Hillel International broke ground for the Steven K. and Winifred A. Grinspoon Hillel Center for Jewish Community at Cornell University on March 8, a long-planned student center designed to strengthen campus Jewish life.
The campus Hillel has operated since 1952 out of Annabel Taylor Hall, a university building shared with other faith communities. Rabbi Ari Weiss, CEO of the Grinspoon Hillel Center for Jewish Community at the private university in Ithaca, N.Y., told JNS that setting up at Harkavy Hall, a new building, has “been a dream of the Hillel and our community for at least 30 years.”
Weiss, who is married and has three children under the age of 10, has been the director for 10 years. He told JNS that one of his children excitedly brought a construction hard hat from the groundbreaking to kindergarten to show his friends.
The $52 million capital campaign to fund the construction has thus far raised $37.2 million from 1,286 donors, said Weiss, adding that support has included students donating $18 and recent alumni donating $180.
The name of the new Hillel building honors the Harkavy family; Harriet Harkavy is a Cornell alumna and one of the lead donors to the facility, according to the university newspaper.
The first floor is intended to include a lounge centered around a fireplace and the kosher Herb’s Cafe. Additional spaces will include study areas, prayer spaces, meeting rooms for student organizations and a large kitchen for catering and initiatives, such as challah baking for charity.
A multipurpose room capable of hosting about 220 people will allow for large events such as Shabbat dinners and community gatherings, which Weiss said he hopes people will use for bar and bat mitzvahs and weddings.
“We really want this place to live Judaism, to live community and to breathe belonging,” he said. “For me, that is really like the hope of this building, that this will be a home for Jewish students. It will be a place for them to gather, to belong, to be together.”
Weiss told JNS that architects and designers are planning features such as a custom ark, bimah and other ritual objects, as well as a “bespoke” sukkah to be used on an upper-level terrace. (JNS asked what “bespoke” meant, and Weiss said that it is custom-designed to fit the space.)
Security has also been a major consideration in the design process. Weiss said planners worked with the Secure Community Network, the security arm of the Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, to ensure that the building is both welcoming and protected.
“We tried, whenever possible, to have passive security,” he said, noting that instead of installing bollards to prevent car rammings into the building, a rain garden to catch water runoff will be designed as “something impossible for someone to drive a car and ram through.”
Weiss said there will, of course, be cameras throughout the building, a “man trap” entry, and many more security elements designed with the network.
Harkavy Hall is expected to open in fall 2027.
