The Hillel Foundation became a part of the student life at the University of Alabama in 1934 when Bill Bloom, a member of the Jewish community in Tuscaloosa, started to raise funds in order to install the organization in a house on University Boulevard. B’nai B’rith, a Jewish fraternal organization, initiated Hillel as the foundation of the Jewish community at the University of Illinois in 1923. The organization spread to campuses across the country and established itself as a Jewish religious center, which answered the religious and social needs of students.

Jewish communities from all over Alabama contributed to the introduction of Hillel to the University of Alabama. The 1930s and 1940s saw a soaring Jewish enrollment of 600 students and a prospering Jewish campus culture. During this period of time, the University of Alabama counted four Jewish fraternities and three sororities. The university was labeled relatively inexpensive and easy to enter and thus gain a popularity among Jewish students of the Northeast. The Hillel House on University Boulevard profited from this increase in the number of Jewish students and developed into a place where members from the different Jewish organizations could meet. Furthermore, the house offered support and a forum for independent students who did not belong to a Jewish fraternity. In 1951, the Hillel Foundation moved from University Boulevard into a new house on 10th Avenue, which Bill Bloom had managed to build with the help of the Jewish communities throughout Alabama. Rabbis from all over the state participated in the opening ceremony in the new house. While the Hillel program has been located in this house since then, its address changed in 1977 when the street was renamed into Wallace Wade Avenue.

Since its arrival at the University of Alabama, the Hillel Foundation has constituted a constant and reliable element of Jewish culture in campus life. The Hillel House offers religious services, such as weekly Friday night services and celebrations of the high holidays. The high holidays that the students can celebrate at the Hillel House comprise among others Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Tu Bishvat, Hanukkah, Passover and Yom Hashoah. The Jewish holiday cycle begins with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year and the day of the blowing of the shofar (a ram’s horn), which urges all Jews to do good deeds. Rosh Hashanah starts the Ten Days of Repentance, which end with the celebration of Yom Kippur. The Hillel Foundation follows the traditions related to the different holidays. The students build a booth in front of the Hillel House on Sukkot, the Feast of Booths, in remembrance of the Hebrews wandering through the desert. Tu Bishvat celebrates the birthday of the trees and consists in a meal centered on 15 kinds of fruit and nuts. The students and their friends exchange presents and play games on Hanukkah. On Passover, they meet for a ceremonial dinner revolving around the story of Moses leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt. The Holocaust Memorial Ceremony on Yom Hashoah involves the Jewish community as well as the major churches surrounding campus.

The celebration of the high holidays forms a part of the Jewish awareness programs Hillel offers. These programs are specifically welcomed by students who have not been familiar with the rich religious tradition of Judaism before. Alexis Weiskopf, a member of Sigma Delta Tau sorority, writes in the Hillel newsletter Magen Dixie: “Not being very active in religion in my years had left me with a void. This is not uncommon for students that are from communities that have relatively small Jewish populations. To me, Hillel is a place that is designed for the students- from leadership involvement to religious encouragement. It is also terrific place to meet people with different backgrounds and perspectives on Judaism.”

In addition to its religious celebrations, the Hillel organization maintains a Jewish library and an Israel Programs Information Center. Besides these constant services, the Hillel House hosts a wide scale of cultural and social events ranging from expositions of Jewish artists to conferences and receptions of Israeli officials. The event calendar also includes speeches on the Middle East Peace Process, the Israeli Food Festival and the World Peace Ice-Cream Festival. The Hillel House closely cooperates with the Jewish fraternity Zeta Beta Tau and the sorority Sigma Delta Tau as well as with the small Jewish community in Tuscaloosa. The chairman of the Hillel Foundation, Stan Bloom, a member of this community and a graduate from the University of Alabama, serves as the chairman of the Hillel Foundation. He became more involved with the Hillel program when his father died in 1969 and has been monitoring and coordinating the organization since. Bloom points out the important role the Hillel House assumes in the Jewish community and the precious diversity it presents to its 75 families: “While the religious services held at the local temple comply with the reformist tradition, the Hillel House provides conservative services. It thereby offers religious Jews a choice.”

Jewish citizens throughout Alabama acknowledge the benefits Hillel furnishes and financially support the foundation. The large Jewish community in Birmingham accounts for half of the organization’s budget through its Birmingham Jewish Federation. The University of Alabama especially welcomes the social events and cultural diversity that Hillel brings to the campus. The foundation maintains a good relationship with the Jewish faculty at the university and opens its house if a location for guest speakers or conferences is needed. While the enrollment of Jewish students has decreased to 350-400 during the last few decades, the Hillel Foundation tries to keep alive the Jewish tradition at the University of Alabama. Supported by the university, it has started recruitment programs to attract Jewish high school students. The Hillel House will continue to provide support and a tolerant forum for Jewish students from any ideological background in accordance with the words of Hillel director Guy Antebi: “There is nothing that one must believe to be a Jew.”