Navigating the real world

“It wasn’t until I came to college that I fully appreciated the power of the Jewish community. My experience being part of Drexel Hillel and serving on the board set me on a path that would change my life. That is, wherever there are Jews in the world, I can find home and build community. The principle of radical inclusion and embracing pluralism has stayed with me since. Now, four years out of school, I use my Hillel foundation as a model for navigating Jewish life in the ‘real world.’ I look for ways to be active, and the more I give to the Jewish community, the more it gives back to me. I serve on the young leadership board for the American Jewish Committee in New York and was a 2018 fellow at A Wider Bridge, the LGBTQ pro-Israel organization. Hillel Shabbatot instilled in me the yearning to continue that tradition, and I’ve been fortunate that New York’s young Jewish community has made it easy to keep active. If not for Hillel, I’d be more of a ‘wandering Jew.’ Now, I feel very much grounded in community, which is one of the most important aspects of my life.” —  Peter Fox, contributing writer at Jewish Daily Forward