All Are Welcomed

Hillel of Sonoma County is the center of Jewish life for college students attending Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College. It’s a place to hang out with old friends, make new ones and participate in social action, Jewish learning, Shabbat dinners, arts and entertainment events – even just schmoozing at one of our popular social events. 

In 1999, Hillel of Sonoma County was founded to give students from Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College a place to engage in Jewish life each semester. We began as a small subsidiary of the local Jewish Community Alliance (JCA), holding occasional Shabbat dinners for a few students in their dorm rooms. Today, our programming and student involvement has grown enormously and we have transformed into a vibrant, independent organization that serves hundreds of students each year.

Today, our mission is simple: to reach out to and connect students to a diverse and vibrant Jewish campus community filled with celebration, learning, and creativity.

Sonoma Hillel empowers students to take responsibility for their Jewish identity, whether they wish to participate in a community service project, express themselves artistically, engage in informal Jewish learning or lead a religious service. In addition, we:

• Promote Jewish life at Sonoma Hillel and beyond, through broad programming and a commitment to building a diverse Jewish community.
• Provide a strong community that enriches the lives of our Jewish students and the campuses we serve as a whole and that enables members of these communities to come together in an atmosphere welcoming to all.
• Prepare Jewish students to be active and responsible members of the larger community and prepare them to be active and engaged members of the Jewish community after they graduate.
• Provide a nurturing environment for Jewish students to grow, with respect for other faiths and a broad understanding of what it means to be Jewish.