorts and a baseball hat playing in the intramural softball league for frat guys.

Be sure to post any other questions you have about Jewish life at NU, and don't be afraid to contact Rabbi Mishkin, Rabbi Klein, or both, before you come to campus.