Newly Renovated Space for Jewish Life Offers One of Many Sacred Spaces for Diverse Religious Communities at Georgetown

Georgetown marked the completion of renovations on Makóm, the university's Jewish gathering space, in a dedication ceremony on Sept. 14.

The space in the Leavey Center, which includes a kosher kitchen, will now hold a recently added ark that's reoriented so that members of the Jewish community will face Jerusalem when they pray.

The completed renovations come just as Georgetown welcomes a new director for Jewish Life, Rabbi Ilana Zietman.

"In Jewish tradition, the word 'Makóm' is both the name for a place where God dwells as well as a direct name for God. I think it's fitting that this is what the Jewish Life space at Georgetown is called," Zietman said. "It is a sacred place for holy experiences to happen - be they around Jewish ritual, Jewish sacred time or Jewish community gatherings."

Makóm is one of eight sacred spacesthat serves the university community of all faith backgrounds on Georgetown's main campus. In 2021, Georgetown opened its Dharmic Meditation Center, which was also the first of its kind on a U.S. campus. In 2022, the university created an ecumenical chapel for Christian communities, which hosts Taizé prayer, a blend of candlelight, music, and meditation.

"Georgetown's commitment to interfaith dialogue and accompaniment is thus not in spite of its Catholic and Jesuit heritage, but precisely because of it," says Fr. Mark Bosco, S.J., vice president for Mission & Ministry. "Creating beautiful sacred spaces for our Dharmic, Muslim, and Jewish community, as well as ecumenical spaces for our Protestant and Christian Orthodox communities, truly makes Georgetown a richer place for faith to be nourished and celebrated as integral to human flourishing."

Read more about some of the other sacred spaces on the Hilltop and what they mean to the Georgetown community.

Makóm

Makóm, which was created in 2011 now includes a larger sanctuary space and separate social space so that students can connect and worship in separate areas at the same time. The renovation was first envisioned by Rabbi Rachel Gartner, who served as the director for Jewish Life from 2011-2022, and then guided by Rabbi Daniel Schaefer, who served as interim director from 2022-2024.

"Makóm is also a space where Jewish Life can extend a hand to the rest of the university, to invite in our friends from other communities to gather with us, and to see Makóm as an important space that can support them, too," Zietman said.

Makóm will now hold a recently added ark that's reoriented so that members of the Jewish community will face Jerusalem when they pray.

Zach Samuel (SFS'26), a junior in the Jewish Student Association, found a community in Makóm during his first year at the university. He's excited that the renovations will allow more community members to attend services and events.

"It's really great having a space like that at a Jesuit university. It's not something I expected, but it's a really wonderful part of being a student here," he said. "It's also clear that these renovations reflect a conscious effort by the school to support us and our religious community and the sacred spaces we have on campus."

The Masjid

In 2023, Georgetown officially opened the Yarrow Mamout Masjid, the first mosque with ablution stations, a spirituality and formation hall and a halal kitchen on a U.S. college campus.

Georgetown's Yarrow Mamout Masjid provides a space for reflection, prayer, community and interfaith dialogue for Muslim and non-Muslim students at Georgetown. It offers five daily prayer services, educational programming and a built-in community.

Georgetown's Yarrow Mamout Masjid offers five daily prayer services, educational programming and a community space for students.

"At Georgetown University, they come to a unique place," says Imam Hendi, director for Muslim Life. "They come to a place that cares for the whole person. They walk into the space that tells them they are not far from home. They are home."

This year, Muslim Life celebrates 25 years at Georgetown along with Imam Hendi, who has guided the program since its founding.

In creating the masjid and all other new sacred spaces on campus, Georgetown's Campus Ministry team has envisioned spaces that honor the diverse spiritual traditions of students and staff who call these spaces home.

"These are not token spaces. They're not just an accommodation. These spaces symbolize Georgetown's commitment to be a home to these communities," says Aaron Johnson, assistant vice president for interreligious understanding and strategy. "It's our hope that when a student exits the masjid, or they're walking out of the Dharmālaya, they're walking into a campus community that feels more like home."

The Dharmālaya

Georgetown opened the Dharmālaya, a new meditation center for members of Dharmic spiritual traditions, in 2021. The center offers spacefor members of Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Hindu and other Dharmic traditions to gather in small groups, practice religious and spiritual traditions, and meditate.

The room was internationally designed with teak shrines from Myanmar and marble icons from India to create a space for worship. It was also built from the interfaith effort of students from the Hindu Association, Sikh Student Association and Buddhist Student Association, who advocated for a sacred space in partnership with Campus Ministry and alumni, particularly as Georgetown's Dharmic communities grew.

Georgetown's Dharmālaya offers space for community members of Dharmic spiritual traditions to gather and worship.

For many students, the opening of the Dharmālaya at a Catholic, Jesuit institution helps increase the visibility of the Dharmic spiritual community - and advances Georgetown's core values of interreligious understanding and dialogue.

"For Dharmālaya to open on a Catholic, Jesuit campus is monumental and demonstrates Georgetown's level of commitment to its students and interreligious understanding," said Piyusha Mittal (SFS'18), an alumna who advocated for the center while at Georgetown.

In August, Georgetown also welcomed Brahmacharini Shweta Chaitanya as the new director for Dharmic Life, who was drawn to Georgetown's commitment to interreligious understanding.

"To speak to a fellow human and hear their story, to hear their understanding, is so helpful," she said. "I think an interfaith setting helps us do the work of parsing out how we connect with our spiritual or religious traditions. We may not come to complete resolutions, but we do come to deeper understandings of each other."

Students at Georgetown also have access to the John Main Center for Christian Contemplation. The center offers a contemplative space for daily meditations from the Christian tradition for students, faculty and staff. The center also offers spiritual programs and opportunities for interreligious dialogue. It's located near Dahlgren Chapel, the primary worship space for Georgetown's Catholic community and the spiritual center of Georgetown's identity as a Catholic and Jesuit institution.

For Johnson, Georgetown's sacred spaces have been a labor of love by many and a way to cultivate love for the traditions they honor and for the communities shaped by these traditions, who have found a home on campus.

"They are as sacred spaces should be," he said, "a product of love and a place where love is cultivated."