St. Louis Hillel at Washington University will offer free Shabbat dinners for graduate and undergraduate students, starting Friday.

This is the first time Hillel has regularly offered Shabbat dinners for free. In the past, students were required to pay for the meal in advance with meal points.

“I think the free dinner is a great opportunity to work on building [a] relationship with the community,” said senior Leora Allen, president of the Jewish Student Union (JSU). “Many students have voiced their concerns regarding the price of the dinners in the past.”

Students have worked to make Shabbat dinners free for years.

“I’m glad that Rabbi Andy [Kastner] and Jackie [Ulin Levey] made [free Shabbat dinner] a priority and [it] happened in my senior year,” said senior Jeremy Rose, the chair of Conservative Minyan. “It’s always the goal, but the fundraising was always a little separated from the students.”

The free dinners will be funded through parent, alumni and community donations, said Hillel Executive Director Jacqueline Ulin Levey.

Levey said Hillel hopes for 75 to 150 students to attend each dinner.

Although Hillel hopes to offer the free dinners for the entire year, the group has only budgeted free dinners for the fall semester. Hillel is not sure if it will be able to offer free meals in the spring semester.

“I think the free dinner is a great thing for increasing the Hillel community. The price before was a deterrent to a number of students,” said junior Max Arad, JSU vice president of religious programming.

In an effort to establish relationships between students and the local community, Hillel also plans to invite local speakers to some of the dinners.

“One thing we are trying to do is Celebrity Shabbat, where we will invite CEOs, philanthropists and other ‘famous’ friends of the St. Louis Hillel to be our celebrity guests,” said Levey.

Hillel sold part of its property to the neighboring Forsyth School last year and will renovate the other part.

Renovations on the Hillel building will take place between October and December. As a result, during that time dinners will be held off-site.

During the renovation, the Hillel building will be closed, and the Hillel office will temporarily move to a different site. Shabbat dinners will also be held off-site.

“Because we will be closing the Hillel auditorium by Yom Kippur, all our Friday night dinners will take place in College Hall or other locations on the Hilltop [Campus].” Levey said. “Students should check our website each week to confirm our location.”

The free dinner this week will be at Holmes Lounge.