This university’s Jewish community celebrated the ceremonial groundbreaking of the new Hillel center building on Sunday morning.
Situated just north of Route 1, the promised building will open to Jewish students in spring of 2026. It will replace Maryland Hillel’s current premises on the opposite side of campus, at 7612 Mowatt Lane.
A couple hundred people gathered at the new location on Yale Avenue at around 11:15 a.m. to hear from Hillel representatives and student leaders about the long-awaited construction project’s expected impact on this university’s Jewish students.
Hillel International CEO Adam Lehman stressed the importance of a new building for this university’s campus, which boasts one of the largest Jewish student populations of any public university.
“We are privileged to be in a partnership with the university. Hillel is a holy place, a sacred space. The work here at Hillel transforms the lives of students. It’s not just a Hillel. This is Maryland Hillel. We all need to continue to find ways to invest in this project going forward,” he said.
This university’s President Darryll Pines, who took a front-row seat for the event, went up to the podium after Lehman to say a few words.
“Today is a great day to be a Terp. Hillel is back to where it originally started. This new building will help students find belonging,” he said.
Pines also seized this moment to reiterate his support for the campus Jewish community, now grappling with the fast-approaching anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre.
“This fall is difficult for our Jewish students,” he said. “I fully understand the significance of Oct. 7 Maryland Terps support Maryland Terps. Jewish Terps support Jewish Terps.”
Representing the Jewish student body, Jewish Student Union Vice President Emma Steinhause shifted the conversation toward the future benefits for students.
“This building is for the countless students to come through the doors. It is a symbol of the bright future that lies ahead for Hillel,” she said.
Stuart Tauber, this university’s Hillel’s community relations chair, revealed a few previously unannounced upgrades for the new facility including a kosher cafe, student lounges and dedicated study rooms.
In a bid for donors, Tauber listed the naming opportunities for the building-to-be, including smaller sums, $5,400 for a TV/sound system and larger ones, $200,000 for the first floor’s new programming office. This university’s Hillel showcased 13 different donation options on signage across the event.
Montgomery County Councilman Andrew Friedson gushed about Maryland Hillel’s work at this university, going so far as to quip that he should be named “president of the Ari Israel Fanclub.”
“I am convinced more than ever before that there is not a place more representative of Jewish life and struggles than this campus,” he said.
Maryland Hillel Director Ari Israel himself then went up to conclude the ceremony with a concise look backward, then into the future.
Israel spoke about the history of Hillel at the Yale Avenue site, which dates back to the 1940s. While elaborating on the value of returning to Maryland Hillel’s roots, Israel pulled out his phone and excitedly shared that an audience member had just made a $50,000 pledge.
The event concluded with the groundbreaking itself, as Hillel and university leaders donned Maryland Hillel-themed hard hats and shovels for the ceremonial first dig. The moment they struck dirt kicked off the projected 18-month timeline for the new building.
Freshman Katriel Camp shared her reaction to the Maryland Hillel building’s promised future.
“As a freshman, it’s really empowering to see the effort put into this Hillel and the opportunities that I will have with this new facility,” she said to Mitzpeh. “I am so grateful to everyone who had come before me to make this new center for Jewish life a possibility for me.”
When asked what she hopes to feel once she enters the building for the first time, Camp had just one request: “I want to feel like I’m home.”
