About  Hillel at Ohio University

Hillel serves the OU 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.

Read about some of the individuals that make OU's Hillel a reality for students, alumni, parents, friends and the Athens community.

History of Hillel at Ohio U

In 1938, a small group of Jewish students joined together for friendship, Shabbat services and community on the campus of Ohio University. Since then, Hillel has served thousands of students in a myriad of ways, inspiring them to get connected to other Jewish students, build stronger Jewish identities, advocate for Israel, create meaningful opportunities for themselves and others, repair the world with tzedek opportunities and explore the rich tapestry of Judaism, Jewish culture and Jewish peoplehood.

Since Hillel's inception, we've cycled through several houses—who remembers our home on East Green in the 1950's, or our cottage on University Terrace in the 1960's?—and cycled through even more wonderful rabbis and communal leaders—Rabbi Harry Kaplan (z'l), Mr. Jacob Mirviss (z'l), Rabbi Joe Pollack, Rabbi Irv Wise, Mr. Scott Flashner, Rabbi Eddie Sukol, Rabbi Mark Newton, Rabbi Randy Segal, Rabbi Marianna Gevirtz (z'l), Rabbi Elena Stein, and Rabbi Danielle Leshaw.

In 1966, Athens Jewish community members purchased our current home, a duplex family house on historic Mill Street and expanded the building to include a sanctuary/multi-purpose room. In 2004, Hillel mounted a capital improvements campaign to renovate our historic home, creating a bright and expansive open floor plan that enables many more people to socialize, study, celebrate and organize.

If you're a prospective student or parent, or a current student, or an alumni, or just a friend, we welcome you to drop by and say hello.