On July 1st, 2020, Todd Kirschen became Hillel of San Diego’s Board President. He chats with Lisa Kalal, Hillel of San Diego’s Development Director, to discuss his Hillel story and share a little about his deep commitment to Hillel of San Diego.
Lisa Kalal (LK) : Tell me a little bit about your Jewish connection growing up and how that started your Hillel journey.
Todd Kirschen (TK): I grew up fairly involved in the Jewish community. My parents were involved as co-presidents of our temple and chaired Super Sunday. They were great examples to follow. I was part of the Bureau of Jewish Education in Orange County. I went through their leadership programs and then ended up staffing those programs as well. So, I had a lot of Jewish and cultural upbringings in a lot of different areas and good examples from my parents. I got to college and realized they didn’t have what I was used to from a Jewish community. I decided to make that happen at San Luis Obispo.
LK: What did you make happen?
TK: It’s tough to know what’s there until you get there! There was a small campus club that was Hillel, or a kind of a Jewish student organization at the time. After chatting with a mentor, I made plans to hold a free Shabbat dinner on the first Friday night of that month. I thought, “Let’s just see who shows up!” I rented out a room on campus and put flyers up on every tree and bulletin board I could find. And lo and behold, 30 people showed up! I have no idea where they came from. No idea! They were obviously looking for something and I happened to be able to provide it at the time. That was the start of a four-year journey in which we built a vibrant organization! In a four-year period, we ended up getting 100 people once a month to Shabbat dinner, students who were regularly committed. It felt good to create something that there was obviously a need for that previously didn’t exist.
LK: That’s great! You got married a little over a year ago. How did you meet your wife Jackie?
TK: Through the San Diego Jewish Federation’s Young Adult Division, we had a group of people who decided we wanted to start a Jewish co-ed softball team. Little did I know seven years ago, that by playing on a softball team with this group of people, I’d meet Jackie. We went our separate ways, but then we met up five years later at another Federation event and started dating.
Jackie has a South African background. Her parents are very involved with SAJAC (South African Jewish American Community) in addition to many other San Diego Jewish organizations. This has helped me grow my knowledge of the diversity of our San Diego Jewish community!
LK: You just started as our board president July 1st. What gives you hope and what keeps you inspired about Hillel right now?
TK: When I agreed to take on this role, I had no idea what was coming and what our world would become. COVID was a shock for everybody, but I’m most proud of the way our Hillel not only survived but thrived through the challenges, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. We are staying true to our mission and supporting our students, being there for them with pastoral care and creating new ways to engage them in Jewish learning, Jewish life, and Israel, despite these troubling times. I was impressed and amazed by the support from everybody on the board. They stepped up financially, with their time and their expertise. This is a testament to who’s involved on our board. I also think they’re a great representation of the broader community.
LK: Todd, one hallmark of your presidency and your leadership is your personal generosity. You give annually, you’ve made a commitment to the Glickman Hillel Center capital campaign, and you are a member of our Legacy Society. Can you tell me more about why you made a legacy commitment?
TK: Understanding my history with Hillel, drives me to support the organization and the movement as a whole to ensure long term sustainability and growth. I appreciate and understand the need for a younger generation to begin to take the reins, providing financial support and being of service with time and expertise. There is a passing of the torch taking place from the generation that founded Hillel of San Diego and we need to make sure that the long term support is there.
When I signed on to be President, I was most excited about the prospect of building the Glickman Hillel Center. We have an incredible opportunity to create something at UCSD that has been almost 20 years in the making, to honor Chickie Glickman, who with his family, has been incredible to us. I feel so lucky to be part of that. It is such an honor.
Being a member of Hillel of San Diego’s Legacy Society is realizing that I look up to the people of past generations – my parents’ generation and my grandparents’ generation – and how philanthropic they were! I realize that legacy gifts carry the organization forward and we need to continue to grow this base of support to ensure that not only today but tomorrow and into the future that our kids, their kids, and their kids’ kids will have a place to come together Jewishly and have that Jewish home away from home that is Hillel.
Hillel to me represents such a powerful and positive influence for college students. They are leaving home for the first time and need to find ways to stay connected and supported Jewishly, whether culturally, religiously, or whatever that means for them. Hillel to me is probably the most impactful organization of all Jewish organizations because it reaches people in a very vulnerable time of their lives. Hillel makes such a huge, positive impact on the lives of Jewish students, growing future leaders for the Jewish community because college is the time where students find their purpose, giving meaning to their lives.
The dedication of our board of directors is really amazing to me. They have all stepped up to the challenge with their own ways to help. And, I think the addition of our new Executive Director Karen Parry has given us the stability we needed as an organization and to the community as a whole. I’m amazed that we are able to not just sustain but actually grow the organization in such a challenging time. This accomplishment is a testament to people’s belief in the organization and our mission. Everybody is just very excited to see it grow and sustained for many years to come.
If you’d like to have a conversation about leaving your own legacy commitment, please reach out to Lisa Kalal at lkalal@hillelsd.org. Lisa just had her 1st work-aversary with Hillel of San Diego this January!
