Student Groups and Initiatives
One of the defining features of Harvard is the outsized leadership that students take on – from running the Crimson to leading orchestras to organizing conferences. Harvard Hillel participates in this ethos by creating leadership opportunities where students can dream big and make those dreams come true through mentorship and financial resources.
We’re building Jewish life on campus right now while building Jewish leaders for the next generation. Students don’t just participate in Jewish life here – they create it, shape it, and lead it forward.
Harvard Hillel supports several student-led communities, known as Affiliated Groups. The goal of these groups is to bring students together around a common purpose, interest, or goal. All undergrads are encouraged to learn about and join the groups that interest them!
Ready to lead? Whether you want to start a new initiative, take on a leadership role in an existing group, or bring your own creative vision to Jewish life at Harvard, we’re here to support you. Contact Rachel Eilbaum to explore how we can help make your ideas a reality.
ApiChorus A Cappella
Contact: Zach Buller '25
We are ApiChorus, Harvard’s Premier Jewish A Cappella Group and an affiliated student organization of Harvard Hillel. Founded in 2023, ApiChorus is a coed group comprised of current undergraduate students at Harvard College. We sing a diverse repertoire of Hebrew and English classics, represent a broad range of Jewish backgrounds, and perform at venues locally in Cambridge as well as in concerts around the country. For more information, please visit our ApiChorus website at www.apichorus.org.
BAGELS
Contact: Rachel Fields '27
BAGELS is Harvard Hillel’s queer affinity group, open to queer students and allies. We are a group committed to hosting events to foster a supportive LGBTQ+ environment at Hillel and on campus. We also facilitate spaces for students to discuss their queer identity and its intersectionalities.
The Camel
Contact: Charlie Covit ‘27
The Camel brings in top Jewish entrepreneurs and business leaders to meet with students at Harvard and MIT, with the mission of exposing students to the opportunities available in the Jewish and Israeli worlds. Last year, we welcomed over 1,000 students, half of them non-Jewish, to over 20 individual events featuring some of the world’s best Jewish and Israeli entrepreneurs. Our list of speakers, both this past year and upcoming in the fall, includes Adam Mosseri, CEO of Instagram, Strauss Zelnick, CEO of $36 billion video game company Take-Two Interactive, Scooter Braun, and many others. We finished the semester by hosting a three-day Hackathon that brought together elite IDF veterans and Harvard/MIT students for an intensive weekend of building, hacking, and connecting
Harvard Israel Initiative (HII)
Contact: Charlie Covit '27
Harvard Israel Initiative’s mission is to educate the broader Harvard community on what Israel truly is, fight back against the intense anti-Israel rhetoric on campus, and to cultivate a love of and sense of pride in Israel among the Jewish community. On the educational side, HII brings in leaders from both Israel and Diaspora Jewry to speak to our community about why, as Jewish and American young people, they should care about Israel, its security, and its future. When anti-Israel rhetoric heats up on campus, it is our job to respond, offering students the opportunity to learn the truth. And to remind students that Israel is much more than its politics, HII also plans to organize a variety of exciting social events that celebrate Israeli culture, food, and music. Collaborating closely with the board’s Israel chair, we aspire to bring the spirit of Israel and Zionism to Hillel and the broader Harvard community.
Israelis of Harvard
Contact: Maya Shiloni
The Harvard IDF Veterans is a group meant to create a supportive community for Israeli veterans to engage with one another, find support, and develop resources related to the IDF at Harvard. The IDF Veterans affiliated group also aims to educate the greater Jewish community and the Harvard community about the role of the IDF in Israeli society.
Israel Trek
Contact: Doron Ben Haim '27
Israel Trek offers Harvard students an unparalleled opportunity to experience Israel firsthand and engage with the complexity of the region beyond headlines and campus debates. This student-organized immersion trip explicitly aims to expose participants of all backgrounds to a broad mix of perspectives on the country, its peoples, its politics, and its history. The speaker program runs the political, cultural, and religious gamut, featuring voices ranging from investigative journalists to former prime ministers, Palestinian peace activists to professors who run critical policy research centers. Students visit historically and culturally significant sites throughout Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, engage in roundtable discussions at the Knesset with Israeli political leaders across the spectrum, and hear directly from Palestinian perspectives.
