Learning and Fellowships

Texas Hillel strives to provide multiple paths for students to explore Judaism. Whether it is participating in a Jewish learning fellowship course called Life’s Big Questions, leading Shabbat services on Friday nights, attending High Holy Days services, studying together in small groups, or practicing yoga through a Jewish lens, there is something for everyone. These are just a few examples of what we offer and when students express specific learning needs, we work to make sure they are able to do so. 

We want students to feel that Hillel is their home, no matter where they are at in their Jewish journey. We offer students the opportunity to step away from their busy weeks and welcome a time of rest each Friday and we love empowering students to lead services. Hillel’s weekly Shabbat dinner is one of our students’ favorite times to connect with old and new friends. Everyone is welcome to join us and we are happy to provide a delicious certified kosher meal to current students at no cost. All students, faculty, alumni, and community members are welcome at Texas Hillel’s High Holiday services and activities. Following services, we offer kosher meals. During Passover, we host a traditional seder and offer kosher for Passover lunches during chol hamoed days.

Jewish Learning Fellowships

Kol Yisrael Learning Fellowships

Kol Yisrael is a 6-week cohort learning program for students to explore big ideas and big questions with Israel as a real-world case study. Employing Hillel’s Inquiry-Centered Model for Israel Education, students explore diverse perspectives and views from the Israeli landscape, cultivating resilient empathy for a world full of complex human experiences. Through engaging texts and universal values, Kol Yisrael enables learners to encounter others’ perspectives in a genuine way while also authentically bringing their own voices to the conversation. Growing rapidly, Kol Yisrael currently serves more than 2,000 students on over 100 campuses, with an increasing number of partners each semester. Well suited as a fellowship for alumni of Birthright Israel and other immersive Israel experiences, the program is designed for students of all backgrounds and experiences.

Life’s Big Questions & Beyond

LBQ is an 8-week experiential, conversational seminar for students looking to deepen their understanding of Judaism on their own terms. We’re interested in asking big questions. You know — like, Who am I? What communities am I a part of? What is worth committing myself to, and why? Today, the program serves over 5,000 students annually, across over 150 Hillels in North America. The program has become the largest Jewish educational provider on North American college campuses, and the only pluralistic one of its kind.

Each semester Texas Hillel offers multiple offerings of Life’s Big Questions curricula, including LBQ 1.0, Sex/Love/and Relationships, and Thrive!

Sex, Love, and Relationships is a conversational seminar that explores modern sexuality and relationships through Jewish texts, engaging diverse relationship forms, queer identities, and personal relationship ethics.

Thrive explores how to really thrive and be well - physically, mentally, academically, and spiritually - through exploring Jewish texts, personal reflections, and engaging activities.

Shabbat Hosting Lab

This ten-part fellowship invites students to develop confidence and knowledge surrounding Shabbat rituals, to design and execute a Shabbat skill set, and to become emboldened hosts, capable of facilitating a table experience in their own living spaces that is informed and inspired by Jewish wisdom and tradition.

4TM - Four the Moment

Four The Moment (4tM) Cohorts are 4-part learning fellowships that provide an opportunity to develop relationships and community within a learning cohort, all while exploring timely topics that speak to the big questions and ideas of the moment.