I Lead Harvard Hillel. Attacks on Our Work Only Hurt Jewish Life.

Aaron D.A. Shakow’s recent open letter to Harvard Hillel Executive Director Rabbi Jason B. Rubenstein ’04 begins with a pleasantry about having a meaningful Sukkot holiday — a difficult task when a swastika sticker was placed right outside the Hillel building just last week.

But most disappointing about the letter was the author’s sheer hypocrisy when discussing our Jewish community’s challenges.

As the president of Harvard Hillel, I know firsthand that many reasonable Jewish students oppose Hillel’s approach to conversations about Israel and Palestine. I too have disagreed with the institution’s stance at times.

The key is that most of us engage with Hillel to improve its culture by organizing Jewish events and strengthening our own communities. Just two nights ago, Harvard Hillel hosted a townhall for progressive students to provide meaningful and critical feedback; as we work hard to make Hillel a home for all Jewish students on campus, virtue-signaling in The Crimson accomplishes absolutely nothing.

Shakow is right to ask for “good-faith community spokespeople,” but falls short himself. Fairly describing Harvard Hillel would have required referencing Rabbi Rubenstein’s email from two weeks ago, which underscored that discussions about Jewish ethics in relation to Israel and Gaza are a necessity for the “fullness and richness of Jewish life writ large.” It would have necessitated acknowledging the obvious — that swastikas around campus are not a good sign.

Notwithstanding the fact that Rabbi Rubenstein is deeply committed to Jewish pluralism and diversity, this article seeks to do nothing but tear down and further target a community that is already in the news far too often.

Being Jewish at Harvard today is vastly more difficult than it was at U.C. Santa Cruz when Shakow was a student in the ’90s.

For Jewish life to thrive in these difficult times, for pluralism to truly work, people who think like Shakow must be — and are — welcome at Hillel. However, they must also be willing to enter a community encompassing those with whom they disagree. Efforts to improve Jewish life require a willingness to cooperate, listen, accept, and understand other Jews’ struggles — an attitude tragically missing from Shakow’s article.

Nathan B. Gershengorn ’26 is the president of Harvard Hillel.