Before going to college, I attended a Jewish school my entire life since kindergarten. After finishing high school, most students have the choice between two things: spending a year in Israel before ultimately attending college, or going straight to college. Although what seems like my entire graduating class took the former option, I obviously went with the latter.
Although I came into college alone, I still was able to enter knowing some people, and that’s because my brother who is two years older than I am has some friends who go to Baruch too. Through them, I was introduced to the club, Hillel @ Baruch, which is a Jewish organization where any Jews that go to Baruch College can visit. Hillel @ Baruch offers many Jewish services, from the availability of Tefillin (phylacteries), a set of small black leather boxes with scrolls of Jewish scripture inside them which Jews use to pray every morning, for those who did not get the chance to do before coming to school – to a daily prayer service where a group of Jews who attend the club will be able to pray together. Additionally, every Tuesday and Thursday, they hold events, such as their first “Welcome Back” event back in August to a class called “Hebrew in Harmony.” Additionally, every Wednesday they have a learning event called “Pizza and Parsha,” which, exactly as the name implies, participants sit around discussing the parsha (weekly Torah portion) of the week, and later on Wednesdays there is another class where a rabbi comes in and gives a speech about something relating to Judaism. During these events, they provide kosher food, making it the only place on campus I’m able to trust when it comes to food as I follow kosher dietary restrictions. Additionally, sometimes at these events, they hold raffles for those who like their Facebook page. I don’t think I’ve ever won anything in my life before but because of Hillel @ Baruch I have already won two things from the events (those being a portable charger and a Starbucks gift card, and I don’t even drink coffee)! I do try to attend as many of these events as I can, although there is a roadblock in the way on Tuesdays because our FRO class is held during club hours.
Hillel @ Baruch is a great club on campus and I would recommend it to any Jewish students who don’t know about it yet.
