Hillel The Foundation For Jewish Campus Life

Cjl's international trips resumed after a 2-year pause during the covid-19 pandemic. 17 students and 1 staff member participated in a winter break 2024 social justice trip to the shalom azoghozo youth village in rwanda. All participants rated this experience as highly impactful. Cjl held a fall break wellness retreat to the catskills in ny with 14 students, a spring break leadership trip to florida with 15 students and an end of year jewish spirituality retreat in connecticut with 10 students.

Holiday observances - the celebration of jewish holidays is a core programming priority of cjl. The centerpiece of these observances is the jewish high holidays, held in the fall which usher in the jewish new year. Cjl conducts multiple religious services and festive holiday meals during the high holiday season that includes rosh hashanah, yom kippur and sukkot. These activities require significant involvement of our rabbis as well as many logistical arrangements in partnership with our student leaders. Second to the high holiday season is extensive holiday programming at passover including student and staff- led holiday meals (seders) and themed events throughout the 8-day holiday observance. Additional cjl holiday programs led by staff and students are held throughout the year.

Student engagement is a cornerstone of the cjl's mission, with a particular focus on one-to-one peer engagement efforts. Following the october 7th hamas attacks, the cjl significantly expanded its engagement activities. In fy24, our student engagement interns connected with 90% of all identified jewish undergraduate students at princeton through coffee meetings, lunches and social activities held at cjl and around the princeton campus. There was also a significant expansion of student-staff initiatives focused on the health and wellness of all jewish students. The bayit program for jewish graduate students attracted 140 unique participants through 29 events held over the course of the year.

Cjl's award-winning educational fellowships (jlf) enable students to take a deep dive into topics that matter to them through a jewish lens. In fy24, 87 students participated in 9 fellowships, 4 in the fall and 5 in the spring. The jlf experiences are highly rated and continue to enable students to integrate judaism and their academic and personal interests, including the exploration of jewish identity, jewish ethics and climate change, and israel. In addition to jlf, cjl hosted popular lunch and learn sessions weekly with its rabbinic staff that draw dozens of students during the year to engage in small-group, jewish learning.

General community building - the cjl building is a popular hang-out space for jewish students of all backgrounds. The diverse range of programs and events, coupled with the commitment to inclusion and openness leads to a never-ending stream of students both jewish and not jewish enjoying visiting cjl and establishing it as their "home away from home" at princeton.