For five years, the Jewish community at UMBC has been gathering together with friends to celebrate Shabbat, the sabbath.  Shabbat is a consistent and important part of campus weekend life for the UMBC Jewish community and beyond.  We strive to make Shabbat meals free of charge for our students so there is little obstacle to them connecting with one another and with Jewish tradition.

Help support Shabbat at UMBC for next school year and enter for a chance to win fabulous prizes!

You can buy a raffle ticket for $20 each or a set of six for $100 between now and Friday, June 8.

The drawing will take place on-campus on Thursday, June 14.  You need not be present to win.

Prizes include:

NYC day trip for two including theatre tickets.

A topaz and diamond pendant necklace by David Yurman from the Petite Albion collection.
Read more »

Are you going to be on campus for the beginning of Passover?
UMBC Hillel will be hosting a seder on the first night of Passover, Friday April 6th, in the Interfaith Center which will be free for UMBC students. 

RSVP today on Facebook.

Wednesday night is the beginning of Purim, the happiest day on the Jewish calendar.  Many students are headed to local Purim celebration celebrations in the evening to hear the Megillah (scroll of Esther) read.  Contact Emily Boling for more info about options in the area.

Throughout the day on Wednesday, your UMBC Hillel professionals, Cara and Rabbi Jason, will be in the Commons Breezeway looking forward to talk to you about GOOD and EVIL, two themes of the day that seem to blur with one another.  Come by and get a pin to wear that challenges you with questions about alcohol, sex, capital punishment, or lashon hara--evil speech.

Can't make it to the Breezeway?  You can download a copy of the texts here.

Join the JSU on Thursday evening at 7 PM for a Purim Masquerade party in UC Ballrooom.  Tickets are available at the Commons Info Desk or at the door.

This summer, UMBC students will travel to Israel for ten days for free with other Jewish students from local Baltimore campuses.  It's a packed ten days with historic sights, great people, tasty food, contemporary culture--a great first trip to Israel.  We expect to leave the first week in June and will have more precise date information in a few weeks (don't worry, you'll have the option to have your deposit refunded before you're committed to the exact date).  Meanwhile, plan to sign up starting February 15 at noon.  Registration typically only lasts a few days, so it is important to sign up as soon as possible.  If you're interested in learning more, come to an info session in the Mosaic Center (2B23) in the Commons on Monday, February 13 from noon until 1 PM and have all your questions answered.  You can sign up for the trip on the 15th or learn more about the trip provider, Routes Travel-Amazing Israel, we're working with at Read more »

The Torah portion that Jews all over the world read this week is called "Bo."  It opens with the last few of the Ten Plagues in Egypt and continues  until the Israelites are on their way out of Egypt.  Perhaps the highlight of the Torah portion is the first Passover celebration in history.  This feast occurs in Egypt as the plague of darkness makes way to the plague of the slaying of the first born.  Our ancestors mark their houses with blood from lambs they have sacrificed, and they feast with matzah, unleavened bread.

But wait a minute?  What are they celebrating?  They are, after all, still in Egypt!  And isn't Passover supposed to celebrate leaving Egypt?  Perhaps they are celebrating not their physical liberation but their spiritual liberation, the faith that they could divorce themselves from lives of slavery and live as free people, as if physical freedom is worthless unless accompanied by a shift in our mentality as well. Read more »

An annual event you won't want to miss.  Come on out to Flat Tuesday's tonight from 7 until 11 for fun people, fried potato pancakes, music, dreidel games and dancing.  We evern hear that there is going to be a DJ!  Admission is free of charge.  And if you missed the Hanukkah Fry Fest yesterday, then you'll have another chance for a photo with the oh-so-adorable "Hanukkah bear."  Get more info on facebook here.

Sunday night in the lobby of Chesapeake Lounge, UMBC Hillel board members sat in front of the television and beamed with pride as CBS’s “60 Minutes” featured UMBC President Dr. Freeman Hrabowski telling his own story and the of the university.  While there have been Jewish students at UMBC since its founding in 1966, it is only in the past twelve years that there has been a Hillel presence on campus. U.S. News and World Report has ranked UMBC its Number One Up-and-Coming National University.  The Jewish community on campus is up-and-coming as well. Read more »

This year, Sukkot--the Jewish fall harvest festival--happens to coincide with Homecoming Weekend. 

What a great opportunity to build a Sukkah (hut) arranged like a home featuring UMBC-spirited black & gold in honor of coming home to our UMBC.  Feel free to come by the Sukkah on Commons Terrace at any time to enjoy this week-long home with spaces for eating, sleeping, and just hanging out.  We'll welcome you with hot beverages and tasty (black & gold?!) snack foods .

On Friday evening, October 14, weather-permitting, Homecoming Shabbat will take place in the Sukkah.  Services are at 6 PM followed by dinner at 7 PM.  You can get more info and sign up here.  (In the event of rain, we'll be in the Skylight Room on the third floor of the Commons.)

Other particular events in and around the Sukkah include:

Tuesday, October 11 -- Noon through evening -- building and decorating the Sukkah. Read more »

Cara Behneman, assistant director at UMBC Hillel, has been named a participant in Hillel’s Harrison Leadership and Professional International Development (Harrison LAPID) Initiative, a prestigious program that provides Hillel professionals with skills to further their development, so that they may engage and empower future student leaders.

“I am excited to participate in the program as I view Hillel work as sacred work. It is inspiring, nurturing and sometimes exhausting. I am inspired most by our ability to affect change in the world by motivating students to use their education, resources and Jewish identities for good. This is my life’s work. I do not always know what path that will take, but I know my place in Hillel is in no way ordinary,” says Behneman. “I expect that participation in Harrison LAPID will allow me to do no less than explore the sacred, improve Jewish life at UMBC and give back to my colleagues.”

  Read more »