Who We Are
Jconnect Seattle is a unique program run by Hillel at the University of Washington that is designed to serve the needs of post-college Jewish young adults in their twenties and early thirties in Seattle. Our mission is to bring together Jewish grad students, young professionals and their friends to create opportunities for them to build community together, celebrate their Judaism together, learn together and take action together.
Jconnect participants come from a wide range of educational, religious, and denominational backgrounds. Whether you consider yourself orthodox, conservative, reform, reconstructionist, secular, culturally Jewish, post-denominational, trans-denominational, "still exploring", or anything else, you are welcome to attend Jconnect events!
What We Do
Jconnect staff and participants work together to plan a variety of activities throughout the year including Shabbat services, festive meals, holiday celebrations, hiking trips, social action events, classes, and more!
Life After Jconnect
Jconnect sees its role in the Seattle Jewish Community as serving those young adults who have graduated from undergraduate Jewish student life and are seeking to find a community of other Jewish young adults. A part of Jconnect's mission is to help its older participants explore the Seattle Jewish community and to help them transition away from Jconnect activities and into a synagogue, chavurah, or another adult Jewish community that is right for them.
Jconnect Director
In August of 2007, Hillel UW welcomed Rabbi Jacob Fine as the new Jconnect Director and the Assistant Director of Hillel UW. Jacob is an ordained rabbi from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles. His path to the rabbinate was driven by a desire to be able to integrate the things about which he is most passionate: Judaism and spiritual development, education, community building, the natural world and social justice. Jacob has worked as an educator for a host of Jewish environmental organizations including Teva, Adamah and Hazon and has been involved with organic gardening and farming over the last decade. Jacob's hometown is Amherst, Massachusetts and he has lived for the last number of years in New York, Israel and LA. Jacob moves to Seattle with his fiancé, Julie, who is an organic farmer and farming educator.
