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• More than a building

On the corner of Fifth and John streets in the heart of Campustown, the resemblances of a building are beginning to take shape. A large, grey, rounded brick wall protrudes from the muddy, worked earth. Construction men in neon orange vests and hardhats work diligently, placing hundreds of mahogany bricks on top of each other.

This up-and-coming building is the location of the new Hillel Center on campus. Hillel is a world-wide organization that provides Jewish students with the opportunity to practice and explore their faith on campus. With more than 500 locations, Hillel was founded here at the University of Illinois in 1923. In 1950, the Hillel organization built its first center on campus, which served as the location for services and Jewish life. However, as the years passed, the center became outdated.

"We were finding that [the old building] wasn't meeting the needs of the community," said Gail Schnitzer, a Reform services leader at Hillel and senior in political science. "One of the main sanctuaries was facing the wrong way. We didn't have Wi-Fi due to how the building was built. Basically, it was time to give Hillel a rejuvenation so it could be more of a community center."

Construction on a new building for Hillel began in January 2007, and is due to be completed over this winter break. In the mean time, Hillel has setup a temporary location at 606 W. Ohio St. in Urbana. However, the lack of a central location on campus made it difficult for many Jewish students, who comprise a 10th of the student body, to find an outlet to practice their faith. In order to avoid this during the high holy days of Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement), the staff members at Hillel have been working hard to bring Jewish life to the center of campus.

"Right now, we're just really trying to bring Hillel to the students," said Dana Shapiro, the Jewish Campus Service Corps Fellow for Hillel on campus. "We are trying to show [students] that we are more than a building - we are an organization."

In order to do that, Hillel has sponsored, and is continuing to sponsor a number of activities. It provided food for students to host their own Rosh Hashanah dinners, currently hosts dinners for the Sabbath every Friday night at Allen Hall, and frequently sets up booths on the quad. Hillel also used the McKinley Foundation Building to provide a more central location for Rosh Hashanah services.

"We're not hiding our heads in the sand," said Joel Schwitzer, the executive director of Hillel. "We are still functioning at the same height that students come to expect."

Because of this determination, student activity in the organization is just as high as it was last year. High Holy Day services have attracted many new people, and more than 75 students have signed up to go on Birth Right, a trip to Israel that Hillel helps to organize.

"The staff has been very helpful in trying to bring Hillel to the students," said Schnitzer, "They have overcome what could have otherwise been a rather large problem."

The lack of a permanent location has only made students more excited about the opening of the new center this winter.

"I can't wait," said Caroline Ackerman, a sophomore at the University. "It will really unite the Jewish community on campus. We won't be so scattered all over the campus.

But until then, Hillel will continue its efforts to reach out to the Jewish community here at UIUC.

"I like to say that Hillel has a building, but Hillel is not the building," said Schwitzer. "While Hillel is the name of the place where we hold our activities, it's the people, not the building, that are important. It's the people that are the foundation of the Jewish community on campus."

Yom Kippur Services will be held at the McKinley Foundation on Sept. 21 and 22. Dinners for the Sabbath will also be at Allen Hall every Friday night until the new building is up and running. The new building will be located at 503 E. John St. in Champaign.