By Julian Sandler and Wayne L. Firestone, Chairman and President of Hillel: The Foundation for for Jewish Life,
The JTA article “Hillel’s new strategy” (April 4) has led some readers to conclude that Hillel has shifted its central focus away from Jewish students. Let us be very clear: Our raison d’etre is to foster the identity of Jewish students and to strengthen the global Jewish community. As our mission statement says: “Hillel’s mission is to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people and the world.”
Our strategic plan calls on us to double the number of Jewish students involved in Jewish life and who have meaningful Jewish experiences. Our vision remains “to inspire every Jewish student to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life.”
Editor’s note: The article was a national story based upon a Hillel summit that took place in Washington, D.C. The section referring to Rabbi Will Berkovitz of Hillel at the University of Washington, who did not attend the summit, was written exclusively for JTNews. An omission in the passage from Rabbi Berkovitz that referred to keeping the doors open to people thinking of conversion should have stated that he specifically meant non-Jews with Jewish partners.