History 2024

In the early 1970s, both Northwestern University and University of Chicago had Hillel presence, however, the only downtown “commuter school” to have Hillel on campus was University Illinois-Chicago, at the time University Illinois Chicago Circle. Chicago Circle Hillel Director Rabbi Joesph Schacter, with the help of University of Chicago Hillel Director Rabbi Daniel Leifer, successfully lobbied the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago for programming support, becoming the first commuter school Hillel in the country to have funding from their local Jewish Federation.

In 1971, Patti Ray, Anita Weinstein, and Annalee Letchinger, were hired with goals to establish Hillel presence on other commuter campuses which lacked permanent Hillel buildings.  Ray would go on to become the Director of Hillel at Loyola University Chicago. A Hillel was requested by the University in 1987 as a way to draw Jewish students. Loyola was the first Jesuit University to have Hillel on campus.  After their work with Hillel, Weinstein and Letchinger would stay local to Chicago and also make a profound impact. Weinstein founded and directed Jewish United Fund’s Ezra Multiservice Center, and Letchinger founded and directed The Chicago Jewish Youth Council.

By the end of the century, many Chicago schools had Hillel presence on campus. In 1999, Oakton Community College and Northeastern Illinois University merged their Hillel presence into a multi-campus program supported by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago known as The Hillels Around Chicago.

In 2002, Hillels Around Chicago, officially recognized by Hillel International, included Oakton Community College, Northeastern Illinois University, Illinois Institute of Technology, DePaul University, Columbia College Chicago, Roosevelt University, SAIC, and a citywide Russian student program. Metro Chicago Hillel is a subsidiary of The Hillels of Illinois. Emily Briskman, currently the Executive Director of Hillels of Illinois, was the Program Director of Hillel DePaul from 2004-2009.

Chicago is unique in the United States when it comes to its large, relatively young, Russian speaking Jewish population. In 2003, Hillels of Illinois, the governing body for all Hillels in the state of Illinois, obtained a priority grant from JUF to launch a program for Russian speaking students. The Russian Hillel of Hilles Around Chicago was born through this priority grant. During the nine years of its existence, Russian Hillel hosted many programs on and off campuses, organized annual Russian Shabbaton retreats for close to 100 people, had a School of Madrichim program, and, in partnership with Shorashim, and sent eight Russian-Speaking buses on Birthright Israel.

In 2007, Patti Ray was honored for 20 years of service as Director of Loyola Hillel. Students and faculty alike of all religious groups on campus praised her dearly. They celebrated her accomplishments, citing her inventive programming, compassion, and tireless work in support of students. A young Palestinian woman/an alum of Loyola’s Muslim Student Association, shared that Ray, an Orthodox Jewish woman, even helped establish the campus’s first mosque.

The 2010s were a decade of exponential growth for Metro Chicago Hillel! In 2013, Hillel’s Around Chicago merged with UIC Levine Hillel Center and Loyola Hillel. In 2014, Rabbi Seth Winberg, the former Assistant Director of Michigan Hillel, was hired as Executive Director. The now combined organization was renamed Metro Chicago Hillel, or “MCH” for short. 2013 also saw 52 students sent on Taglit-Birthright Israel.

2016 introduced a new chapter for MCH: Base Hillel. Base Hillel would be transformative. Whereas other Bases (pluralistic Jewish homes led by young Rabbinic couples, with a purpose of providing community for aged 20s-30s Jews) would function independently, Base Hillel would be fully integrated into the fabric of Metro Chicago Hillel, becoming a welcoming, hospitable space for a warm shabbat meal, learning cohort, or high holiday services for both undergraduate students and young adults.

Base Hillel, with a location chosen in Lincoln Park, was an ambitious project, with a goal to engage 500 students/young adults in it’s first year of operations. After just one year, Silverstein Base Hillel engaged 774 indviduals, achieving 155% of the desired goal. For its incredible work engaging students, MCH was awarded the Phillip H and Susan Rudd Cohen Outstanding Campus Award from Hillel International. “The award, the highest honor given to an individual Hillel… recognizes Metro Chicago's success in adopting new ways of connecting with students.” - Eric Fingerhut, former CEO of Hillel International.

Charles Cohen became Executive Director in 2017 following the departure of Rabbi Seth Winberg. The Bernard and Luba Friedman Base Loop, aiming to engage students from Roosevelt University, Columbia College Chicago, and SAIC, opened shortly thereafter. By 2019, within just three years of operation, the two Base Hillels had engaged nearly 2,600 students and young adults. The Bernard and Luba Friedman Base Loop relocated to Fulton Market, and by the end of the decade plans were drawn up for a third and fourth Base, Base Logan Square and the Anna & Fred Doppelt Base Andersonville. The Base Hillel experiment was a smashing success.

MCH is still growing! In 2021, Hillel events were officially offered on campus at Elmhurst University following the formation of a student board at the university. Students from Lake Forest Community College and Oakton Community College reached out to MCH staff with intentions of reestablishing Hillel as an official student organization on campus post pandemic. Additionally, students were engaged from campuses previously never to have connection with Metro Chicago Hillel, such as Rush University. MCH served 19 schools in 2021. 

In 2023, 872 unique individuals attended High Holidays programming. Following October 7th, MCH provided a processing space for over 200 18-40 year olds. MCH was able to fly 11 students to Washington DC on November 14th, 2023 for the historic March for Israel, the largest Pro-Israel rally in United States History, which saw 290,000 in-person attendees. MCH also provided students with opportunities to attend two Israel focused conferences, which gave students crucial Pro-Israel activism skills to bring back to campus and share with fellow Jewish campus leaders. 

Currently, Metro Chicago Hillel has four Base locations, 12 full time staff, eight Base educators, and engages countless students and young Jewish professionals around Chicago. As of December, 2024, Metro Chicago Hillel was the recipient of multiple awards at the annual Hillel International Global Assembly. MCH took home an honor for excellence in Interviewing and Onboarding Systems.  Associate Director Rabbi Nicole Berne won The Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award, which recognizes Hillel professionals, “whose remarkable passion and outstanding devotion to the Jewish campus community sets a standard for all to emulate.” The future is looking bright for Metro Chicago Hillel!