Welcome to Hillel at Ohio University!!!
Welcome to the official website of Ohio University Hillel! Hillel strives to create a dynamic Jewish environment on campus where everyone is welcome. We serve the Ohio University campus community in areas of Jewish culture, education, history, social service, Israel advocacy, and communal experiences. Through involvement in Hillel, Jewish students learn valuable leadership skills, enhance their Jewish identity, and diversify the religious and cultural campus community.
To our Ohio University Jewish Students: We see you. Our Hillel hears you. It can feel really hard to be Jewish publicly when there is conflict in Israel. You aren’t alone.
Friends and family may expect you to have opinions and facts to help them either understand or justify or explain away what is going on. Maybe it’s all so overwhelming that you can’t or don’t want to talk about it.
That’s ok.
You don’t need to have all the facts. You don’t need to know all the history. You don’t need to feel like you and you alone represent the entire Jewish people. You can just be you, with all of the complexity that comes with being Jewish.
That’s ok.
Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) teaches us that we are not obligated to complete the work, nor are we free to desist from it. At this moment, peace may seem an impossible vision. But we aren’t free to desist from trying to make the world better.
Check in with your Jewish friends. Offer to listen. Offer to be present. Offer support because we are all in this together. It takes a lot of emotional labour to talk openly about the I/P conflict. Protect your mental health and only engage when you feel like you can.
Recent events cannot be boiled down to a simple infographic or social media post, and we encourage students to reach out to someone on our OHIO Hillel professional team to process, discuss, or learn together. While our building may be closed currently, our phones are on and our DMs are always open. You aren’t alone. OU Hillel is here for you and here to listen.
We encourage students to also register for Hillel International’s virtual conversation tomorrow to help explain what is happening in Jerusalem and throughout Israel. Join a student-moderated panel of experts who will give multiple perspectives on how we have gotten to this moment and the road ahead for Israelis and Palestinians.
Sign up by visiting HillelatHome.org
Friends and family may expect you to have opinions and facts to help them either understand or justify or explain away what is going on. Maybe it’s all so overwhelming that you can’t or don’t want to talk about it.
That’s ok.
You don’t need to have all the facts. You don’t need to know all the history. You don’t need to feel like you and you alone represent the entire Jewish people. You can just be you, with all of the complexity that comes with being Jewish.
That’s ok.
Pirkei Avot (Ethics of our Fathers) teaches us that we are not obligated to complete the work, nor are we free to desist from it. At this moment, peace may seem an impossible vision. But we aren’t free to desist from trying to make the world better.
Check in with your Jewish friends. Offer to listen. Offer to be present. Offer support because we are all in this together. It takes a lot of emotional labour to talk openly about the I/P conflict. Protect your mental health and only engage when you feel like you can.
Recent events cannot be boiled down to a simple infographic or social media post, and we encourage students to reach out to someone on our OHIO Hillel professional team to process, discuss, or learn together. While our building may be closed currently, our phones are on and our DMs are always open. You aren’t alone. OU Hillel is here for you and here to listen.
We encourage students to also register for Hillel International’s virtual conversation tomorrow to help explain what is happening in Jerusalem and throughout Israel. Join a student-moderated panel of experts who will give multiple perspectives on how we have gotten to this moment and the road ahead for Israelis and Palestinians.
Sign up by visiting HillelatHome.org
OU Hillel's Ongoing Commitment to Racial and Social Justice
Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof
“Justice, justice you shall pursue.”
(Deuteronomy 16:20)
These words of Torah are words that our staff at Ohio University Hillel strives to live by. We are heartbroken and outraged about the murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black men, women, and children at the hands of police brutality and systemic racism in our country. As inheritors of a legacy that has been subjected to bigotry and oppression for generations, it is our sacred duty to support People of Color, to make space for their voices, and to speak out and take action against injustice whenever we see it. As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us in 1963, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (How has so little changed in 57 years?)
We stand with all People of Color here in Athens and across the world to say that we believe Black and Brown lives matter. Hillel at Ohio University will continue to be an ally in this fight. We are actively working to educate ourselves and to understand that, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be antiracist.”- Angela Davis
We are committed to listening to, and working with, Ohio University’s diverse communities to help heal the racial and social justice issues here in Southeast Ohio in the hope that it will have far reaching and lasting effects in communities around the world. We are making space for the voices of POC and especially Black Jewish voices.
To any students or community members that need someone to talk to, Sarah and Jon are here for you. We will guide you toward important Black voices, authors, and activists on the front lines of this fight against racial injustice. For educational resources and more ways you can help, please visit the links below.
In the wise words of Rav Nachman of Breslov, “Always help those who are being persecuted.”
Sending everyone strength and love,
Sarah, Jon and the Hillel at Ohio University Board of Directors
“Justice, justice you shall pursue.”
(Deuteronomy 16:20)
These words of Torah are words that our staff at Ohio University Hillel strives to live by. We are heartbroken and outraged about the murder of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, David McAtee, Breonna Taylor, and countless other Black men, women, and children at the hands of police brutality and systemic racism in our country. As inheritors of a legacy that has been subjected to bigotry and oppression for generations, it is our sacred duty to support People of Color, to make space for their voices, and to speak out and take action against injustice whenever we see it. As the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded us in 1963, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” (How has so little changed in 57 years?)
We stand with all People of Color here in Athens and across the world to say that we believe Black and Brown lives matter. Hillel at Ohio University will continue to be an ally in this fight. We are actively working to educate ourselves and to understand that, “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be antiracist.”- Angela Davis
We are committed to listening to, and working with, Ohio University’s diverse communities to help heal the racial and social justice issues here in Southeast Ohio in the hope that it will have far reaching and lasting effects in communities around the world. We are making space for the voices of POC and especially Black Jewish voices.
To any students or community members that need someone to talk to, Sarah and Jon are here for you. We will guide you toward important Black voices, authors, and activists on the front lines of this fight against racial injustice. For educational resources and more ways you can help, please visit the links below.
In the wise words of Rav Nachman of Breslov, “Always help those who are being persecuted.”
Sending everyone strength and love,
Sarah, Jon and the Hillel at Ohio University Board of Directors
AboutHillel serves the OU campus and Athens community in areas of Jewish culture, education, history, social service, Israel advocacy, and communal experiences.
|
In AthensLocated along the Hocking River, the city of Athens was first established in 1797. It soon became home to Ohio University in 1804 with Athens County being established in 1805.
|
OU, Oh Yeah!OHIO's beautiful campus includes a welcoming academic community where students are offered more than 250 undergraduate majors and 500 student groups.
|
EventsOur calendar of upcoming events
|
