The Jewish Federation's
H eadlines
Hillel International
CEO Adam Lehman
Talks COVID,
Digital Change
N AT I O N AL
JESSE BERNSTEIN | JE STAFF
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FEBRUARY 4, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
ADAM LEHMAN TOOK over
Hillel International in January
2020 after spending decades as
a volunteer in Jewish institu-
tional life, serving as a board
member at his synagogue
and the Jewish Federation of
Greater Washington and as
a founding member of the
D.C.-based Jewish a cappella
group JewKvox.

He made the leap to Hillel in
2015, serving as chief operating
officer until he got the top job
on Jan. 7, 2020.

Now, as colleges start
thinking about beginning
a second fall semester amid
the pandemic, Lehman spoke
about how Hillel has adjusted
to reality — and found new
opportunities — during the
past year.

You participated in Hillel as
an undergraduate and today
your daughters are doing
the same. What’s the most
important difference between
your experiences?
There are a few big differ-
ences. First and foremost, we
have invested in talent across
the Hillel movement in a way
that ensures that wherever a
Jewish student is showing up
for school, there’s the oppor-
tunity to have a great Hillel
experience. When I was in
college, there were several
campuses where you had a
strong Hillel presence, but [at]
a lot of schools ... the resources
weren’t there, and the talent
wasn’t there. We’ve now got
examples like both of the
schools where my daughters
attend [Tulane University and
Adam Lehman, CEO of Hillel
International Courtesy of Hillel International
Washington University in St.

Louis], where you’ve got robust
staff who are bringing not only
passion, but real skill in how to
engage every Jewish student,
regardless of the background
they’re coming from.

Were there things that were
on your agenda for leading
Hillel that you’ve had to put
on the back burner because of
the pandemic?
By virtue of the pandemic,
we absolutely did shelve some of
our aspirational growth plans.

My hope coming into my role
was that we could take what is
already a really broad footprint,
in terms of having engaged more
than 140,000 Jewish students a
year, to an even higher level.

Our aspiration is to engage every
Jewish student.

We have the happy distinc-
tion of being almost 100 years
old at this point, and so one of
my strategic themes coming
into the job was focused
on how we could enter our
second century with strength
and sustainability from a
resource point of view. With
the pandemic, we obviously
reimagined, and had to shift
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H EADLINES
The pandemic period has given us the opportunity to invest
aggressively in digital transformation in a way we needed to do, in
any case, but it really accelerated our progress.”
ADAM LEHMAN
that do produce skepticism
about institutional life. We
are a movement more than
an institution. We really take
seriously person-to-person
engagement, and getting to
know the whole student, and
just being there as a resource
and a partner in terms of their
personal journey and their
Jewish journey. And when our
professionals, many of whom
are young and connected to
Gen Z, have the opportunity
to really get to know students
and be there for students, it
transcends any preconceptions
in everything we were doing to nearly 50,000 views of [the How will Hillel deal with a
meet immediate student needs Hillel video series] “Higher growing sense of skepticism
in a very diff erent context.

Holidays” content, and it toward institutions among
relieved campuses from younger people?
What will Hillel keep from the need to try, during the
Th e current generation of
this pandemic? And what are pandemic, to put together the young people has lived through
you happy to leave behind?
full range of service offerings. really trying times and times
Th e pandemic period has
given us the opportunity to
invest aggressively in digital
transformation in a way we
needed to do, in any case, but it
really accelerated our progress.

And we absolutely will be
continuing to invest in digital
experiences, not as a replace-
ment for in-person community
building, but as a complement.

Th is period also led us to
focus even more on cohort-
based learning and engagement
groups. We were able to fully
transition our Jewish learning
fellowship into online space,
and also build up a whole series
of other learning and leader-
ship cohorts, some in person
and some in digital space.

Th ose have provided such
meaningful value to students
who are starved for commu-
nity in this moment, and it
reinforced for us that those
cohort approaches can be just
core to how we build commu-
There are many pages in a long, rich life. What will you be inspired
nity moving forward.

A big learning from the
to do next? Maybe you’ll find time for yoga, gardening, dance.

period has also been that as
a movement, we can provide
Or just find peace in watching birds or walking your dog. Whatever
some experiences movement-
wide that relieve the need for
your next chapter brings, you can open up the time and space for it here,
intensive effort on program-
ming locally. An example
in a community that supports your goals every step of the way.

of that is with the High
Holidays. Many campuses
To learn more, call 215 - 999-3619 or visit RydalPark.org
were not in a position to do
extensive in-person services.

We created nearly 50 hours
of quality video program-
ming, covering a whole
range of services and other
related experiences. We had
around what Hillel is as an
institution, and provides
opportunities for inspiration
and transformation.

Th ey’re showing up because
they’re getting value because
they realize Hillel is not about
Hillel. Hillel is about them.

Hillel is about their future.

Hillel is about their develop-
ment. And so that has helped
us cut through some of the
cynicism that is understand-
ably there for this generation. ●
jbernstein@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
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JEWISHEXPONENT.COM JEWISH EXPONENT
...to be continued
FEBRUARY 4, 2021
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