Hillel Global Giving Week: A Place for All of Us
Dear fellow member of Harvard’s Jewish community,
We are Miriam Goldberger and Charlotte Newman, President and Vice President of Harvard Hillel. Today begins Hillel Global Giving Week, and we wanted to write to you to remind you of the community that your gift fosters here.
We (Miriam and Charlotte) are friends, roommates, and run the Hillel Undergraduate Board together. We embody the pluralism that defines Hillel, and became the friends and leaders we are through this institution. Friendships like ours are only possible due to our amazing space, mentorship, and programs that gifts like yours make possible.
DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT ON JEWISH HARVARD STUDENTS TODAY
The video below features two voices we’re grateful for in our Jewish community: Harvard University President Alan Garber, and Sarit Greenwood ’29, Shabbat Chair on the Harvard Hillel Undergraduate Board –someone we are both lucky to call a friend. Both describe Hillel as a place that brings every kind of Jew together at one table; we couldn’t agree more.
When we met freshman year, Miriam was returning from a year in seminary in Israel, and Charlotte was getting used to walking to practice across the river for the Varsity Swimming and Diving team. Coming to college was a huge transition for both of us, albeit for different reasons.
Hillel helped us ease that transition and became our second home on campus: Miriam went to Hillel to pray every day from the time she moved into her dorm, and Charlotte became a regular gradually, especially for the study spots and peaceful courtyard. More than that though, the building became a special place for us because it was the place where we met many of our closest friends.
These friends range from orthodox students who only eat meals in the Kosher dining hall at Hillel –like Miriam–, to completely secular Israelis finding community at Bagel Brunch, to students who first came to Hillel at the High Holy Days looking for reminders of home –like Charlotte–, and every kind of Jewish student in between.
What is beautiful about Hillel is that it allows friendships to form between people who, at any other time in their lives, wouldn’t overlap in their religious spaces. Here, we get to learn from one another, explore new traditions, and form deep connections across, and perhaps because of, our differences.
DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT ON JEWISH HARVARD STUDENTS TODAY
From now through May 8, every gift to Harvard Hillel is matched dollar-for-dollar up to $50,000, thanks to Hillel International and two generous members of our Board of Directors. Whatever you can give, your gift will count double toward our Global Giving Week goal of $100,000, and will help ensure Harvard Hillel stays a place where every kind of Jewish student belongs.
With gratitude,
