Jewish Life at Indiana Universities

Students danced the night away on the first night of Chanukah during Butler Hillel’s annual Chanukah party. They ate delicious latkes and a full dinner, participated in Israeli dancing, decorated dreidels, and played holiday-inspired and Chanukah-themed bingo and Kahoot games created by Butler Hillel’s Education VP. Students also had the opportunity to give gifts to others that night by signing up to be registered in the Gift of Life bone marrow registry.

The celebration continued on the second night of Chanukah when a number of students went to the home of Indianapolis’ shlicha (Israeli emissary) to bake Moroccan doughnuts, which they then brought back to Hillel for all the students to enjoy, along with second-night candle lighting, a dreidel spinning competition, music, and more latkes! The second night celebration also marked the transition to Butler Hillel’s newly elected student board, with the new leaders lighting the Chanukah candles. These two Chanukah celebrations served as the culmination of a vibrant semester.

Other fall Butler Hillel events included:

• Tacos in the Sukkah

• Friday night Shabbat in the Sukkah

• A blood drive in partnership with the Black Student Union

• A “Doing Well and Doing Good” roundtable discussion on business ethics

• Two Challah for Hunger challah bakes and sales to raise money for local and national hunger relief organizations

• Homecoming and Family Weekend Shabbats that filled up the house—literally—prompting a move from the “Blue House” to larger accommodations on Butler’s campus.

Butler Hillel looks forward to continuing its ten-week educational series, this year entitled Drugs, Demons, and Dungeons: Addictions, Mental Illness, and Incarceration. Students will have the opportunity to learn from key experts in the Jewish community on these topics, interspersed with lighter programs including a pet therapy session and kayaking in Eagle Creek.

Also upcoming are Butler Hillel’s monthly Shabbat experiences, its annual Passover seder, social justice programming, and various social events. It is bound to be a memorable year!

This spring, the Indiana University Borns Jewish Studies Program welcomes as guest lecturers Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission Coordinator on Combating Antisemitism; Professor Dariusz Stola, Director of the Polin Museum of the History of Polish Jews; Professor Simone Lässig, Director of the German Historical Institute; and more! Visit indiana.edu/~jsp for more details about these and other events open to the public.