By Rabbi Joe Menashe, Hillel Director

“Let your house be open wide” are the words first greeting visitors upon entering the Smokler Center for Jewish Life, Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building. This teaching from nearly two thousand years ago is of Yose, son of Yohanan, man of Jerusalem, from the Ethics of Our Ancestors. The prominent display of this phrase reflects a hope that the Smokler Center will blend the traditional with the innovative, making ancient traditions meaningful while welcoming all and fostering new personal experiences. These words are Hillel’s reminder to ensure that every person, Jew or non-Jew, JHU affiliate or community member feels warmly embraced.

The Smokler Center for Jewish Life located at 3109 North Charles Street is scheduled to open in the spring of 2004. It is the culmination of hard work and generosity of many Hopkins’ alumni and parents and the leadership of the Baltimore Jewish community. The building has been gifted to Johns Hopkins University to ensure that the whole JHU community will share this facility. The 16,000 square foot Smokler Center consists of four floors:
 

The Center for Jewish Community - the lower level will house The Commons and kosher kitchens. During the week, students will play foosball and ping-pong; they will enjoy communal meals on Shabbat and holidays.
The Center for Jewish Engagement - the first floor includes most staff offices, a relaxing reception area, and a cool lounge.
The Center for Jewish Leadership - the second floor holds a library, the outdoor Terrace, meeting spaces, and student offices.
The Center for Jewish Tradition - the third floor is home to a multi-purpose room and a Beit Midrash, a room for Jewish learning and prayer.

The Smokler Center will become a catalyst for the continued growth of Jewish life at JHU. It will provide a home for students to drink coffee and relax in the Phi Sigma Delta Lounge, plan volunteer projects in the Student Leadership Suite, play games in The Commons, study in the library, and pray in the Beit Midrash.

The Johns Hopkins University community is special and nearly unique in that so many diverse religious groups learn from each other and support each other’s traditions and beliefs. Campus Ministries, the BuntinguMeyerhoff Interfaith and Community Service Center, and their warm and visionary leadership make this possible. Hopkins Hillel hopes that the Smokler Center will enable the Jewish community to play an even more active role in the interfaith community. The Smokler Center will be formally dedicated On May 2, 2004, which is also the fifth anniversary of the BuntinguMeyerhoff Interfaith and Community Service Center. Just as the greeting welcoming people into the Smokler Center blends tradition with new experiences, similarly the dedication of the Smokler Center reflects new opportunities steeped in, and informed by, existing meaningful traditions. Š

Previous Page | Next Page