History

A Brief History

The B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundations came into being in 1921 at the University of Illinois for the purpose of fostering Jewish life in a time of high assimilation of the first generation of American Jews to attend college in great numbers. After World War II many more Jews started coming to Stanford. As the campus Jewish community grew, local rabbis began to service the community, and then the National Hillel office responded to student requests by officially delegating rabbis to conduct services and classes at Stanford.

Hillel at Stanford started in the 1950’s as the “Brandeis Club,” and since 1959 has been a fully operating Hillel Foundation with a full time director. During its first years, Hillel was located off campus in downtown Palo Alto. In the early 1970’s, the Hillel office moved from its location over a garage on Alma Street to a space in the Old Union Clubhouse located in the center of Stanford’s campus. In the Fall of 2004, having grown out of its 700 square feet of basement space in Old Union, Hillel at Stanford finally moved into the renovated historic home located at 565 Mayfield Avenue, now known as the Taube Hillel House at the Harold and Libby Ziff Center for Jewish Life.