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Board Chairman Randall Kaplan Takes Questions in Buenos Aires
August 1, 2006Comments (0) | Add | E-mail this to a friend
 Board Chairman Randall Kaplan meets with students at the Hillel of Argentina.
When Hillel’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Randall Kaplan, met with students at the Hillel of Argentina it seemed as if no question was off limits. During his first visit to Buenos Aires in July, Kaplan participated in a popular weekly program modeled after the television program “Inside the Actors’ Studio.”
Moderated by the Hillel program director, Elias Kier Joffe, and hosted by their Business Club, nearly 50 Argentine business students showed up on a Thursday evening to ask Kaplan “very spicy” questions. They asked about business strategies and how he met his wife, but it was when they asked about his giving to philanthropic and Jewish causes, that he told them to see it as an investment.
“They asked me if I remember the first time I made a contribution for $1,000, $10,000 and $100,000. I told them it’s not the level of giving that is important, but that you give,” recalled Kaplan of the evening. “I said, ‘You do it throughout your life and give what’s meaningful at that time’.”
After the “intimate and interactive” event concluded, in what Kaplan described as one of the most beautiful Hillel facilities he’d ever seen, he met with local board members at a private home.
“Gaby Trajtenberg, the director of the Hillel of Argentina, has put together a talented board of lay leaders. They get the concept of Hillel and how it is best applied in Buenos Aires,” observed Kaplan. “The community sees Hillel as a large victory. It is an example of a Jewish organization that works.”
“It was a terrific experience and a privilege having Randall speak to the students and meet with members of our board,” said Trajtenberg. “Hearing his concept of tzedakah was very important. Everyone learned a lot.”
Speaking about the role Hillel can play in supporting the growth of Hillel of Argentina, Kaplan stressed the importance of remembering we are one family and one people.
“Jewish continuity doesn’t stop at our borders,” he said. “And we can learn from them as well.”
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