Jewish Life at Amherst College Amherst Hillel provides community for Jewish students and religious, social, cultural, and educational programming open to the entire Amherst community.
For fall 2020, we are operating in a hybrid fashion due to Covid-19 with most events occurring over zoom with limited, socially-distanced events happening outside. Hillel is staffed by Rabbi Bruce Bromberg Seltzer, the college Jewish Religious Advisor and Rachel Frank, our CJP IACT Fellow.
Mission: Amherst Hillel creates meaningful Jewish programs and events on campus and supports all Jewish students on their individual Jewish journeys. We celebrate all Jewish holidays on campus and create are invested in providing fun and engaging programs for students throughout the entire year.
Operating as usual
Amherst Hillel is here for our students, wherever you are. Whether you are in Amherst or connecting virtually, we are here for you. Wherever you stand on the political spectrum, we are here for you. And, whenever there are concerns about racism and antisemitism on campus, we are here for you.
Please contact Rabbi Bruce (bbseltzer) to schedule a time to talk.
Links to In-Person and Services:
https://www.amherst.edu/campuslife/our-community/religiouslife/student/hillel/student-life
For free online services from Hillel International and Reboot, visit https://higherholidays.org/yom-kippur/
Home – Higher Holidays powered by Hillel International and Reboot
Power house can now hold 25 at a time. Please join us Friday night and Saturday morning: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DA5AF2DA6F4C16-rhinperson
Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. Thank you!
Final chance for Rosh Hashanah meals: please fill out this form https://forms.gle/pP1NbFwcvBPgupZN8We will be having limited in-person services and learning both Friday night and Saturday morning that conform to AC Covid-19 restrictions. Please sign up here to reserve a limited spot (even if you filled out that part on the form): https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4DA5AF2DA6F4C16-rhinperson For now, select one in-person gathering. Later in the week we may open it to one Friday and one Saturday depending on interest.
Information on streaming options will be available separately.
Please email [email protected] with any questions and to sign up for a time to talk one-on-one.
If you are the developer of this app, ensure that your Dynamic Links domain is correctly configured and that the path component of this URL is valid.
Current students, please fill out our survey so we can best provide programming during Covid. This includes sign-ups for High Holiday meals and an opportunity to have us mail goodies to you to celebrate the New Year.
This survey has general questions about interests and where you are studying this fall. It also contains information on pre-ordering High Holiday meals (on-campus only).
AC Hillel is updating our web page and social media. Please send/share pictures from Amherst Hillel (however recent /old).
While our plans for the High Holidays are still being worked out, part of it includes #HigherHolidays
The best High Holiday plans are a just a click away! 🍎🍯 Join Hillel International and Reboot's epic Higher Holiday streaming services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, featuring talent from 🎭 Broadway, 🎬 Hollywood and more.
Kick off 5781 right...lock down a seat today for free!
All events are free and open to students, family members, Hillel supporters and members of the Jewish community.
First Covid-19 in-person Shabbat gathering on the First Year quad.
When life gives you lemon, make lemonade. As we gear up for a most unusual start of the academic year (and the High Holidays), please share any art, baking, etc. you produced during isolation with the rest of our Hillel family. Can't wait to see you in person or online.
Hope everyone is well and at least semi-sane during Covid. Hillel is busy planning for the upcoming academic year--with events accessible to students on-campus and remote. We will soon have a survey to get your input. In the meantime, please follow amherst_college_hillel on Instagram. Content to follow. Best, Rabbi Bruce and the Hillel E-Board
I have assembled a Virtual Seder for study or use on Passover. It features video submissions from friends on campus as well as alumni rabbis. It is still a work in progress, so check back right before Seder.
Students, email me [email protected] to find opportunities for Zoom Seders (Zeders).
Amherst Hillel Virtual Seder Celebrate Passover With Us Where You Are
Passover Resources Coming soon: A virtual Amherst Haggadah featuring videos from faculty, staff, and alumni.
I will be hosting a zoom first Zeder (Zoom Seder) Wednesday night. Rabbi Hara Person (AC '86 P 14, P18) has offered to host Amherst students on her family's Zeder Thursday night (which includes others from Amherst). Please email Rabbi Bruce at [email protected] by Tuesday night for more information.
Hope everyone's quarantine has been quarantastic!
If you've been missing us then crack open some tea, light a candle, turn on some Chelsea Cutler and tune in to our very special ZOOM SHABBAT this friday night at 6pm. It'll be a quick one and unfortunately we can't zoom you some pizza or something but hope you'll join us for a few prayers and some camaraderie during this unprecedented break of routine.
Join Zoom Meeting:
https://amherstcollege.zoom.us/j/216182856
Meeting ID: 216 182 856
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...
I will be offering a class Jewish Wisdom in an Age of Pandemic. If you are interested please respond with availability. For now it is a one-time class.
How do we figure out who to vote for: one rabbi's answer (not by me but very close to how I would do it). Thank you Jon Spira-Savett.
This is an attempt to write down something I’ve never written out before: how I decide whom to vote for in elections for national office. This is how I understand what I am doing. There’s plenty here to discuss or...
Giveaway: Explore Sefaria's Online Library of Jewish Texts
Sefaria is home to an online library of Jewish texts in Hebrew and in English translation. You can explore over ...
Amherst Religious and Spiritual Life
Retreat. Relax. Recharge. This Monday from 1-4 PM at the Cadigan Center!!
