Highrise Heave-Hos Houston Hillel

So, Ashby Highrise. Here in one of Houstonist's favorite neighborhoods, we're seeing lots of signs that say "Tower of Traffic" and "Stop Ashby Highrise", and we got caught in that protest the other day on our way to and from Rice campus. But one detail we'd missed until now came to our attention in a Rice Thresher article.

The Thresher, Rice's award-winning weekly newspaper, has its ups and downs, but it's extremely under-appreciated by Owls and by denizens of the city in general. (And reading the police blotter's always good for a laugh. Seriously, a couple weeks ago they had a terrorist threat. Called in from New Jersey. In the Rice Thresher. No, we don't know either. Those infamous Jersey terrorists must have a really far-reaching network.)

The Thresher, by the way, is nowhere near as full of tangents as our news over here at Houstonist, and true to form the Rice reporters brought us a brand new angle on the high rise story: Houston Hillel, the Jewish student organization, would be displaced from their home on the corner of Bissonnet and Dunlavy if the high rise were to be built.

Hillel, which holds weekly Friday night services as well as serving as a social hub for Jewish college students and young adults, has formally voted to oppose the project, but students are concerned that their spiritual center, which is conveniently located close to both Rice's campus and local Temple Emanu El, will suffer if it is forced to relocate. The current Hillel building houses recreational areas, an ark where Torah scrolls are kept, two kitchens (to aid in keeping kosher), and other facilities used by the group for religious and social activities.