Hillel students are not normal. They are remarkable. This past Sunday evening, students planned and implemented an amazing program for nearly 2,000 of their peers and community members called “Fighting Antisemitism with Love.”

The origin of the idea came from one of our student leaders, Ofek Suchard, at Hillel when he said he wanted to bring Lior Suchard, world renowned mentalist, to San Diego. That kernel of an idea years ago was propelled into a large-scale community building program that connected the joys of Judaism with the power to fight antisemitism. Ofek built a team at Hillel of other superstar student leaders and received coaching and support from our Hillel staff. 

But I want to be clear– this was not a Hillel staff-run event. This was not a Chabad event. It was not any organization’s event. It was a program created by students for students. Students secured the necessary funding. They wrote their own speeches. They created this incredible video.

They reached out and secured speakers like– Mayor Todd Gloria, Congresswoman Sara Jacobs, Darrell Blocker, and Elan Carr. Students designed the program and marketing materials. It was all done by our students. 

When I spoke to one of the student leaders involved he said, “All our ideas happen at Hillel. So many organizations, businesses, programs have been created at Hillel because we’ve been given the tools, mentorship, and support to make our dreams a reality.” 

This event sums up our goal– to empower the next generation to make a difference in the world around them. And boy, did these young people make a difference. 

A huge yasher koach to all the young leaders who made such a special evening possible. I know the impact will be felt for a long time.