Dear Hillel

Hillel Stories

Dear Hillel: Celebrating Four Years of Inclusion, Community, and Growth

Author

Michelle Rosner

Date

May 15, 2026

“Dear Hillel” showcases letters from graduating seniors reflecting on their experiences of joy and belonging with their campus Hillels. Michelle Rosner, a fourth-year student at the University of Delaware and a member of the ĚÇĐÄvlogl Student Cabinet, shares how Hillel served as the foundation and focal point of her college experience. Read Michelle’s letter to Hillel:

Dear Hillel,

As I look back at my four years as an undergraduate, Hillel stands out as the engine of my friendships, personal growth, and Jewish community. And at the same time, it doesn’t stand out at all, because Hillel is completely synonymous with my college experience. It’s impossible to say where my college journey begins and my Jewish community ends.

I felt that sense of belonging from my first day at Hillel, when I attended the 2022 Fresh Fest Family Welcome Barbecue for all the first-years who’d arrived on campus early to meet other Jewish students. I immediately saw how much in common I had with everyone else there, and I wanted more. 

Soon enough, after my early semesters filled with Challah bakes, Shabbat dinners, and “Freshmen Cupcake Wars,” I started a Hillel engagement internship, where I was able to give so many first-years the warm community welcome I experienced.

Our Hillel director actively sought out opportunities for me to share my passions with our community.  When he learned that I am a voice performance minor who loves choral music, he proposed that I sing the Kol Nidre prayer on Yom Kippur. Not only had I never led this song before, I had only seen it in my own conservative temple at home, chanted by a male cantor. I’d never thought of leading Kol Nidre as part of a college experience — and definitely not mine. But my Hillel director had faith in me, and I said yes. 

When I began the chant, I felt like I was holding every member of my Jewish community in my hands, and felt responsible for giving each a sense of meaning and belonging. When it was over, I felt relieved, but more than that, I was in awe from the experience,  and felt a sense of having carried on a tradition with pride.  

Since then, singing Kol Nidre annually has been a highlight of meaning and spirituality for me. 

 My longtime passion for engagement and inclusion at Hillel continued to grow in ways that surprised me. I had personally seen the impact that spaces like Fresh Fest could have, but I also recognized a growing need to make our community spaces more welcoming and expansive for everyone, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, when so many students were struggling with socialization and mental health.

That realization led me to start conversations about how Fresh Fest, often a student’s very first impression of Hillel, could become more inclusive. Those discussions eventually resulted in the creation of our inaugural Fresh Fest Inclusion Committee – and the impact was immediate. We saw major growth in student retention and engagement, and by my senior year, I was serving as co-director of Hillel at UD’s Markell Fresh Fest. I’m proud to say it was our biggest Fresh Fest yet, with over 180 new students attending.

Inspired by the success of the Inclusion Committee, and by what I learned mentoring first-year students as an engagement intern, I also spearheaded the first student-run ImpACT Fall Freshmen Cohort. The program brought together 30 female-identifying Jewish students for weekly meetings throughout the semester, where we talked about everything from class registration and tutoring resources to roommates and social life.

Most importantly, these first-year students knew they could show up exactly as they were, whether they were having their best day or struggling through a difficult one. Real friendships and sisterhoods grew out of that space. In fact, two students from my cohort last fall went on to lead cohorts of their own this year. Knowing that this community will continue after I graduate, sustained by Jewish joy and connection, feels deeply meaningful to me.

The community I found through Hillel has been a grounding home, a social outlet, and a source of personal growth. My years with Hillel have taught me how to become more fully myself. Now, through my role on the ĚÇĐÄvlogl Student Cabinet, made up of 20 students from around the world, I continue learning every day. Each of us brings a unique perspective, a different experience of Jewish life, and our own way of strengthening our local Hillel communities.

As I continue taking on leadership and responsibility within the Hillel world, I’m still figuring out exactly what my next step looks like. But I do know that every experience with Hillel brings new knowledge, new connections, and new sources of joy.

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Dear Hillel

Hillel Stories

International Student Cabinet

Dear Hillel: Saying “Yes” to Hillel

Author

Mateen Markzar

Date

May 14, 2026

“Dear Hillel” showcases letters from graduating seniors reflecting on their experiences of joy and belonging with their campus Hillels. Mateen Markzar, a fourth-year student at Brown University and a member of the ĚÇĐÄvlogl Student Cabinet, shares how saying yes to Hillel defined his college journey from day one. Read Mateen’s letter to Hillel:

Dear Hillel, 

Four years ago, a box showed up on my doorstep. I hadn’t ordered anything from Amazon, my Brown welcome package had already arrived, and my mom swore she hadn’t bought anything either.

