WATCH: Why they call Harvard Hillel home

Dear friends of Harvard Hillel,

I spend my days with the students you’ll meet in the video below, so I can tell you their words are not just for the camera. They mean them.

Nathan Gershengorn ‘26 was the president of Harvard Hillel’s student board in October of 2023. He describes carrying Harvard Hillel through the months after October 7th as the hardest thing he’s ever done – and the thing he’s proudest of. Miriam Goldberger ‘28 is our current student president, and her friends joke that if they can’t find her anywhere else, she’ll be at Hillel. It’s been her home since the day she arrived. “And that’s really all thanks to you,” she says.

When Nathan first arrived on campus as a first-year, he felt alone and wasn’t sure where he fit. That is, until he walked over to Harvard Hillel and had five upperclassmen asking his name before he was through the door. Four years later, he was the one leading the room and welcoming the students behind him. That is the whole shape of Harvard Hillel, and it works only because someone is always there to welcome the next student in.

Nathan found his home here because someone funded it before he arrived. In September, the Class of 2030 walks in looking for the same welcome, and they’re the reason I’m writing today. Our fiscal year closes on June 30, and a gift now is a gift to them: it pays for the Shabbat table, the open door, and the staff who will learn their names in the first week. Right now it goes twice as far, because a member of our board is matching every gift through June 30, up to $25,000.

I’ll close with Nathan’s own words from the video above: “If I were talking to an alum who is considering supporting Harvard Hillel, the first thing I would say would be ‘Do it, please.’”

With gratitude,