Frequently Asked Questions

Columbia University owns our building, so during the academic year (fall + spring) only full-time students at Columbia or affiliated schools may live at the Bayit. During the summer, the Bayit is open to anyone. Students from other schools who are interning or working in New York often choose to live at the Bayit. Bayit residents are subject to Columbia Housing rules and regulations, as well as Bayit rules.

Prospective Bayit residents must fill out an application for residency as well as be interviewed by three current Bayit residents. The application and the interview help us to determine in an objective manner whether interested applicants would enjoy living at the Bayit and be an asset to the Bayit community. To request an application and/or schedule an interview, please contact the Bayit recruiter.

The Bayit community is committed to Jewish pluralism and diversity, and to providing a warm and welcoming home to Jewish students from any type of background. To that end, residents come from a variety of Jewish backgrounds and denominations. Bayit Residents identify with a wide range of affiliations, such as Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or secular. The Bayit has got heimishe yeshiva bachurim, committed Jewish feminists, egalitarian Conservadox Jews, crunchy Jewish backpackers, secular Israelis, religious Zionists, unaffiliated Jews and many more types all living together under one roof in peace, harmony, and fun. In addition, the Bayit population is split evenly between males and females, as well as undergraduate and graduate students. Residents represent a diverse range of academic interests and scholarly pursuits. The age range is from 19-32 years old.

Feel free to get in touch with one of us (see the "Contact" section) to see about stopping by for a tour or a meal at the Bayit. We love having visitors and it is always a pleasure to introduce folks to our community.

Once a month every Bayit resident is required to prepare dinner (together with another cooking partner) for all other Bayit residents. These communal dinners are served every weeknight Monday through Thursday at 7:00 PM. Shabbat meals are potluck, meaning whoever wants to participate is asked to bring some sort of food to contribute. Even if you have little prior cooking experience, as long as you are committed to doing your part to contribute to the delicious communal meals, that's all that is required.

Bayit members are responsible for performing tasks (toranut) as they are assigned and/or needed (e.g. taking out trash, cleaning the public rooms, sorting mail, etc.). These tasks are done once a week and are checked by the Toranut Coordinator. The tasks are rotated between residents each week so as to ensure Bayit members receive different jobs. There are also a variety of elected positions, such as serving on the Bayit Executive Board, or working as a Bulk Food Buyer, Miscellaneous Food Buyer, or Bulk Food Unpacker. All residents are free to declare their candidacy for elected positions at Bayit House meetings. For more information, feel free to e-mail the Internal Manager.

There are mainly 4 types of rooms:

• Front: Big room on the street side
• Back: Very big room in the back of the building
• Middle: Medium size room
• Cozy: Cozy room ;-)
• Pictures of the rooms will be posted shortly

As a resident at the Bayit, you pay rent to Columbia University (as they own our building) and kuppah (communal fee) to the Beit Ephraim Food Co-op. Altogether, the cost comes out to $900 a month. This covers rent, utilities, food for 3 meals a day, laundry, newspaper and magazine subscriptions, Internet, Netflix, and social events.