prayer

Is there a daily minyan at the Bronfman Center? Yes! The daily minyan schedule is as follows: 

• morning services

• Sunday @ 9am

• Monday and Thursday @ 8:05am

• Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday @ 8:15am

• Saturday @ 9:30am

• daily afternoon minyan (mincha in kcaf at 1:30pm daily) 

• daily mincha/ma’ariv, times coming soon

Who can attend daily minyan at the Bronfman Center? Daily minyan at the Bronfman Center is open to all, but non-NYU students must sign up at least 24 hours in advance of the service you wish to attend. You can sign up by emailing Rabbi Leead at ls6187@nyu.edu. Daily minyan at the Bronfman Center is orthodox with a mechitza.

Are there Shabbat services every week? Also, yes! We host Friday night reform, conservative, and orthodox services services and Saturday orthodox services every week during the academic year. For weekly Shabbat times, visit bronfmancenter.org/shabbat. There are conservative Saturday services sporadically throughout the year. Please see the community calendar for accurate information on when those are taking place.  

Are there Jewish holiday programs at NYU? NYU Hillel covers all of the Jewish holidays throughout the academic year, which generally includes High Holidays, Sukkot, Simchat Torah/Shemini Atzeret, Hanukkah, Tu Bishvat, Purim, Passover, and sometimes Shavuot. The orthodox minyan also does special programming for minor fast days. 

religious life

Who are the rabbis? NYU Hillel has multiple wonderful rabbis including Rabbi Emily Aronson, who is the campus rabbi and supports primarily non-orthodox Jewish religious life and oversees all holiday programming as well being a university Spiritual Life Advisor (SLA), Rabbi Leead Staller, our OU-JLIC rabbi who supports primarily orthodox religious life, but is also available to all students, and Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, who serves as our executive director. We are also lucky enough to have two rabbinical students, Noa Rubin, a conservative rabbinical student and Josh Swatez, an orthodox rabbinical student. 

Is there kosher food at NYU? NYU has a kosher dining hall called the Kosher Eatery (known as K-Caf) located in the Weinstein dorm. Hours for K-Caf can be found here. Additionally, there are grab-and-go kosher meals available at various NYU dining halls. NYU Hillel also very often has kosher food in the fridge that’s free and available for all, however the fridge itself is not under rabbinic supervision. All food at NYU Hillel-run events and programs is kosher. See list of local kosher restaurants here.

Where can my child get a mezuzah? Rabbi Leead can help students get a mezuzah from myzuzah.org. Students are responsible for putting up their own mezuzah, but please feel to reach out to our rabbis for help! 

I need supplies for Jewish holidays, what do I do? NYU Hillel gives out menorahs for Hanukkah, matzah for Passover, and sells lulavs and etrogs for Sukkot. If you need other Jewish holiday supplies, please reach out to one of our rabbis. 

Will I be excused from class on Jewish holidays? NYU has a robust policy for religious accommodations. Please see the NYU religious accommodations page for more information. You can also fill out this form if you need support for a religious accommodation.

I want information on how to kasher my kitchen. Reach out Rabbi Leead for advice!

Can I request a Jewish roommate? Incoming First Year students have the ability to form a roommate group of two students if they so choose, but all requests must be submitted by the res life deadlines. NYU does not collect information on the application re: who is or is not Jewish or not Jewish, so they are not able to engineer such pairings. Many incoming students use FB groups or other social media platforms to find Jewish roommates. 

Are the NYU dorms Shabbat friendly? Nearly all buildings have internal stairwells from the lobby up, so there are no Shabbat elevators in those facilities.  Palladium, which has no internal stairwells, uses a Shabbat elevator that stops every few floors. If a student wanted to be placed on a lower floor for any reason, NYU could accommodate their request in advance of assignments being made. Once assignments are made room changes would only be possible based on space availability.