Your typical Hillel is like vanilla frozen yogurt - a perfectly satisfying standby available at most dining halls. But what about the more exotic fro-yo flavors? Espresso, chocolate raspberry, mango…These next few Hillels are more like those options-intriguing twists you won’t find on your average campus.

For immigrants: Russian Hillel of Chicago

There is no building for this Hillel, no event flyers pasted on university sidewalks. No, the best way to find out about this Hillel is by word-of-mouth-in Russian.
The only one of its kind, Russian Hillel caters to students from Chicago-area colleges who are Russian immigrants.

“We recognized a number of years ago that there was a significantly large number of Jewish students who came from the former Soviet Union,” says Michelle Maer, the executive director of Hillels Around Chicago, an umbrella organization that includes the Russian Hillel of Chicago. “[These students] spoke Russian, and they were looking to connect Jewishly but felt more comfortable doing that within their Russian-speaking community. So we evolved the Russian Hillel, and we’ve been doing a number of programs that I think speak more specifically to Russian culture, heritage and language.”

The Hillel is as much a social and cultural hub as a religious one.

“We welcome you no matter what your level of observance is,” Maer says. “Some people - actually most of them - who participate in Russian Hillel don’t have a religious connection to Judaism. It was prohibited in the former Soviet Union, so they might not have grown up with a Jewish education or background.”

While many Russian Hillel events mirror activities at other Hillels - “fon-Jew” fondue parties and Israeli wine tastings, for example - there’s no denying they put their own spin on the fun. Who else would throw a Russian cartoon night?

Latin-influenced:
Hillel Second Generation (H2G)

It seemed safe to assume that Hillel was synonymous with college, but it turns out not every Hillel serves the 18 to 22-year-old crowd. Hillel Second Generation in Aventura, Fla., calls itself the first community-based Hillel in the country. Known by the spiffy acronym H2G, Hillel Second Generation caters not only to university students, but also to the “second generation,” or just-out-of-college-aged folk. Members range from 18-year-old university students to graduates who are approaching middle age, says Melissa Peron, H2G’s engagement associate.

H2G originally gained popularity in Latin America, where the majority of young adults live at home while attending college.

“Because [Latin American college students] only attend classes on their university campus, having Hillel off campus in their community is more attractive,” Peron says. “A community-based Hillel is not located on any campus. We are, though, close to the majority of the universities we service.”
One of few Hillels in southern Florida, H2G caters to approximately 4,000 young Jewish adults and functions somewhat like a Jewish community center for the area.

And while H2G’s target audience differs from that of the average university, H2G’s programs do not; they include community service, career development, Torah study classes, social events and Israel advocacy.

The First: Texas A&M Hillel

Judaism is a religion steeped in tradition, so a tour of unique Hillels wouldn’t be complete without a trip to the oldest Hillel in the country. Believe it or not, Texas A&M Hillel in College Station, Texas, has been around for 93 years.

Started back in 1916 as the TAMC Menorah Club, this Hillel was founded even before The Hillel Foundation, which wasn’t established until 1923 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
But old doesn’t mean staid or standard.

“Five years ago the student board actually adopted a new type of constitution,” says Program Director Carlie Dorshaw. “That was a big change.”

Gone are the days of the standard Hillel student president. In an unusual twist of Hillel politics, Texas A&M Hillel’s student government now uses a parliamentary system - as in the form of government currently used in Britain, Spain and Canada.

Every spring, students vote online for up to ten members running for the student board. Those ten selected members then meet and select a prime minminister amongst themselves.

“It’s one of the little unique things about the university,” Dorshaw says.

On TV: Springfield Hillel

Hillel can now add an animated Hillel to its list of Jewish student centers. The cartoon Hillel made its TV debut on “The Simpsons” in an episode that featured a flashback to Marge’s college days at the fictitious Springfield University. The episode aired on January 27, 2008, and the cartoon Hillel makes a brief, three-and-a-half-second showing when Marge naively (but amusingly) refers to the “fraternity pledges in their beanies” as she passes three Jewish students in kippahs standing outside the Jewish center.

Even more entertaining than a Hillel shout-out on “The Simpsons,” is the real Hillel’s mock press release posted to its Web site two days later. Titled “Hillel Opens Burns Hillel Center at Springfield University,” the news release invents a storyline behind the Springfield facility that includes an all-you-can-eat cholent bar.

Playing off the show’s traditional characters, the release reads: “In a moving address, Krusty the Clown, the actor Herschel Shmoikel Pinkus Yerucham Krustofsky, dedicated the Rabbi Hyman Krustofski Chapel in memory of his father, who served as the Hillel director at Springfield U.”

The release also reports that the Springfield University Hillel features shuffleboard courts, a Laundromat, hookah bar and helipad. Even Homer Simpson made it into the real Hillel’s report: “Springfield resident Homer Simpson was particularly pleased with the cholent bar,” it reads. “Simpson explained that he paid for his wife’s college tuition by serving as the Hillel ‘Shabbes boy.’ ‘I took the job for the money but I stayed for the free jelly donuts,’ Simpson said.”

To view the full episode of “The Simpsons,” search for the Season 19 episode titled “That 90’s Show.” To read the fictitious news release, visit www.hillel.org/about/news/2008/jan/29jan2008_springfield.htm.

-Grace Weitz
- Alyssa Urish