Rabbi Bridges Judaism and Environmentalism in Talk
Environmental Rabbi Ellen Bernstein sat down with students to discuss the connection between faith and environmentalism on Nov. 15. The gathering was an addition to Amherst Hillel’s weekly shabbat dinner in collaboration with the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life.
Here is some reading for Thanksgiving travel: https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/294499/how-boomers-ruined-american-judaism I am interested in what students and alumni think of this article. Does it resonate with you.
With a couple of new books out, my colleagues at Tablet magazine and I are currently on book tours around the country. The indignities of domestic air travel aside, visiting communities nationwide is a pleasure, enough to convince even the most ardent New Yorker that Jewish life is as robust, creati...
This week a college student wrote an important op-ed piece about the challenges of being pro-Israel and progressive on campus. I encourage students and alumni to read it and the types of responses to this postb(by Rabbi Jill Jacobs of Jewish human rights organization Truah). This has been far less of an issue at Amherst College than at many peer colleges. I am interested in any instances you encounter or had encountered at AC.
I am a young, gay, left-wing Jew. Yet I am called an “apartheid-enabler,” a “baby killer” and a “colonial apologist.”
Passover meals and Seders start next Friday.
Fill out this survey so we can prepare the right food:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7JNRSQ7
https://amherststudent.com/article/hillel-responds-to-swastika-incident
In light of The Student's investigation into an anti-Semitic incident involving members of the men's lacrosse team, Amherst Hillel calls for a formal apology.
Norah Needs You
Exciting news: Gift of Life Marrow Registry and Hillel International are partnering to make March a month-long competition to host drives for Norah and others in need on every college campus! Do you know a college student or staff member? Share Norah’s story and encourage them to participate in Gift of Life’s Miracle Match Madness! 🏀🧡Any student on any campus can host a drive to register new potentially life-saving bone marrow donors with a simple cheek swab! Which college will register the most people and save the most lives?
Learn More >> http://bit.ly/2tCWKzJ
#SwabForNorah #MatchMadness
I am in Frost for the next hour as part of my weekly Office Hours. Join me for a hot drink or snack. Rabbi Bruce
I will not have office hours today.
Amherst Hillel is hoping to start Challah for Hunger. Let us know if you want to be involved.
After learning just how pervasive the problem is of students who don't have enough money to buy food while at college, Jewish activists from Challah for Hunger began to organize and assist.
Since who like the page are not my fb friends, I am sharing here. Any current Amherst student or alum who I am fb friends with will get a Jewish book in response to a comment (even if they are not part of the first 5).
Reader to Reader, Inc. is a nonprofit organization devoted to increasing literacy and fostering a love of reading at all ages.
Good luck with finals. I am around Friday and next week if you want to meet for a coffee study break. Message me
Great new Hanukah song: https://youtu.be/VT2_7aq3ytE
Featured on the new holiday album, It's A Holiday Soul Party, out now! http://www.sharonjonesandthedapkings.com. Director & Illustrator: Rich Terrana Buy: ht...
The best new a ca pella for chanukah, so meta. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uu8DleqoVYc
Connect with Shir Soul! For bookings and info, contact David Ross: 917-817-2897 | [email protected] http://www.ShirSoul.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.c...
Bonus for 3rd night a aping about spelling Chanukah from the LeeVees: https://youtu.be/R7JiDBi_v4c
new video from The LeeVees "for How Do You Spell Channukkahh"
Chanukah Decorations in the window of the Art Department Office in Fayerwesther Hall. Join us at 4:30 for a public menorah lighting. Hillel Hanukah party, Thursday 7pm, Ford Hall.
Join Religious & Spiritual Life on Valentine's 2nd floor for Yoda's Table (a weekly conversation with RSL)
Mazal tov to Amherst alum Rabbi Hara Person on being named the first female chief of CCAR: https://www.ccarnet.org/ccar-announces-rabbi-hara-person-as-new-chief-executive/?fbclid=IwAR1MOOTY2jYL9ztwKRa822SdD0b25oC9jF9wN0qzx2kflOiieYPElwvh03c
Rabbi Person Becomes First Woman to Lead A Reform Legacy Organization New York – November 15, 2018 – The Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) today announced Rabbi Hara Person as the organization’s next chief executive. Rabbi Person, who currently serves as CCAR’s chief strategy offi...
Thank you to the many faculty and administrators who have been in touch to support the Jewish community at Amherst. Great #ShowUpForShabbat. We had more than thirty students, Class Deans Charri Boykin-East and Jess Caldwell-O'Keefe, and President Biddy Martin come together for a service of remembrance and comfort. President Martin spoke about her horror at the antisemitic attack in Pittsburgh, her concern for the community, and intolerance of any antisemitism on campus. Other students and staff from Student Affairs and Diversity and Inclusion joined us for Kosher Deli from Hartford.
Amherst College Box #2277, Cadigan Center For Religious Life
Amherst, MA
01002
Amherst College Hillel is the main Jewish student organization at Amherst College. The Jewish Religious Advisor, Rabbi Bruce Bromberg Seltzer, organizes Jewish life and provide spiritual guidance. Rabbi Bruce arrived at Amherst in 2002. Amherst Hillel is a Hillel Program Center affiliated with Hillel-The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, Five College Hillel/Kupah, CJP Birthright Israel Initiative and other local and national Jewish organizations.
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