It's standing room only at Hillel

Hopefully the students attending Hillel's Friday night services don't mind dealing with crowds. Up to 450 students have jammed into the building for religious services on any given Friday, which is far more than the building can accomodate, according to Hillel Director Jeremy Brochin. Attendance at the services has grown so much that in the largest of the congregations -- conservative and orthodox -- many students must stand. "The conservative [congregation] is in the largest room," said College sophomore Dorit Makovsky, the chairperson of the vaad -- Hillel's executive committee. "The Hillel auditorium seats about 200 people and there are still people standing even after using the balcony. It's becoming a fire hazard. We have to do something now before it becomes a bigger problem." And the remaining three Jewish communities are packed to capacity in their respective services as well, according to Makovsky. "A lot of people in the first couple weeks came [to Hillel] and loved it," Makovsky said. "But [the crowding] was ridiculous and it scared a lot of people off. It's been better in recent weeks but its still crowded." According to Makovsky, there is a "transition period" on Friday nights following services when the Hillel staff folds the chairs from the service and sets up tables for dinner. This wait -- which is about 30 minutes according to Brochin -- also leads to crowding problems. "All the students stand in this hallway while they set up for dinner," she said. "A lot of people don't end up staying for dinner because it's too crowded. It's overwhelming." Hillel has recently been taking steps to try to correct the overcrowding by splitting the orthodox service into two rooms in order to accommodate the large group and by holding public forums for suggestions and comments from students. Students at these discussions said they favor renting space outside Hillel and rotating the different services to the outside location. Following the last forum Hillel hosted, the vaad met to discuss potential solutions. "We are exploring moving one [service] out of the building into the Christian Association," Makovsky said. "Students seemed to favor this option because this building is closest to Hillel. But one student who attends services is in a wheelchair and the Christian Association is not wheelchair accessible." Both Brochin and Executive Directer of the Hillel of Greater Philadelphia Rabbi Howard Alpert said they think there are two sides to the problem. "On one hand it's a wonderful program to have," Alpert said. "[Students] like to come to the Jewish community at Hillel on Friday night. But the building was not designed to hold the large Jewish community that has developed at Penn." "It's wonderful that we have such an active Jewish community," Brochin said. "But at this point we have to deal with the space problem in the building." Makovsky said she hopes for a solution to the problem in two weeks. She said the decision is largely based on Hillel's budget and whether the plan is approved by the Hillel of Greater Philadelphia.