Tufts Hillel

Shabbat at Tufts Hillel
2025-11-21 18:00 - 2025-11-22 17:00, 2025-12-05 18:00 - 2025-12-06 17:00, 2025-12-12 18:00 - 2025-12-13 17:00 (America/New_York)
Shabbat at Tufts Hillel

Shabbat is an opportunity to unplug from the week and plug into rest of all kinds as a community. On Shabbat, we invite you to step away from school, technology, and other stressors of the week, and step into holy rest and celebration at Tufts Hillel! We’re so happy you’re spending Shabbat with us.

Friday Nights:

Candle Lighting: Every Friday, join us in the Hillel lobby as we transition into Shabbat with a communal candle lighting and intention-setting. Candles will also be available to light on your own time as you arrive at the Hillel building. In the winter, feel free to come by earlier to light candles as the sun sets.Services: After candle lighting, welcome Shabbat with prayer in our Reform or Traditional Egalitarian services. Services are student led, with song, dvar torahs, intention setting, and a way to begin the weekly holiday with joy as a community.

Interested in leading a part of the service? Want to bring a melody you love, or a poem you want to share? Looking to learn some of the prayers? Looking to start (or re-start) a new minyan or service during Shabbat? Contact our staff or Tufts Hillel minyan chairs!

Shabbat Dinner: There is always a place for you around our Shabbat table! All students are welcome – bring your friends or come make new ones at Hillel every week for our delicious kosher Shabbat dinners. Each week is facilitated by a cohort of Shabbat Fellows, who are there to welcome you, facilitate the evenings, and ensure everyone who attends feels at home.Dinner concludes with Birkat Hamazon (the blessing after meals), dessert, and board games – we would love to see you for any or all parts of Friday night you can make it for!Registration for Shabbat dinner is strongly encouraged. To Sign up for weekly Shabbat dinners and to receive information about Shabbat each week, sign up for our text bot system:

Text the word ‘Dinner’ to 617 420 7411

click here to see upcoming Shabbats

Saturdays:

Shabbat at Tufts Hillel continues on Saturday mornings, with bi-weekly Saturday morning Conservative services. All students are welcome!

Following Shabbat morning services, join us for Shabbat lunch upstairs at Hillel. To register for Shabbat lunch, text the word ‘lunch” to 617 429 7411.

Shabbat at Tufts Hillel concludes on Saturday afternoons and evenings, with bi-weekly mincha and maariv services, dinner, singing, and Havdalah! Join us for any or all parts of the evenings as we conclude the day of rest as a community

All are welcome! We look forward to celebrating with you.

For questions please email hillel-center@tufts.edu

Rosh Chodesh Bingo
2025-11-22 12:30 - 13:30 | Tufts Hillel Building, 220 Packard Ave, Medford, MA, 02155
Celebrate Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the new Jewish month, with Bingo! We’ll be welcoming Kislev and giving away fun prizes, including a Trader Joe’s fall-themed basket, a movie night basket, and a Hillel sweatshirt!

Sephardic & Mizrahi Learning With Ciara Shalome
2025-11-23 17:00 - 18:30 | Paige Hall, 220 Packard Ave, Medford, 02155
Come spend the evening with Ciara Shalome, a London-based creator behind The Mizrahi Story (@TheMizrahiStory). Through her work, she brings to life the stories of Jews from the Middle East and North Africa.Enjoy dinner as we learn and engage with Sephardic and Mizrahi history and culture.

The event will be held in Paige Hall in the Terrace Room.

Texts and Values: A Weekly Jewish Study Circle
2025-11-25 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-02 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-09 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-12-16 16:30 - 17:30 | Tufts Hillel Building, 220 Packard Ave, Medford, MA, 02155
Join Rabbi Naftali Brawer for a weekly exploration of Jewish values and ethical teachings embedded in ancient Jewish texts. No prior knowledge is required, just curiosity and an open mind.

Community Dinner
2025-11-25 17:30 - 18:30, 2025-12-02 17:30 - 18:30, 2025-12-09 17:30 - 18:30, 2025-12-16 17:30 - 18:30
Join us for a free mid-week Kosher catered dinner! Come for the food, stay for the people! Check the instagram on Tuesday morning for what’s being served.

