Religious

Daily Yavneh / Orthodox Minyan Times

Judaism has a rich tradition of religious rituals, holidays and customs. The Center for Jewish Life/Hillel is a pluralistic environment that welcomes and provides support for all of your religious needs be they Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Renewal, Trans-denominational, or something else. We regularly offer Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox options for Shabbat and Jewish Holidays when Princeton is in session. Additionally, there are two rabbis on staff, Rabbi Julie Roth, Executive Director and Rabbi David Wolkenfeld, Co-Director of Jewish Education. For more information view the groups below or check out our Resources page.

Shabbat - Shabbat at the CJL is a terrific time for prayer, community and celebration. On Friday nights throughout the academic year the CJL hosts three different services, Reform, Conservative and Orthodox followed by a festive kosher dinner which is free to all students including upper class and graduate students. Saturdays feature Conservative and Orthodox services. You can see service and mealtimes on our Shabbat page. To arrange for Shabbat meals in advance, please contact call 609-258-3635. Community members are always welcome to join us for Shabbat and holiday services.  If you have other questions regarding Shabbat at the CJL, please see our Shabbat Services page or contact Rabbi David Wolkenfeld at dwolkenf@princeton.edu.

Holidays - The CJL is committed to providing a place at Princeton for students and community to celebrate Jewish Holidays. To see what specific events the CJL is doing for each holiday, check out our Events Calendar. Princeton University has a policy that students will be excused from exams or deadlines because of a religious holiday. Each year, all faculty are notified of the Jewish holidays. Anyone needing assistance making arrangements with professors should contact Rabbi Julie Roth, Executive Director, julroth@princeton.edu. For more information on any of the holidays, see our Resource page.

Kesher (Reform) - Kesher, literally meaning “connection” in Hebrew, is the Reform Jewish Community at Princeton University. We are affiliated with the national Kesher College Program run by the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) and the Center for Jewish Life. Kesher at Princeton is a vibrant group of undergraduates, graduate students, alumni, faculty, staff, and community members who participate together in religious, social, and educational programs. Our major weekly event is our student-led Friday night service in which all members of our community are able to come together for prayer and song. Our service is unique in that we use a prayer book written by Princeton students and all members of the community are asked to participate in varying degrees from English readings to leading the service to simply participating in our often-lively discussions of the weekly Torah portion. Aside from Friday night services, we also coordinate holiday services and programs throughout the entire year including Reform High Holiday services. Our community is a welcoming one which recognizes the vast array of individuals who consider themselves Reform Jews and for that reason we are always open to new faces, new ideas and new activities. To find out more please feel free to check our website, or email kesher@princeton.edu. Most importantly, if you would like to receive our weekly updates just email kesher@princeton.edu and we’ll add you to the list.

Koach (Conservative) – Koach is Princeton's student-run Conservative Jewish minyan. We are also a part of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism's college organization. Koach holds traditional, egalitarian services on Friday nights and holidays. Community-led Conservative services are also available at the CJL on Saturday mornings. Koach also plans social events and study breaks.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or interest in getting involved in Koach, please email Rebecca Kaufman '11 (rkaufman@princeton.edu), Eric Stern '11 (estern@princeton.edu), and Ben Herzberg '10 (Herzberg@princeton.edu). Additionally, if you would like to learn any of the prayers or participate in leading any services, please contact the co-chairs as well.

To subscribe to our mailing list, email listserv@lists.princeton.edu 'subscribe koach' in the subject of the e-mail.

Yavneh (Orthodox) - Yavneh is the orthodox/observant Jewish group on campus. We are a small and tight-knit community: we think of ourselves as a family of about 30-40 students committed to Torah, Judaism and Jewish practice, the university, education, friendship, and open discussion. First and foremost, we are a community for each other, as well as for anyone who wants to join. We welcome students from all backgrounds; at the same time, most of us have gone to Jewish day schools, and some of us have spent a year or two in Israel prior to attending Princeton. Yavneh students and community members span the orthodox/observant spectrum, from right to left, but our community functions with a modern Orthodox hashkafa (outlook).  For more information, check out our website or email us at yavneh@princeton.edu.