Eastern Michigan University’s Jewish Social and Cultural Club held a free Asian-style dinner Oct. 19 at Hillel.
The Shabbat dinners take place every other weekend at Hillel, located at 965 Washtenaw Ave. near the southwest end of campus, in honor of the Jewish Sabbath. In the Jewish culture, the Sabbath is from Friday evening to Saturday evening.
Branches of Hillel can be found at over 500 different U.S. colleges and universities. It is meant to give Jewish students a place to explore and celebrate their culture, while exposing non-Jewish students to a new cultural experience.
“Hillel is actually a national Jewish organization and has been here at Eastern for about 10 years,” Engagement Fellow Alex Hacht said. “It is the only Jewish social organization at EMU.”
Hacht graduated from the University of Arizona and came here in August to work for Hillel.
When Hillel holds their Shabbat dinners, they try to do different themes and Friday’s theme was Asian cuisine.
“The food was good and it was a nice way to get to know people,” EMU student Andrew Rosales said.
According to Hacht, Shabbat is Hebrew for Sabbath.
“It is customary to have a festive meal for the Jewish Sabbath, and even though these dinners have themes they all consist of a few traditional elements such as the hollow bread,” Hacht said. “It is also tradition to bless wine or grape juice, but here we do grape juice.”
Hillel will be hosting a pre-Halloween horror movie night at 8 p.m Oct. 30. They will be having their biggest Shabbat dinner of the year for friends, family and the community from 6 – 9 p.m. Nov. 2. Anyone can attend the event and the food is free.
Hillel also does not require any sort of membership.
“We are open to Jewish and non-Jewish participants; it is just a great way to learn about the Jewish life and culture,” Hacht said.
“Being a part of this really helps you meet new people,” said EMU student Meagan Sturm, who is part of the Hillel advisory board.
Another thing Hillel will be offering is a Hebrew class. The class will be held every Sunday evening at 6 p.m. and dinner will be included. Attendees do not need to have any prior knowledge or experience in speaking or understanding Hebrew.
Hillel will soon be holding social events every Thursday night as well. In addition to this, they will be putting together community service activities.
“Our Facebook page is one of the fastest ways to stay updated on what is gong on in our organization,” Hacht said.
Anyone interested can visit www.emuhillel.org, which has a calendar of their upcoming events.
Hacht can be reached at program@emuhillel.org. Their regular office hours are Monday – Thursday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
