The other day I was late to a meeting because I had a student in my office who wanted to chat. That might not seem like a big deal but after a year of being over Zoom, the ability to casually connect with a student who otherwise would be isolated has been transformative. I think of all the student stories of impact I can tell in my short time as Executive Director, and you would be amazed. Over the next few weeks, we are going to share some of these stories with you, sometimes by me and sometimes by other amazing Hillel staff– but the theme is the same for each one. Every student has a unique story but in each one, Hillel made a profound impact on their Jewish life.

I want to introduce you to my friend, Shoshana, or Shoshi. I met her last year, over Zoom, to discuss an innovative idea to introduce Discord, an online community platform to help students stay connected. And that’s the TL;DR (too long;didn’t read) take away about Shoshi. Through Hillel she was able to find innovative ways to connect to Jewish life and Jewish community.

Shoshi grew up in Carmel Valley, a suburb of San Diego. After her Bat Mitzvah, Shoshi was not connected to other Jewish students. She had tested out of high school early, studied online at Mesa College, and then transferred to UCSD. Beginning her campus life in the fall of 2020 was really hard because Shoshi had already gone years without a Jewish community of others her age. Hillel for Shoshi was a lifeline during the pandemic.

After finding her people at Hillel, Shoshi was inspired to continue her Jewish leadership. She started This Week’s Torah Today (TWTT – pronounced tweet) with our Jerri-Ann and Gary Jacobs Springboard Fellow, Daniel Parker. TWTT is a program where she led and facilitated Torah study sessions to discuss the week’s parsha. She participated in three Jewish Learning Fellowships and joined every virtual Jewish Shabbat. The more connected through Hillel, the easier it became to get through the mental turmoil of the pandemic and build her community.

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Now, Shoshi is one of our Jewish leaders on campus at UCSD. She is a part of Tritons for Israel, continues her leadership programs, and comes to every Shabbat (she even brought her dad once and spoiler: he loved it!).

Stories like this are a great reminder that by investing in Hillel of San Diego, you’re investing in young people like Shoshi who will now be connected to Jewish life for the rest of their lives. Your gift to Hillel of San Diego ensures Jewish continuity. You can check out more of your impact in our 2021 Annual Impact Report.