Who We Are

Purpose

Penn Hillel cultivates vibrant, pluralistic Jewish life rooted in Jewish tradition, which nurtures students’ growth and strengthens the broader University community.

Mission

We support undergraduate and graduate students as they explore Jewish identity and culture, spirituality, Torah, and peoplehood. We work to ensure a campus climate in which all students can learn, grow, and express who they are and what they believe freely, safely, and with dignity. Through ritual, community-building, leadership development, Jewish learning, immersive travel experiences, and celebratory engagement with Israel and the Jewish world, we empower students to pursue lives of meaning, intention, justice, and responsibility.

Penn Hillel serves as a central nexus for Jewish life at Penn – connecting students, faculty, staff, and alumni, and fostering mutual support and resilience, especially in moments of challenge. Our building is a home away from home for Jewish students: a place of spiritual nourishment, friendship, refuge, and a steady home-base within the rhythms of campus life. It is also a religious home — a space where diverse expressions of Jewish observance, prayer, and ritual life are practiced with authenticity and respect.

We partner with the wider University community to create opportunities for Jewish and non-Jewish students alike to engage in Judaism with depth and nuance, and to build relationships that enrich the moral and intellectual life of the campus and beyond.

Vision

We envision a University of Pennsylvania where Jewish expression is visible, confident, and deeply integrated into the fabric of campus life – and where Jewish students, faculty, and staff are able to thrive as full participants in the academic, cultural, and civic life of the University. Jewish students – undergraduate and graduate alike – must experience Penn as a place where they can pursue rigorous learning, spiritual exploration, ethical responsibility, and joyful community without having to choose between belonging and authenticity. Jewish holidays, ideas, and values, as well as the enduring bond with the Jewish homeland, are
understood as enduring sources of wisdom that contribute to the common good.

We aspire to a campus culture marked by civil discourse, intellectual curiosity, and mutual respect, in which disagreement does not undermine belonging and free expression is protected for all. We seek to create a campus in which both Jewish and non-Jewish students leave with a deeper understanding of Jewish history, Jewish values, and contemporary Jewish life – and with relationships that ground those understandings in trust and shared humanity.

Penn Hillel seeks to be a model for how a Jewish institution can both serve its own community and help shape a university environment where difference is engaged thoughtfully, community is strengthened across lines of identity, and learning flourishes.

Where We Are

Steinhardt Hall is located on 39th street between Walnut and Spruce, at the Western end of Locust Walk. We are also home to Falk Dining, Penn’s Kosher dining hall.