In 2013, the first day of Hanukkah coincided with Thanksgiving. It is a rare event: the last time it happened was 1888. Hillel students integrated the two holidays — creating paper-and-paint mashups of menorahs and turkeys, and the birds combined with dreidels. In the school's library there was colorful poster designed to provoke thoughts about the convergent holidays: Under a Thanksgivvukah headline are several questions, including "How are Thanksgiving and Hanukkah alike?" Saul Rube, Hillel's dean of Judaic studies, said the light-hearted combinations of Thanksgiving and Hanukkah icons underscore a deeper bond: The Talmud, one of Judaism's core texts, describes Hanukkah as a "holiday of thanksgiving." In 2006, the school added an eighth-grade Israel trip to the curriculum. The school opened in 1958 with a kindergarten and first grade in the facilities of the Hayim Greenberg Center at 19161 Schaefer, Detroit. In the next twelve years, Hillel rented space from various Jewish organisations:  In 1960, the school relocated to United Hebrew Schools at 18977 Schaefer, Detroit. In 1962, the school moved to the Jewish Center, later known as Jimmy Prentis Morris Branch of the Jewish Community Center, at 15110 Ten Mile, Oak Park. In 1963, Hillel moved to Congregation B’nai Moshe. In 1996, an $8 million expansion and renovation added to the school a new media center, a gym, and a new school wing including the 7-8 learning community on the second floor. In 2006, a $4 million expansion added to the school a bigger gym doubling as a theater with 800 seats capacity, along with a new lobby, offices, and an outside playing field. In 2014–2017, the school underwent an extensive renovation, funded by the William and Audrey Farber Philanthropic Endowment Fund. The renovation, designed by Prakash Nair, a school architect based in Tampa, Florida, included  the "Central Heart" (an open space with a presentation platform and capacity for 300 people),  the "Innovation Hub" with an art studio, science lab, a greenhouse, an audio-video studio and a makerspace, and the cafe and kitchen in place of the old small gym. The existing main hallways lined with lockers and classrooms were demolished to the shell, and the spaces redesigned to create the K-2 David and Nanci Farber Learning Community, the 3-6 William Davidson Learning Community, and the 7-8 Learning Community.