These days, college students can get food on demand from just about anywhere. 

But at the Hillel Center at Indiana University, the staff isn’t offering your average delivery service. 

IU Hillel offers its own, free Matzo Ball Soup Hotline. 

The catch? There isn’t one. 

Any student on campus, regardless of their religious affiliation, can order a bowl using the center’s phone number. 

It’s an idea that started several years ago. 

“Somebody got sick and (someone on our staff) said ‘We should start sending matzo ball soup to them if they’re sick,” Sue Silberberg, the Executive Director at IU Hillel, said. “Then we built the Matzo Ball Soup hotline. We’ve been doing it for at least 25 or 30 years.”

The soup is a staple for many Jewish families, Silberberg said. 

“It is a very, very strong Jewish custom,” she said. “For many of us, our grandmothers made it for us, their grandmothers made it for them. It’s a very long-running Ashkenazic Jewish tradition.”

Matzo ball soup is similar to chicken noodle soup. The biggest difference is that matzo ball soup has, of course, matzo balls. These dumplings are made from matzo meal (finely ground unleavened bread), eggs, and water. It is often served during Passover. 

Many believe that matzo ball soup, like chicken noodle soup, has comforting qualities for those who are sick.

Read more: Does chicken noodle soup really cure a cold? – Doctors weigh in 

“The myth somehow arose, and maybe it’s not a myth, maybe there is some truth to it, that matzo ball soup will help you feel better when you’re sick,” Silberberg said. “When my kids were little, if they were sick, I’d make them matzo ball soup.”

David Avila started working at the Hillel Center last fall. Now an assistant head chef, he says he’s made the soup hundreds of times. 

“We make the soup at least every Friday,” he said. “Soup is always a part of the menu.”

The soup is made weekly, sometimes more than once, and then stored in the freezer until someone orders it. Once it’s ordered, a Hillel staff member delivers it by hand. 

Unsurprisingly, free soup is a big hit among students, Silberberg said. 

“I’ll see people years after they graduate and they’ll say something about the Matzo Ball Soup Hotline,” she said. 

The initiative is intended to align with IU Hillel’s mission. 

“We’re supposed to be the Jewish home away from home, and what better way to be the Jewish home away from home than to bring that important piece of home to campus?” Silberberg said.

Students can order matzo ball soup through the IU Hillel website.