On April 14th in partnership with the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, Hillel of San Diego hosted L’Dough V’Dough. This program brought together nearly a hundred Jewish young people and Holocaust survivors to make challah together and share their stories. It was one of those mission affirming moments.

Hillel of San Diego is committed to ensuring our collective Jewish future and L’Dough V’Dough, right before Yom Hashoah, did just that. It was a program that reminded all of us of our Jewish people’s resiliency. We are not gone. We were not defeated. And in fact, we are thriving. All different types of young people came together to honor and hear our community’s survivors’ stories.

During Yom Hashoah I always think about the lost potential. The children who never got a chance to grow up. The families who were never given the chance. At L’Dough V’Dough, we saw their memories honored. In the eyes of the students who were braiding challah, actively participating in Jewish life, and connecting to the past; we were fortifying the Jewish future.

But that’s pretty much the Hillel of San Diego way— Connecting the next generation to their roots while empowering them to stretch their branches and grow their Jewish identities.

And YOU can be a part of that. We are about to enter Hillel Global Giving Week (May 1-5) which is one of our final pushes to help raise the necessary funds to keep providing meaningful Jewish life for our collective Jewish future. Right now, all funds will be matched dollar for dollar and your gift will go a long way to helping a young person thrive.

Let Hillel Global Giving Week be your way of standing up and stepping up for the future of our Jewish community.

Thank you to all our generous supporters who have already committed to Hillel of San Diego. We couldn’t have gotten this far without you.

I hope you’ll join me in supporting Hillel of San Diego this year. We can’t do it without you.