So I checked the label. It was from Brown RISD Hillel.

I tore it open expecting a T-shirt and maybe a sticker or two. Instead, inside was a schedule of fall welcome events and a coffee mug.

That coffee mug ended up being a sign of what would become the defining community of my college experience (and helped keep me caffeinated these four years).

I grew up deeply involved in Jewish life. I went to Hebrew school and Jewish summer camp, joined my synagogue’s youth group and board, and served as the Religious and Cultural Vice President of NFTY Southern California. Because of that background, I always knew Hillel would be part of my college experience.

What I didn’t know was how much it would mean to me.

If you asked me which word defines my experience with Hillel, my answer would be “yes.”

Because that’s the word you hear most there from students and staff.

Do you want to lead High Holiday services? Yes.
Do you want to gather your friends from Hillel for a night of karaoke? Yes.
Do you want to organize a bus for Jewish Brown students to drive 12 hours to Washington, D.C., for the March for Israel? Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Hillel helped make my ideas, and my friends’ ideas, a reality. It became a home on campus, a warm face when we walked in the door, endless snacks and coffee when we needed them most, and, most importantly, a community that will stay with us long after we leave.

Like so many Jewish students, the attacks on October 7, 2023, split our college experience into “The Before” and “The After.” Expectations about friendships, classes, professors, and campus life, suddenly shattered as antisemitism skyrocketed and campus grew tense. But with Hillel’s support, we took those shattered pieces and built something stronger.

Hillel became the place where we could carry that weight together. The structure on the corner of Angell and Brown Street stopped feeling like just a building. It became a refuge that was uplifting, protective, and safe. A place where we could show up fully, without needing to explain ourselves.

And in gratitude, but also inspiration, I started saying yes when those at Hillel asked me to show up.

I said yes to playing guitar and singing at the vigil organized by Hillel and Chabad following October 7th, to help us heal and process the tragedy through song and prayer. I left knowing and seeing how big and supportive the Jewish community at Brown is. 

I said yes to Yallapalooza, a ĚÇĐÄvlogl-sponsored concert series featuring some of Israel’s biggest artists. No one could have prepared me for the moment Matisyahu reached out his hand and pulled me onto the stage while I waved my Israeli flag in the air. I left feeling more connected than ever to my Jewish friends across the country.

I said yes to Hillel’s alternate spring break trip to Brazil, where I was the only senior in a group of first- and second-year students. I said yes to stand-up paddleboarding for the first time, facing my fear of heights on Sugarloaf Mountain, and waking up at 6 a.m. to watch the sunrise over Ipanema Beach. I left understanding what it meant to stretch beyond my comfort zone while also serving as a leader and role model for younger Jewish students.

And then, after saying yes to so many incredible Hillel experiences, came the most impactful one yet: I said yes to becoming part of the ĚÇĐÄvlogl Student Cabinet.

Being part of the Student Cabinet has been one of the most transformative experiences of my college career. At the summit in Washington, I connected with ĚÇĐÄvlogl leadership, saw firsthand the global scale of Hillel’s impact, and learned how to engage with Jewish professionals.

But more than anything, I found community with students from across the country and around the world. Students from flagship state schools, top universities, and small liberal arts colleges all shared the same commitment to building Jewish life on campus.

When I began college, I went in thinking I might help shape Hillel. Now, I am leaving realizing how much Hillel shaped me.

I’m leaving these four years changed by the people I met, the mentors who challenged me, the speakers who expanded how I think about the world, and the community that reminded me how proud I am to be Jewish.

Through all of it, the highs and the lows, Hillel remained a constant and the backbone of my college experience.

So next time you see a flyer for a Shabbat dinner, a Birthright trip, or some random event on campus, say yes.

You never know where it might lead.

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Dear Hillel

Hillel Stories

Israel

Jewish Identity

Dear Hillel: Connecting Jewish Communities Across the World

Author

Ori Segev

Date

May 12, 2026

“Dear Hillel” showcases letters from graduating seniors reflecting on their experiences of joy and belonging with their campus Hillels. Ori Segev, a graduate student at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and member of the ĚÇĐÄvlogl Student Cabinet, shares how she found her way to Hillel in the last year of her undergraduate experience — and how deeply Hillel changed this year for her. Read Ori’s letter to Hillel:

Dear Hillel,

My Hillel story is a little unusual, because until my final year of undergrad, I had never even heard about Hillel. I was fully focused on my studies in the Hebrew Literature department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and on the friends that I already knew. 

