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High Holidays
For Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot, most of our students will spend the holidays with their families, as they live at home and already belong to a synagogue, temple, or Chabad. However, we offer tickets to CSUN or UCLA's services, so our students are free to go to services as they please. While most other fellows are very busy during the High Holidays, our Hillel doesn't require you to work, so this may be a good time to try out a synagogue in the area, go to services at another Hillel, or just relax. I sang in Valley Beth Shalom's choir. While in the long-run it wasn't the synagogue for me, I'm glad I tried it out during the High Holidays, because I met some neat people.
On campus, I did "Honey Tasting Days" with different flavored honey with apples and bread for dipping. I also passed out honey stix with "a sweet new year" and Hillel's information attached. You can order honey stix, or you could LITERALLY go to the Coffee Bean enough times to build a connection. Whatever suits your fancy!
Sukkot
Sukkot on campus is fun! The staff and a few student volunteers build Sukkot right in the middle of campus. They stay up for a week, and one day at each campus is spent with food and drink, lulav and etrog, and tons of new sign-ups from students.
Chanukah
For Chanukah, I assembled goodie bags that contained Chanukah information, a dreidle, a colorful pen, chocolate gelt, Hershey's kisses, and an invitation to our Chanukah party entitled "Get Your Dreidle On". I happened to be out of town for our Hanukkah party, but I heard it was one of or most popular programs all year!
Purim
For Purim, I went to Michael's, the arts and crafts store, and bought plain white masks, and things to decorate them with. A few students got really into it, but the majority didn't want to make masks. So, there are left-overs in the drawer, and make use of them if you'd like! At Cafe Hillel, we had a Purim Party/Talent Show. It was colorful!
Yom Hashoah
On Yom Hashoah, I went to campus with posters of pictures of the Concentration camps, maps, and statistics, and a big sign saying "We must never forget". It was more of a silent vigil to make people aware of the nature of the holiday. I didn't pass out flyers, but was there to answer questions. I had a few really great conversations, and had to set some people straight, as they knew nothing, or had false information about the Holocaust.
Yom Ha'atzmaut
For Israeli Independence day, we ordered large cakes from Unique Pastry - a Kosher bakery you'll come to know very well. The interns and I tabled with the cake, and it went fast! It's a way to make Hillel very popular, very fast! Free food, and especially free cake. Happy Birthday Israel!
Additional Holidays
Shabbat
Our Hillel has Friday evening services and dinner once a month. Services are reform style. Rick plays guitar and leads services, and I was able to step in and lead when/if I wanted. I play the djembe (African drum), and at one service he asked me if I'd drum along. That was a lot of fun! These Shabbat evenings are laid back and very nice!
Hillel usually orders a vegetarian meal from a Kosher caterer, but at the last Shabbat I offered to cook dinner. It's something you can do if you feel so inclined, and gives a "nice home-cooked meal" feeling to the evening, but only offer if you want to do the work. It could be a great engagement tool, to have a few students help make Shabbat dinner every month. And Rick bakes a mean challah! (so beware, it may yell at you!)
Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh is one of those holidays you can choose to plan programming around. I chose to do a Women's Spa Night on Rosh Chodesh. I invited the women of Hillel to my apartment for an evening of inner beauty. We made organic face masks out of eatable products, were goofy, and had a really nice bonding time, focusing on the themes of Rosh Chodesh. We talked about the new moon, women's cycles, and how the old traditions of the holiday apply to our current lives today. It was a really successful and enjoyable event for all who attended!
This page doesn't cover all of the holidays. Other holidays such as Passover and Tu'bishvat (and more) didn't fall on programming days this year, but if they had, we would have celebrated them creatively!