Religious Life
Egal Chavurah has a little something for everyone in the liberal and egalitarian streams of Judaism! More than just a minyan, it is a fun social group made up of students from many different Jewish backgrounds. In addition to weekly services on Friday nights, participants join together to create a warm, friendly, and accessible community through meals, havdalah parties, holiday activities, Jewish learning, hanging out and more!
For more information, please email Sarah Magidson at magidson@uchicago.edu
Yavneh is a daily Orthodox minyan that is lay-led by UChicago students in partnership with local Orthodox residents of Hyde Park. Together, they form an active, welcoming community that provides a friendly social network for all comers, as well as the necessary means to lead a halakhically observant lifestyle. In addition to daily and holiday services, Yavneh offers breakfasts, Jewish learning, tzedakah and social welfare opportunities, leadership development opportunities, Shabbat and Yom Tov activities, hangout time, and more!
For more information, please email Ilya Schwartzberg at igs@uchicago.edu
Kolei Hakol is a transdenominational independent minyan that tries to reconcile traditional understandings of Jewish law and prayer with the need to integrate women more fully into the public community of Judaism. Convening about once a month, each service includes three seating sections (men, women, and mixed), two service leaders, and a quorum of ten men AND ten women. Each service also involves a period of engaging text study that uses traditional sources to help wrestle with the thorny issues of Jewish law that the group is trying to navigate.
For more information, please email Jon Dine at jdine@uchicago.edu
Chabad presents itself as a home-away-from home for Jewish students on the UChicago campus. Directed by Rabbi Yossi Brackman and his wife Baila, it serves students’ needs on a social, educational, and spiritual level. All students are welcome to attend Chabad activities, regardless of background, affiliation, or level of observance. Chabad holds Orthodox services on Friday nights according to the rite of Rabbi Isaac Luria.
For more information, please email Rabbi Yossi Brackman at Chabad@uchicago.edu
And he shall judge between the nations and reprove many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
Isaiah 2.4
Congregation KAM Isaiah Israel
KAM Isaiah Israel is a neighborhood Reform synagogue located just north of campus, directly across from President Obama’s house. The oldest Jewish congregation in the Midwest, it is known for its commitment to innovative Jewish music, quality education for adults and children, and social justice both at home and around the world. UChicago students are a welcome addition to the community, and they are invited to attend high holiday services for free!
Congregation Rodfei Zedek
Rodfei Zedek is a neighborhood Conservative synagogue located just northeast of campus. Thanks to its partnership with the Hyde Park JCC, a shared campus with Akiba-Schechter Jewish Day School, and collaborative activities with civic and ecumenical groups, Rodfei Zedek offers to the community a wellspring of religious, educational, and cultural opportunities to satisfy the questing Jewish soul and spirit. UChicago students are a welcome addition to the community, and they are invited to attend high holiday services for free! Click HERE for a brochure.
Religious Life on Campus
Find the religious experience that means something to you!
Hyde Park is home to a robust Jewish community that is eager to greet incoming students and meet their spiritual and religious needs. Below are several links to the local synagogues on campus, both of which are no more than a fifteen-minute walk from most dormitories.
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