And then I found my way to Hillel Israel by accident. I met a staff member, Yossi Morris, in the hallway of the Jewish Thought department, and six months later, because of that random moment, I joined a “Yeha-do-it!” program he was leading. It was a five-session journey of exploring various Jewish practices through a pluralistic lens. I loved the freedom to experiment and the way the program encouraged us to explore our heritage through hands-on, experiential learning.

That program changed me. Over the five sessions, I met people from across campus who I otherwise would never have met. I got the chance to explore my Jewish identity in the way I had always hoped to during my university years. I created Jewish-inspired art, joined Shabbat dinners, and even discovered a synagogue in my own neighborhood in Be’er Sheva that I didn’t know existed. 

But more than anything, I found a sense of community, which became even more important after the attacks on October 7, 2023. Hillel quickly became the central place for all of us to come together, support each other, explore our Jewish identities, and think about what our future in Israel might look like.

And it didn’t stop there. I got more involved, went on Shabbatonim where I met students from Hillel centers across the country, and started showing up to more and more community events at Hillel Ben-Gurion. By the end of that year, Hillel had become a huge part of my student experience. I built a deeper connection to Judaism and formed friendships that are still a big part of my life.

At the end of that year, I completed my undergraduate program, started my master’s degree in Hebrew literature, and joined the Hillel Ben-Gurion staff. Now I was the one leading the “Yeha-do-it!” program, the same course that made me fall in love with Hillel in the first place! 

I worked with an incredible group of students, and together we went on a really meaningful journey. We shared Shabbat dinners, studied in chavruta (traditional partner-based learning), and explored the city together to learn more about the Negev. Being part of the Hillel Ben-Gurion staff quickly became a core part of my identity and my day-to-day life.

I also got to see Hillel from a new perspective. I helped organize events like our Thanksgiving dinner for Israeli students and olim (new immigrants to Israel), musical Kabbalat Shabbat services, and local volunteering initiatives. Hillel gave me the space to bring ideas to life and try things I had always wanted to do, but never had the chance to before. One of the most impactful opportunities has been representing Hillel Israel on the ĚÇĐÄvlogl Student Cabinet over the past year. 

When I interviewed for the cabinet, I described it as something similar to the work of the nehutei, the Talmudic sages who traveled between the Land of Israel and Babylon, connecting Jewish communities and sharing ideas. 

And that’s exactly what this last year has felt like, traveling between Israel and the United States and sharing ideas and hopes with 20 other incredible Jewish students from around the world. We spent time building real connections and thinking together about the future of Jewish life on campus. 

Those conversations and shared hopes led me to design the “K±đłóľ±±ô±ô´ÇłŮ” program that I lead today. “°­±đłóľ±±ô±ô´ÇłŮ,” or “Communities,” brings together students from all six Hillel Israel centers across the country. In each session, students meet with someone from a different Jewish community around the world — giving each student in the cohort the opportunity to take on the role of the nehutei, just like Hillel gave me.

Looking back, that random hallway conversation didn’t just shape my university experience; it completely changed how I see myself. Hillel showed me that I’m part of something much bigger, a global Jewish community connected by shared history, values, and hope.

I feel incredibly grateful to be part of this community, and even more grateful to keep building those connections, together.

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Dear Hillel

Hillel Stories

Jewish Joy and Belonging

Dear Hillel: Building a Home and a Community

Author

Anna Krassowizki

Date

May 12, 2026

“Dear Hillel” showcases letters from graduating seniors reflecting on their experiences of joy and belonging with their campus Hillels. Anna Krassowizki, a graduating senior at San Diego State University, shares how she found a home at Hillel when she most needed one. Read Anna’s letter to Hillel:

Dear Hillel,

I moved from Israel to California in 2016, and when it came time to apply to college, I knew I wanted to be somewhere with a strong and proud Jewish community. At the time, I didn’t even know what that would look like; I had never heard of Hillel. But during my first week at San Diego State University, I walked into Hillel for the first time, and something just clicked. I knew right away this would be my home for the next four years.

From day one, the Hillel staff believed in me and supported me in ways I didn’t know I needed. When I shared I wanted to start a pro-Israel club on campus, they didn’t hesitate, they encouraged me and gave me the confidence to make it happen. Today, the Students Supporting Israel chapter at SDSU has grown to over 200 students, something I could have never imagined on my own.

Hillel also helped me discover a passion I didn’t expect: planning events to help people build relationships and connections. Over the past four years, I’ve had the chance to plan hundreds of events, each one bringing people together in meaningful ways. That’s what drives me, the joy, the friendships, and the memories. 