By nature and design, this program promotes understanding and enables students to form their own opinions. This is precisely the type of intellectual opportunity Harvard should be encouraging students to pursue, moving beyond polarized campus debates to engage directly with the realities on the ground. The trip provides students with the chance to gain perspectives often missing from media coverage and academic discourse, fostering the kind of nuanced understanding that comes only through firsthand experience. Join fellow Harvard students for this transformative educational experience that challenges assumptions and deepens understanding of one of the world’s most complex regions.
Jewish-Christian Bible Study
Contact: Yona Sperling-Milner '27
The Jewish-Christian Bible Study meets weekly over dinner to discuss Biblical texts, interpretations, and religious life – both in its surprising similarities and its thought-provoking divergences. Join us to learn from your peers, delve deeply into texts no matter how you approach them, and maybe even lead a session yourself!
Jewskies
Contact: Asher Chamoy '25
Jewkies’ mission is to create a vibrant and inclusive space dedicated to the cultural enrichment and enjoyment of Russian and post-Soviet Jews, as well as those with Soviet heritage and Russian-speaking Jewish communities. We aim to foster a sense of belonging and connection by celebrating our rich traditions, history, and shared experiences. Through various programs, events, and activities, Jewkies seeks to provide opportunities for individuals and families to engage with their cultural roots, build meaningful relationships, and explore the diverse aspects of Jewish life in a welcoming environment. By embracing our unique heritage, we strive to strengthen community bonds and promote understanding among all who share in this journey.
Mishelanu
Contact: Lotem Loeb
A chapter of the nationwide Mishelanu student network and a member of the Israel American Council (IAC), Harvard Mishelanu was established in September 2024 and strives to be a community for Jewish students with Israeli parents on Harvard campus. Mishelanu’s mission is to unite and engage students, particularly undergraduates, in sharing their Israeli and American cultures by offering a unique opportunity for students to explore their identities and cultures in a safe space that fosters impactful community. Mishelanu also offers fellowships, conferences, activism ambassador programs, and wide-ranging opportunities for students to practice, get inspired, and gain the skills necessary to carry their identity in their professional lives and academic careers.
Tamid
Contact: Emily Wilrich '25
TAMID Group is a Harvard Hillel affiliated student organization that develops the professional skills of undergraduate students through hands-on interaction with the Israeli economy. TAMID integrates the next generation of entrepreneurs and business professionals with Israel through a comprehensive education curriculum, pro-bono consulting for Israeli startups, capital market investment research, and a summer internship program in Israel. TAMID has no political or religious affiliations.
Reform Community
Contact: Monica Steiner
Harvard Hillel’s Reform Community is dedicated to creating beautiful Reform prayer services; fostering a warm and welcoming environment; facilitating personal, spiritual, and moral growth, and advancing inter-minyan engagement and cooperation. Our community is open to undergraduates, graduate students, community members, and anyone in between! Our Friday night Kabbalat Shabbat services are undergraduate-led and use a mix of English and Hebrew from the Mishkan T’filah prayer book, feature lively guitar and singing, and include provocative discussions of the weekly Torah portion.
Student Conservative Minyan
Student Conservative Minyan (SCM) is a fully student-run minyan with services that are egalitarian and traditional. Men and women are invited to participate equally, and the year-round services are mostly in Hebrew, following the siddur Sim Shalom. Undergraduates and graduate students make up the leadership and much of the attendance of the minyan; community members make up a part of the minyan as well.
SCM meets for all services on Shabbat and holidays. Shabbat and holiday services especially offer much opportunity for spirited davening (praying), with singing, clapping, and dancing. Friday night davening is especially lively.
In addition, SCM organizes social programming for the student community year-round, from holiday parties to study breaks to get-togethers. SCM actively tries to foster student leadership, and will help teach those who would like to learn more about how to lead services, read Torah, give a D’var Torah (a “word of Torah,” or mini-sermon), etc.
We are eager to get to know you! Fill out this super quick form and we’ll be in touch.
Orthodox Student Minyan
Contact: Pamela Brenner
The Orthodox Student Minyan (OSM) is a group that offers social, religious, and intellectual programming and community for undergraduate students at Harvard.
In conjunction with the Orthodox Minyan at Harvard Hillel, OSM offers daily and Shabbat minyanim. You can find more information about the Orthodox Minyan, including some davening times, here.
See Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about observant life on campus.
Our Mashgicha Ruchanit, Pamela Brenner, can also answer questions students may have, as well as find a place for any prospective students who would like to spend a Shabbat at Harvard Hillel.