Religious Life and Jewish Learning
Texas Hillel – your place to celebrate Shabbat, engage in Jewish learning, and observe all the Jewish holidays.
Jewish Learning
In addition to the courses offered through the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at The University of Texas at Austin, there are adult education classes for the community through SULAM .
Jewish Learning Fellowship
The Jewish Learning Fellowship (JLF) aims to provide a semester of intellectual and experiential learning for students looking to deepen their understanding of Judaism. Each learning session includes classical Jewish texts (in the original and translation) to spark conversations about life’s big enduring questions. Click here for more information.
Texas Hillel Jewish Learning Blog
You asked and Texas Hillel answered. Rabbi David Komerofsky, Educator Devora Brustin, and Rabbi Moshe Trepp post weekly segments of Jewish learning on the Texas Hillel blog on our website! You can even sign up and post comments, ask questions, and encourage further discussion! Check for the latest installment at the bottom of our homepage.
Click here for Dkom’s blog, Dkom’s Corner!
Click here for Devora’s blog, Big Questions With Devora!
KESHER and KOACH
Texas Hillel is home to the local branches of the Reform and Conservative college groups. Click here for more info about KESHER. Click here for more info about KOACH.
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Every Week
Shabbat Evening
Come to Hillel every Friday evening for a social happy hour at 5:45, services at 6:00, followed by a Shabbat celebration (catered dinner when sponsored, or student-run dinner). Reform, 
Conservative, and Orthodox student-led services begin at 6 pm. Dinner follows at 7:15 pm. RSVP for Shabbat by clicking here .
Shabbat Morning
This year, we are continuing a relatively new tradition at Texas Hillel. On the last Saturday of each month join us for Shabbat Morning Services! There will be free Kiddush lunch afterward for those who attend. Also, we are looking for volunteers to lead part of the service, read Torah and Halftarah, or give Divrei Torah. Services will be held in a traditional egalitarian (Conservative) style.
Fall Semester
High Holy Days
Texas Hillel provides Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox High Holy Day services for close to 1,000 students annually. Students may reserve holiday meals and everyone is welcome at the free Break Fast after Yom Kippur. High Holy Day services are largely student-led, with assistance from Rabbi David Komerofsky (Reform), Professor Art Markman (Conservative) and Rabbi Moishe Trepp (Orthodox). Click here to see this year’s schedule and to make High Holidays Meal reservations. Download an excused absence form here.
Sukkot
Events are held in the sukkah throughout the entire Festival of Booths. Each year programs include “Pizza in the Hut,” “Shabbat Fajitas in the Hut,” “Grad Wine & Cheese Party,” an Israeli night with hookah, falafel, and dancing, plus more.
Sukkot is a week-long fall festival. The sukkah, the non-permanent outdoor hut, is meant to recall the time the Israelites spent wandering in the desert. Sukkot was also once a holiday of agricultural thanksgiving, and this is celebrated with the holiday’s other great ritual items: the lulav and etrog.
Shmini Atzeret and Simchat Torah
Shemini Atzeret is the final day of festivities at the end of Sukkot. It is followed by Simchat Torah, the holiday that marks the conclusion of the annual reading of the Torah and its beginning again–amid dancing, song, and celebration.
Chanukah
Eight nights of fun, friends and food! Though initially a minor holiday, Hanukkah has become one of the paradigmatic Jewish holidays. Hanukkah commemorates the victory of the Jews over the Syrian Greeks in 164 BCE, and is celebrated by lighting a hanukkiah, or menorah, for eight days, eating latkes, and playing dreidel.
Spring Semester
Tu B’Shvat
Tu B’Shvat, traditionally known as the birthday of the trees, is a time to think about relating to the natural world. This holiday can be celebrated by planting trees, eating fruits, and having a Tu B’Shvat Seder, a ritual that began with the kabbalistic masters of the 15th century
Purim
Purim is the most carnival like Jewish holiday. It is a day when norms are subverted and reversed to commemorate the reversal of fortune recorded in the Book of Esther. Purim is celebrated with drinking, dressing up, and satirical performances, all recalling the evil decrees of Haman that were ultimately overturned.
Passover
Passover celebrates the biblical exodus from Egypt, but its focus on freedom in general has earned it a special place on the Jewish calendar. More Jews participate in a seder than any other Jewish ritual.
Seders are coordinated at Texas Hillel, across campus, and in the fraternity/sorority houses. We offer a full-service kosher-for-Passover dining plan, as well as “seders to go.” Over 4,000 kosher meals are served annually during the Festival of Freedom. Meal Order forms are available a month or two prior to the holiday.
Summer Holidays
Shavuot
Shavuot began as a harvest festival, but it also commemorates the revelation at Sinai and the giving of the Torah. While Shavuot has few rituals associated with it, many Jews stay up all night studying Torah. Other customs include eating dairy foods and reading the Book of Ruth.
Tisha B’Av
Tisha B’Av is a fast day that commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples. It has also became a day of general mourning for other major disasters that have befallen the Jewish people, from the Edict of Expulsion from England in 1290 to the mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto.
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2010 |
Rosh Hashanah Sunset of September 8 through nightfall of September 10 |
| Fast of Gedaliah September 12 |
Yom Kippur Sunset of September 17 through nightfall of September 18 |
| Sukkot Sunset of September 22 through sunset of September 29 |
Hoshanah Rabbah September 29 |
| Shemini Atzeret Sunset of September 29 through nightfall of September 30 |
Simchat Torah Nightfall of September 30 through nightfall of October 1 |
| Chanukah Sunset of December 1 through December 9 |
Fast of Tevet 10 December 17 |
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2011 |
Tu B’Shvat January 20 |
| Fast of Esther March 17 |
Purim Nightfall of March 19 through nightfall of March 20 |
| Shushan Purim March 21 |
Passover Sunset of April 18 through nightfall of April 26 |
| Lag B’Omer May 22 |
Shavuot Sunset of June 7 through nightfall of June 9 |
| Fast of the 17th of Tammuz July 19 |
Fast of Tish’a B’Av Sunset of August 8 through nightfall of August 9 |
| Rosh Hashanah Sunset of September 28 through nightfall of September 30 |
Fast of Gedaliah October 2 |
| Yom Kippur Sunset of October 7 through nightfall of October 8 |
Sukkot Sunset of October 12 through nightfall of October 19 |
| Shemini Atzeret Sunset of October 19 through nightfall of October 20 |
Simchat Torah Nightfall of October 20 through nightfall of October 21 |
| Chanukah December 20 through December 28 |