Hillel, Boston University’s biggest on-campus organization and the social and spiritual hub for hundreds of Jewish students, will soon move to a new facility in Dec. 2002, according to Hillel director Rabbi Joseph Polak.
The official groundbreaking ceremony for the building took place on the corner of Bay State Road and Granby Street in May 2002, and construction for the Florence and Chafetz Hillel House will start within the next month.
According to Polak, the decision was made because the current Hillel is not large enough to accommodate the quickly growing group. Once vacated, the building, located at 244 Bay State Rd., will be sold to Boston University.
“Our current building is much too small and fragile for our purposes,” Polak said. “[The new building] will be much more modern. In fact, it will be the most technologically advanced building on campus.”
Polak said the project is funded by BU alumni, parents and friends from all over the world.
The new building will be twice the size of the current Hillel House and the four floors will offer study space, a new kosher dining hall and three synagogues.
The Hillel house will also include ‘Shabbat elevators,’ included for those more observant Jews who cannot use electricity on the Jewish Sabbath. The house will also be accessible to handicapped students and be fully air-conditioned.
In addition, Polak said religion makes no difference as far as welcoming students of diverse spiritual backgrounds to Hillel.
“The building will be open to all students,” he said. “We won’t ask them whether they’re Jewish or not when they walk in the door.”
Emily Fishbein, the vice-president of public relations for the Hillel Student Board and a School of Management senior, said a new building is vital to accommodate the growing numbers of students spending time at Hillel.
“I know that the students who use the park to play sports and those who live in the brownstone next door will probably be disappointed [about the construction],” she said. “A new building is desperately needed to accommodate more active students and hold bigger events.”
A Rosh Hashanah dinner attracted 400 Hillel students last Friday to the GSU Ballroom. Fishbein said it was not an unusual sight.
“[The new Hillel] will give us the potential to be even more social and still carry on with the religious aspect,” Fishbein said.
Elizabeth Frank, a School of Education senior, agreed the Hillel House has always been a very social place.
“There are a lot of people going in and out, including non-Jewish students. Some people spent their days here,” Frank said. “On an average Friday night, there are close to 200 people in the dining hall. It really gets crowded.”
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