Through Hillel, college became so much more than just earning a degree; it became about building a Jewish community. Since moving to the United States, I had been searching for that sense of belonging. At SDSU Hillel I didn’t just find it, I had the opportunity to help grow it, strengthen it, and share it with others. And that’s what kept bringing me back, again and again. 

My favorite event I’ve had the opportunity to plan is our Israeli Shabbat, which has grown into a once-a-semester tradition. It’s usually our biggest Shabbat dinner of the term, with over 100 students coming together each time. It was incredibly meaningful to bring  a piece of my homeland, culture, and traditions to my new home at Hillel. 

Shabbat has always been centered around family time for me. It’s a moment to slow down, to be together with the people I love. Being able to recreate that feeling on campus has meant everything. Over time, Hillel didn’t just become a place I went to; it became my family. And having the opportunity to pay that experience forward, to create a space where others can feel that same warmth, connection, and sense of belonging, is something I’m truly grateful for. 

Hillel opened so many doors for me and allowed me to explore my passions, including content creation, diplomacy, and connecting with Israeli startups. But more than anything, what I’m most grateful for is the people Hillel brought into my life.

At the end of the day, it’s the people who make a place meaningful. The staff, the students, and this community truly shaped my college experience. They transformed Hillel from a space on campus into something so much more meaningful: a home filled with support, connection, and lifelong relationships.

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Dear Hillel

Hillel Stories

Jewish Joy and Belonging

Dear Hillel: Growing a Community for Myself and My Team

Author

Haley Wilenzick

Date

May 11, 2026

“Dear Hillel” showcases letters from graduating seniors reflecting on their experiences of joy and belonging with their campus Hillels. Haley Wilenzick, a fourth-year student at Binghamton University, shares how building a home through sports and Hillel changed the way she approaches community. Read Haley’s letter to Hillel:

Dear Hillel,

I didn’t always know what finding my own Jewish community would look like. I was raised in New York, and while Judaism was always present in my life, it was never as part of a community that I helped create. I spent time in Jewish day school, Camp Ramah, and in Israel for a gap year. Each step deepened my personal Jewish identity, but heading into college, I still felt unsure about what it would feel like to intentionally build a Jewish community of my own.

Before I even moved into my dorm at Binghamton University, I had a sense that I would find something meaningful here. Jewish students who were not only focused on participating in a Jewish student community, but on creating a community where each student could forge their own personal connections to the Jewish people.

Once on campus, Hillel became part of my everyday life. My mom jokes that whenever I’m on the phone with her, walking through campus, I’m constantly stopping to say hi to my friends from Hillel, asking if they’re coming to Shabbat, checking in on the upcoming program they’re leading, or seeing if they want to meet up for a pick-up game later in the week. At a big university, that kind of community takes intentionality to build. Hillel made it feel small in the best possible way. It made it feel like home.

And as Hillel felt more like home, I felt a responsibility to build that sense of belonging for my friends in the best way I knew how — through sports. Athletics have always been part of my life. I grew up playing soccer and basketball, but I never expected that part of me to intertwine so deeply with my Jewish identity. Hillel gave me the opportunity to do both. From organizing hot yoga events downtown to coordinating logistics for the Hillel sports tournaments, I know the power of bringing people together for shared experiences. 

I joined Binghamton’s National Hillel Basketball Tournament team as soon as I arrived on campus.  Over the years, it became about community, about showing up for one another, and about playing as part of something bigger than ourselves.

I’ll never forget something one of the seniors said that first year: “When will we ever get to do this again? Play together, surrounded by Jewish community, with a full Shabbaton around it?” That moment stayed with me. It captured exactly what has made this experience so special every year.

Being part of a team taught me so much about what it means to be part of a Jewish community. As a first-year student, you learn from the older students. You find where you belong. Then, before you know it, you’re the one welcoming others in, showing them the ropes, and making sure they feel like they belong. That cycle of learning, leading, and lifting others up is at the heart of both athletics and Jewish life.

As I prepare to graduate, I’m reflecting on the full circle feeling of my involvement with NHBT: the Binghamton women’s team that I captained placed first at this year’s NHBT. It was an incredible feeling. After four years of building, recruiting, and practicing, my dream became a reality.

But the truth is, the win wasn’t even the best part. What mattered most was everything that came with it: the relationships, the teamwork, and the sense of belonging. I wouldn’t have found any of that without Hillel at Binghamton.

