Maryville Hillel is turning 10 this year, and while there will be celebration, the milestone also marks something deeper: a decade of building Jewish community on campus, sharing traditions and giving students—Jewish and not—a space to learn, connect and belong.
Since launching in 2015, Maryville’s Hillel has hosted everything from Shabbat dinners and Sukkot celebrations in the Quad to the now-annual Shabbatukkah, which won the university’s “Program of the Year” award in 2022.
The campus will mark the occasion with a special celebration on May 5, 2025, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in the President’s Conference Center, featuring remarks from Maryville President Mark Lombardi and Jewish Federation of St. Louis CEO Danny Cohn.
An open tent. A full Sukkah
Joey Abeles, who moved from Los Angeles to lead Hillel in 2020, says the group has grown into something truly cross-cultural.
“I have been delighted by the response of non-Jewish students to Hillel,” he said. “Students who may never before have met a Jewish person get the chance to engage in meaningful Jewish traditions such as eating Shabbat dinners, blowing the Shofar and lighting Hanukkah candles. It’s amazing to be able to share these experiences, which are so meaningful to us as Jews, to the wider campus and forge deep communal bonds.”
He’s also seen the power of a shared meal in real time.
“At last year’s “Shabbat dinner in the Sukkah,” which is set up in the middle of the Maryville quad, so many students came that we had to bring in extra chairs from around campus to seat everyone,” Abeles said. “There’s a special warmth of the community celebrating together in an overflowing Sukkah.”
And while Shabbatukkah is now a highlight of the school year, it started as a simple idea.
“I started Shabbatukkah to celebrate the overlap of Shabbat and Hanukkah and it’s grown into something really special,” Abeles said. “In its first year, we had about 40 students come together in a decorated room on campus to light candles, learn about global Hanukkah traditions and just share in the joy of the moment.”
Campus life, Jewish values
Paul Kravitz, who chairs Maryville Hillel’s Advisory Council, says the chapter has made it possible for Jewish students to live their values publicly.
“What has stood out to me most has been the opportunity for Jewish students to openly and proudly practice their faith on campus—observing holidays with prayers and songs and modeling the values of tzedakah and tikkun olam,” Kravitz said. “Hillel students express their values by actively engaging in community-based social justice projects, often bringing along their non-Jewish classmates and friends.”
Each year, Hillel hosts a Holocaust survivor speaker, drawing more than 450 attendees—remarkable for a campus with only 200 to 250 Jewish students. Maryville also co-sponsors the Staenberg Lecture Series, bringing national voices like Dara Horn, Isabel Wilkerson and Jonathan Greenblatt to campus to tackle antisemitism and hate.
Kravitz says the payoff isn’t just what happens on campus—it’s what happens after.
“A student’s involvement in Hillel is the No. 1 predictor of future leadership in the Jewish community,” he said. “And the majority of Maryville students stay in St. Louis after graduation—returning to the Jewish community to grow as leaders, build careers and raise young families.”
