Hillel Global Giving Week: A Place to be Seen

For the past two years, our community has – rightfully – been concerned about the ugly caricatures of Judaism, and the marginalization of many Jews, that have emerged at Harvard and too many other places. Harvard Hillel is working strenuously and effectively against those manifestations of ignorance, hatred, and exclusion – and we are doing more: we are making Harvard’s campus into a place where Judaism, Jewish stories, and Jewish students are seen, appreciated, understood, and proud. For four days this spring, The People’s Plate – a huge upright seder plate interweaving the stories of members of Harvard’s Jewish community with the traditional images of the seder – stood at the heart of Science Center Plaza. Students and Cantabridgians walked past it. Some recognized what they were looking at. Some didn’t. Some saw themselves in the mirror at its center, paused, and read the stories behind each of the images.

DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT ON JEWISH LIFE AT HARVARD TODAY

You can see it unfold in today’s Hillel Global Giving Week video, featuring a conversation with Harvard College Dean Tom Dunne about the very special reason that he recognized the installation as a Seder plate the moment he saw it.

The People’s Plate made clear to all who walked through the Science Center Plaza that Jewish life at Harvard is not something to be tucked away, but something to be put front and center. Something traditional and contemporary at once. Something a Roman Catholic dean can recognize because he opened his home to a student-hosted Seder two years ago. Something a non-Jewish classmate might pause and ask about. Something that Jewish students and faculty on campus came over to thank us for.

This is the work we are doing at Harvard Hillel right now. Not just the important work of keeping Jewish students safe, but making sure Jewish life at Harvard is visible, joyful, and inspiring, that public spaces on Harvard’s campus are places where people can learn something about our tradition and and appreciate Judaism’s contributions to our campus and our world.

HELP MAKE JEWISH LIFE AT HARVARD VISIBLE, JOYFUL, AND INSPIRING

This week, you can help us keep telling our story, loud and proud. Hillel Global Giving Week runs through May 8. Our goal this week is $100,000, and every gift up to the first $50,000 will be matched dollar-for-dollar, thanks to Hillel International and two generous members of our Board of Directors. Any gift you make goes double toward our goal.

The People’s Plate has come down, but the work it represents continues.

With gratitude and pride,