High Holidays at Hillel House

Jewish students gathered to celebrate Yom Kippur, the end of the Jewish high holy days, with a temple service and a 24-hour fast.

Rosh Hashanah marked the beginning of the Jewish New Year last week.  Chancellor Sam Goldman addressed members of the community during a service at temple on Rosh Hashanah.

Rachel Wides, a first-year graduate student from Carbondale in social work, said Goldman described the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur as the time when “the book is open” — the Torah — and sins can be atoned. 

“This is the time when we reflect on our sins and look forward to the New Year,” said Daniel Schafroth, a senior from New Lenox studying history. 

On Sunday, students gathered at the Hillel house, a nationwide foundation for Jewish student life, to eat together before heading to temple. 

Wides, director of the SIUC Hillel House, said the house attracts a wide spectrum of students. 

“Some students were raised in religiously-devout homes, and others are here to explore heritage and culture,” she said. 

Wides said she encourages all students to visit the Hillel House, regardless of religious affiliation.

“We are trying to focus on cultural and social Judaism, not just religion,” Wides said.

 
The effort to expand the focus of the organization to include cultural Judaism and social events seems to be working, she said.  This year the Registered Student Organization has 45 active members, a huge increase from last year, Wides said.

Students at Hillel spent Monday at the Beth Jacob Temple celebrating Yom Kippur, the end of the Jewish high holy days, before breaking their 24-hour fast at Pagliai’s Pizza. Wides said the fast is a time of reflection and refrain.

For Schafroth, who said he was raised in a non-traditional Jewish home, the Hillel house has added to his religious strength. 

“Hillel’s given me an education on what it’s like to be religiously Jewish, not just culturally Jewish,” Schafroth said. 

Schafroth said he is the president of the student board of Hillel at SIUC.

“The Hillel house is just a place where you can experience Jewish culture in Carbondale,” said Daniel Robot, a senior fromChicago studying psychology.

Carbondale has such a small Jewish population that the Hillel house is crucial to developing community, Wides said.

The Hillel house is open from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday at 605 W. Elm St. in Carbondale.  Students can use the house for studying and socializing. The house also hosts Shabbat dinner and service at 5:30 p.m. every Friday.

Julia Rendleman can be reached at 536-3311 ext. 254.