Hillel is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world and is a place on most college campuses that can be described as a Jewish center for Jewish students. But, Hillel is far more than a center for Jewish students, it’s our home away from home. It’s where we gather to have dinner every Friday night to celebrate Shabbat, our favorite spot to study throughout the year, it’s where we hope to meet the person we’re going to marry (low-key though), and the place that makes our huge campus a smaller community. Here are ten reasons why your campus Hillel is your home away from home:

1. Home-cooked meals.

Food never fails to bring the Jewish community together. Now, it may not taste like your Grandma’s Matzo Ball soup, but it’s pretty darn close. Nothing beats a free home-cooked meal every Shabbat with all your friends.

2. The staff is your on-campus family.

They all know your name, where your from and vice versa. Plus, they’ve probably played some type of Jewish geography with you so you know all the mutual friends you have with each of them.

3. Hillel is your favorite place to make friends.

Everyone is so friendly, warm and welcoming. And once you get past the awkward stage of getting to know people, you will never be able to walk into Hillel without seeing four or five people you need to stop and have conversations with. Which makes the phrase “I just need to make a quick stop at Hillel” always a lie, because there’s no such thing as a “quick stop”.

4. And where you’re secretly hoping to find your future husband/wife.

Let’s be real for a sec, we all know we want to bring home a nice Jewish boy/girl for the family to meet. Plus, how cute would it be to have your “how did we meet” story take place at Hillel! That melts my heart.

5. It’s the best place to study on campus.

Most of the time you can easily find a quiet place to sprawl out and study. It’s a hidden gem to do homework and study for tests during the semesters, but it’s definitely packed during finals week. At least during finals you get a ton of snacks and coffee.

6. You’ve probably slept or taken a nap at Hillel once or twice.

Maybe it was during finals week or it was just a rough couple of days for you, it’s okay. It happens to the best of us.

7. Hillel is an outlet to experience the Jewish culture we all grew up loving.

Whether you went to Hebrew school, a Jewish sleep away camp, did BBYO, etc., we were all probably forced by our parents to experience some type of Jewish culture growing up. And although we were forced at first, as we grew up we realized how much we loved this community. Hillel is our outlet for this during college and it warms our heart thinking about all the fun memories we have at Hillel events.

8. You’re never scared to leave your stuff unsupervised.

And I feel like this is one of the key elements of a home, you feel comfortable and trust the people around you.

9. Most people share some of the same values as you.

This might be because of Jewish culture, religion, family upbringings, etc. Whatever it may be, I feel like there’s an instant connection between two people whenever we realize we’re both Jewish. Whether it’s playing Jewish geography, talking about different Jewish activities we participated in or connecting about our culture, there’s an instant friendship.

10. Hillel makes our big campus seem less scary and impersonal.

Whether it’s the amazing staff that put on awesome events, the friends we’ve made or the food, Hillel is our home away from home. And I know we’re all so thankful for all the great people who make this organization possible.