Over the past four years, I’ve watched Hillel grow into a vibrant, welcoming hub for students. Now, the building is full of energy, laughter, and conversation. It’s a place where anyone can walk in and immediately feel like they belong. That kind of space doesn’t just happen. It’s built by people who care. The staff, the Springboard Fellows, and the student leaders create an environment that makes you want to give back. And I’ve felt that pull firsthand. The more Hillel gave to me, the more I wanted to invest in it.

As I prepare to graduate, I’ve been thinking a lot about what comes next. I’ll be taking a gap year to explore neuroscience research opportunities before applying to medical school. There’s a lot of uncertainty ahead, but there’s also something Hillel helped me feel completely sure about: I know I will seek out and build a Jewish community wherever I go.

Hillel showed me what that can look like. More than that, it’s shown me how to create it, how to lead, and how to help others feel like they belong too.

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Dear Hillel

Hillel Stories

International Student Cabinet

Dear Hillel: Leading with Pride and Joy

Author

Einav Tsach

Date

May 11, 2026

“Dear Hillel” showcases letters from graduating seniors reflecting on their experiences of joy and belonging with their campus Hillels. Einav Tsach, a fourth-year student at the University of Maryland and co-chair of the ĚÇĐÄvlogl Student Cabinet, shares how Hillel shaped his community and leadership in the years following October 7th. Read Einav’s letter to Hillel:

Dear Hillel,

Right before sunset on Friday evenings, something special happens on Mowatt Lane in College Park, Maryland. With Shabbat setting in, scores of Jewish students from all corners of the University of Maryland (UMD) flood the sidewalk. They’re on their way to Maryland Hillel for Shabbat services. Despite not always knowing each other, everyone greets the people they pass with “Shabbat shalom.” 

That moment of ritual – one of deep tradition and pride – is only a small part of what it’s like to be a member of my school’s nearly 6,000-strong Jewish community. Whether it’s attending services, eating at the kosher dining hall, stopping by weekly coffee hours, planning an event, going on a Birthright Israel trip, or just spotting another student around campus with a Magen David necklace, the Jewish community at my Hillel is all-encompassing and vibrant.

That community became my anchor during my second year at UMD, when war broke out in Israel, where I lived until I was eight. As Hamas launched rockets, massacred more than 1,200 people, and took over 250 hostages into captivity during the October 7, 2023 attacks, a hateful wave of antisemitism was unleashed on campus. My non-Jewish friends stopped talking to me after I spoke out against Hamas, and student organizations I was involved with turned me away. I remember a surreal conversation with my grandfather, a 91-year-old Holocaust survivor, who heard the news from campus and called to check on me. 

At that time, normal life felt impossible. I felt an acute sense of loneliness as I tried to carry on with my routine on campus. It seemed that no one around me could relate to what I was going through.

I turned to Hillel, where, under the most difficult circumstances, I found healing. I found hundreds of other students who felt the same way I did, and a passionate staff that stood ready to support us. 

We uplifted each other by organizing vigils, tabling on campus to share our perspectives, and wrote op-eds to spread the word even wider about the hatred Jewish students were confronting. We campaigned against the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanction) movement in the UMD student government, projecting a united front as a community, and modeling our commitment to civic engagement. We held dozens of meetings with our university administration to advocate for the needs of Jewish students. 

As I deepened my involvement on my campus, I also had the privilege of traveling nationwide to conferences and gatherings at other campuses, where I met fellow Jewish leaders. Each time, I was blown away by my peers’ resilience, and their drive to shape a more inclusive reality for Jews on campus.

The ceaseless work on my campus, and my involvement with Hillel led to my appointment as the co-chair of ĚÇĐÄvlogl’s Student Cabinet. This year, I worked with a global group of students whose leadership on their campuses’ Jewish communities was inspiring. The Student Cabinet co-chairs also sit on ĚÇĐÄvlogl’s Board of Directors, where I saw firsthand how Hillel puts students at the forefront of everything we do.

The trust and empowerment I received from my Hillel community shaped me as a person. Hillel proved the impact that’s possible when we work together and lead from a place of pride in who we are. The lessons I learned as a Hillel leader are ones that will stay with me forever.

Perhaps even more importantly, I credit Hillel with introducing me to the people who are, and will remain, my closest friends. Our connections were formed through moments etched in my memory: four years of Israel Fest, hours of bonding and connecting with each other on Shabbat, running around Tel Aviv on Birthright Israel and Onward Israel, barbecues with my fellow Israeli students, late-night strategizing in the Hillel conference room, and so, so much more. 

As I write this letter ahead of graduation, I realize that my time at Hillel represents the most significant period of growth of my life. With just a few days left on campus, I know that these moments are limited and the memories are precious. I move forward with true gratitude.

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