Thousands of Jewish Students Celebrate Rosh Hashanah with Hillel
This past weekend, thousands of Jewish students celebrated Rosh Hashanah with their campus Hillels, with many first-year students ringing in the new year away from home at Hillel for the first time, alongside returning students. Across colleges and universities, students ushered in 5787 with joy and meaning, gathering for prayer, festive meals, and creative takes on tradition.
At Vanderbilt University Hillel, staff and student leaders organized more than a dozen Rosh Hashanah seders across campus that welcomed over 700 participants. The seders exemplified Vanderbilt Hillel’s commitment to accessibility and creativity in holiday programming.
“The vision behind our Rosh Hashanah Seder is to create opportunities for students to experience the themes and traditions of the holiday through food and ritual, much like a Passover seder,” said Ari Dubin, executive director of Vanderbilt Hillel. “We know that not everyone is going to be focused on attending services for the High Holidays, so we want to create meaningful ways for them to still access and experience the holiday. For us, it’s about being creative in how we connect with students and meeting them where they are.”
While the tradition of the seder has remained strong, the experience itself has evolved based on student needs. This year, Hillel staff and students worked together to bring a taste of Rosh Hashanah to different campus communities, hosting 13 seders for students in Greek life, performing arts, sports, and even those pursuing graduate degrees. Each seder was part of an effort to meet students in the places and spaces where they gather regularly.
For Brandon Buchalter, a third-year student, being part of a Hillel-run seder with Alpha Epsilon Pi was a meaningful way to celebrate with his fraternity brothers. “I’m very grateful that Vandy Hillel supports AEPi’s Rosh Hashanah seder, as it brought such a special holiday to my brothers who have a wide range of Jewish experiences,” Buchalter said. “I’m thankful that I have such an incredible space where I can connect with Rosh Hashanah away from home.”
At the University of Pennsylvania, many students paused their studies to attend a diverse variety of services at Hillel. They also gathered for meals, including Shabbat dinner and a post-services bagel brunch, and will participate in Tashlich around a pond tucked away in a quiet part of campus, symbolically casting away past failures and sadness.
“Whether students joined us between classes or set aside the day for prayer and self-reflection, Penn Hillel provided a range of opportunities to engage with Jewish spirituality and tradition,” said Rabbi Misha Clebaner, an Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz Jewish Innovation Fellow at Penn Hillel. “Our goal was to help students begin not only the Jewish new year, but also the academic year, on the right foot. Rosh Hashanah offers students a chance to pause, recharge, and center their thoughts and intentions for the year ahead.”
Finding Jewish connection and meaning took many forms at Penn Hillel. For Marissa Teitelbaum, a Ph.D. candidate in engineering, one special moment was chanting Torah during the Conservative service. “Being a part of Rosh Hashanah at Penn Hillel, especially through reading Torah… has given me a meaningful way to connect with my Judaism, feel reminded of home, and share that experience with other students in an inclusive environment that brings people from across campus together to celebrate,” she said.
Spending the new year with Hillel also offered some of the comforts of home, especially for students living thousands of miles away from their families. “As a college senior originally from California, I have found a second home at Penn Hillel for the High Holy Days,” said Samantha Kaufman, student president of Penn Hillel. “Rosh Hashanah programming creates a meaningful space to gather as a Jewish community, allowing me to celebrate the new year in a way that feels authentic to me.”
Hillels of the Florida Suncoast welcomed the new year with students from three campuses, including the University of South Florida. They spent time in the kitchen baking honey cakes and gathered to sing and pray, followed by a festive holiday meal.
“It’s a big step to take in one’s Jewish college life — choosing for the first time where to spend the High Holidays,” said Matthew R., student president of USF Hillel. To me, helping lead our Rosh Hashanah celebration at Hillel meant that I had the precious opportunity to help form a very meaningful experience… for those who do not have the ability to celebrate the new year with their family.”
Helping lead the holiday experience was also meaningful for Jessica Z., who serves as student vice president of USF Hillel. “I like having a part in Hillel because we don’t have many Jewish organizations,” she said. “Being able to help this organization grow is something that I want to do so much. Rosh Hashanah was a really good start because we had a lot of students come and be engaged with what Judaism really is.”
Across the country, Hillel of San Diego organized a variety of hands-on activities for the holiday, including candy apple making, vision and charcuterie boards, a honey cake and round challah bake, apples and honey tabling on campus, and a community-wide Shabbat dinner. Hillel of San Diego also partnered with local synagogues to connect students with different Rosh Hashanah services in the broader community.
“Being involved in High Holiday programming has shown me how powerful it is to celebrate Jewish traditions alongside other students,” said Eden Bitton, a second-year student involved with Hillel of San Diego. “Knowing that I helped create a space where people can feel comfortable, connected, and proud to be Jewish makes the holiday even more meaningful to me.”
“Through High Holiday events at Hillel, I have become more connected to my heritage in a way I wasn’t growing up,” agreed recent graduate Caleb Blumenthal-Roth. “It has motivated me to stay involved in the Jewish community going into my adult life and to give back when I can.”
Whether students celebrated on campus for the first time or returned to traditions and friends they have come to love, Hillels across the country created a space for them to begin 5787 with intention.