Hillel Global Giving Week: A Place to Belong

Dear fellow member of Harvard’s Jewish community,

I’m Nathan Rosin. I graduated from Harvard Business School in 2023, and I recently joined the board of Harvard Hillel.

I’m writing to you today because I’m hearing from so many Jewish Harvard alumni who are looking for a way to reconnect with our community. Not because we miss being students (although that may be true for some, too!), but because being Jewish and being a Harvard alum at this particular moment makes us want to deepen our connection to Harvard Jewish life.

In today’s Hillel Global Giving Week video, you’ll hear from Lynda Bussgang ’91 and me about everything that Harvard Hillel does to build community for those who have already left Harvard’s campus.

Last month, I sat at a Hillel-organized Shabbat dinner at Lehrhaus in Somerville with an incredible group of current HBS students. The food was great, and the conversation was even better. A few weeks before that, I joined Jewish Harvard alumni and students at a Hillel-organized Shabbat dinner in Back Bay. It was a joy to make new friends there and be in community – the host even introduced my wife and me to one of our new neighbors! This is the kind of thing that happens constantly at Hillel events.

This is what I keep telling friends, and what convinced me to join the board: at a time when the world can feel complicated, overwhelming, and stressful, Hillel is one of the few places in our lives that just lets us be Jewish. Not defend it. Not justify it. Just enjoy it, in good company, across generations.

And it’s growing. This past Hanukkah, nearly 200 alumni and friends gathered in New York for a candlelighting and dinner. In Washington, about 100 people joined Harvard Hillel’s first-ever DC gathering, and even before it was over – were asking when the next one would be. This June, Hillel is welcoming alumni back to campus for Reunion with a Shabbat dinner, panels, an ice cream social, and more. Whether or not it’s your reunion year, you’re invited. And there’s so much more we’re looking forward to doing.

That work takes resources. Hillel Global Giving Week runs through May 8. Our goal is $100,000, and every gift up to the first $50,000 is matched dollar-for-dollar, thanks to Hillel International and two generous members of our Board of Directors. Your gift today does double the work toward our goal.

If Harvard Hillel has been part of your life, or if you’re an alum who’s starting to feel like it might be time for it to become part of your life, I hope you’ll join me in supporting this work.

With gratitude,