Food. People. Comfort.

For the most up to date info please see our social media

instagram.com/tuftshillel

facebook.com/tuftshillel

Inside and Out: Women, Chanukah Light, and the Boundaries of Tradition
2025-12-01 18:00 - 19:30
Join us for learning, conversation, and dinner with Rabbi Dina Brawer, the first woman ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in the United Kingdom. Drawing from themes of faith, gender, and ritual, Rabbi Brawer will explore how women’s spiritual light shines both inside and out and highlights the boundaries of tradition and reimagining the Hannukah story.

Rabbi Brawer is the founder of JOFA UK (Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance) and an internationally recognized educator and speaker on gender and Judaism. Her experiences living in Milan, Jerusalem, New York, and London have shaped her commitment to bridging divides and fostering shared understanding within Jewish life and beyond.

Movie Night: Featuring the Hillel Cozy Pajama Collection
2025-12-02 18:30 - 20:30 | Tufts Hillel Building, 220 Packard Ave, Medford, MA, 02155
After enjoying a tasty Community Dinner, head upstairs for a cozy movie night, complete with popcorn and (of course) pajamas! Hillel’s brand new pajama merch is live on our storefront, linked here, and we’d love to see everyone show out in their merch.

You’ll also be able to purchase merch at the event. It would just make the perfect Hanukkah gift, don’t you think?

Challah for Hunger
2025-12-04 12:00 - 21:00 | Tufts Hillel-Downstairs Chapel, 220 Packard Ave, Medford, MA, 02155
Challah for Hunger is a student group committed to giving back through the tradition of baking challah. Each week, we bake and sell delicious flavors like Chocolate Chip, Cinnamon Sugar, Everything Bagel, Sweet Crumb, and Plain. All proceeds support Family Table, one of the largest Jewish food banks in Greater Boston, helping provide meals to families in need.

This semester, our bakes are on 9/11, 9/25, 10/16, 10/30, 11/13, 12/4.

You can join us for…

Dough Making 3-4PM

Braiding 5-6PM

Baking 7-9PM

Sign up here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gwh5K3jQw-jW_pK81vj7gW6oQ3AWssRpN6g8sXFJ3ew/edit?usp=sharing

Talmud Chaburah
2025-12-05 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-12-12 10:00 - 11:00, 2025-12-19 10:00 - 11:00 | Tufts Hillel Building, 220 Packard Ave, Medford, MA, 02155
Want to take sharpen your Talmud skills? Join a weekly, text-based study group where you’ll work through the Hebrew/Aramaic of the Gemara together, sharpening both reading skills and analytical thinking. Guided by Rabbi Brawer, this chaburah offers a collaborative space for deep learning and thoughtful discussion.

Prerequisite: Participants should be comfortable reading Talmud in the original Hebrew/Aramaic.

ChanuCasino
2025-12-07 19:00 - 21:00
Join us to roll your dreidels and try your luck at ChanuCasino! Come for fun games, delicious sufganiyot (jelly donuts), and a chance to catch up with friends.

Junior Study Abroad Send-Off
2025-12-08 18:30 - 20:00 | Tufts Hillel Building, 220 Packard Ave, Medford, MA, 02155
Say farewell to the Junior Jewish Jumbos who are studying abroad! There will be delicious cake, finger food, and music. This is also a great opportunity to say goodbye to your friends before heading off for break.

Chanukah Candle Lighting
2025-12-14 19:00 - 19:30, 2025-12-15 05:00 - 17:30, 2025-12-16 17:00 - 17:30, 2025-12-17 17:00 - 17:30, 2025-12-18 17:00 - 17:30 | Tufts Hillel Building, 220 Packard Ave, Medford, MA, 02155
Still on campus for Chanukah during finals? Join us for lighting candles throughout Chanukah at Tufts Hillel! We will have candles and Chanukiyot to light together as a community. Looking forward to celebrating with you!

Schedule for candle lightings:

Sunday 12/14 – 7pm

Monday 12/15 – 5pm

Tuesday 12/16 – 5pm

Wednesday 12/17 – 5pm

Thursday 12/18 – 5pm

Friday 12/19 – Sunday 12/21 – Hillel closed for Winter Break
