Students who are interested in learning more about the Jewish faith and culture now have a new opportunity to do so at Hillel.

Rabbi Yitzchak Falk and his wife, Rachel, a pair of Orthodox Jewish instructors, have come to the University to help teach students about the Torah, the Talmud and other essential parts of Jewish life as a part of the Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC) sponsored by the Orthodox Union, in cooperation with Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life and Torah Mitzion.

“The rabbi and his wife are Orthodox, but this program is not specifically for Orthodox Jews,” said Joel Schwitzer, the executive director of the Hillel foundation. “They are offering a lot of great opportunities for Jewish learning.”

While Orthodox Jews make up only a small percentage of the 3,000 Jewish students on campus, the program also serves non-Orthodox Jewish students, as well as a few non-Jewish students looking to learn more about the Jewish faith. Among the opportunities offered by the JLIC program are classes, Chabat meals and one-on-one religious learning sessions with the rabbi and his wife.

Rabbi Falk said the program, which has been up and running since the beginning of the school year, is going very well.

“The Hillel foundation already has a wide range of programs for the University students,” he said. “We are just offering a smaller focus of activities.”

As a husband-and-wife team, the Falks hope to bring a family atmosphere to Hillel, as well as being role models for both young men and young women who come in to learn about Judaism.

“There are some women’s issues that are just better taught by women,” Rabbi Falk said. “And by having us both there, we can serve the needs of both male and female students.”

Rabbi Falk said he thinks that part of the reason why the JLIC program and Hillel as a whole have taken root on campus is that Jewish students at the University have already had good experiences with their faith and really hope to continue it in the rest of their lives.

“Occasionally, they face challenges,” Rabbi Falk said. “But for the most part, students come to Hillel for positive reasons. They are looking to grow in their religion.”

The JLIC program is already successfully operating at eight other universities, mostly on the East Coast. The University of Maryland and the University of Illinois requested and received new programs this fall. Rabbi Paul Saiger, the executive director of the Hillels of Illinois, said he thought the University was a good starting point for the JLIC program in Illinois.

“I would love to have this for every campus in Illinois,” Saiger said. “But with limited resources, the University of Illinois is the place to have it. They have the highest concentration of Jewish students. I’m very happy to see that the program is succeeding there.”

Schwitzer said he thinks this will help expand Hillel’s message to some of the students who have not yet discovered Jewish learning programs.

“We have a pretty big population, but there hasn’t been as much learning as people would like,” he said. “This gives us the opportunity to have people available who are great religious educators.”