Although there have been unofficial Jewish groups at MU since the late 1920s, the Hillel Foundation was the first official center for the Jewish community in Columbia. It was established in 1947 under the auspices of the national B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation.

Now, 60 years after its founding, Hillel is celebrating its beginnings.

Festivities will begin April 4 with a musical Shabbat for the Columbia Jewish community and end April 6 with a private celebratory brunch for the Jewish Student Organization.

The Hillel Foundation was established to serve the needs of Jewish university students and the faculty of Columbia. However, because it was the only center for Jewish life at the time, the Jewish community participated in religious services with university students at the building.

In 1974, members of the Jewish community formed an official congregation, Congregation Beth Shalom of Mid-Missouri. The congregation shared the Danciger Hillel building with the Hillel Foundation until 2003 when it moved to Columbia’s first Jewish synagogue, at 500 Green Meadows Rd.

Today, Hillel, the Jewish campus center, serves approximately 650 students and 25 graduate students from the MU, Stephens College and Columbia College campuses, Kerry Hollander, executive director of Hillel, said.

Hillel’s present location, at 1107 University Ave., can be traced to 1949, when Hillel moved to its first building at this location, with Rabbi Melvin S. Sands as director. The three-story house was purchased by the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation on May 7, 1949, Hollander said. The building has since been torn down and replaced with the present Danciger Hillel House, which was dedicated in 1971.

In addition to Shabbat services and dinners, Hillel offers a variety of opportunities for students, including social events, community service projects, educational trips to Israel and lectures from guest speakers, Hollander said.

Through the years, Hillel has fostered Jewish intellectual, spiritual, cultural and social life.

“In this city, with a small number of Jewish persons, I think Hillel provides a great value for expressing Jewish living,” Hollander said.