Feldstein says he believes helping Jewishstudents find each other was a major purpose ofHillel at its founding; it certainly worked forhim. "We did find each other indeed," he says.

But not all Jewish faculty or students at thetime applauded the founding of the new ethnic andreligious organization. Some felt that the newHillel was an assertion of separatism in anotherwise open environment.

Kuhn, who was editorial chair of The Crimsonand a member of the Signet Society, was initiallydistressed to learn of the proposed Hillel. Sincehe had "no trouble at all" on the basis ofreligion at Harvard, he worried that the Hillelmight promote division between students.

Harvard's handful of Jewish professors at thetime--who may have experienced more isolation andanti-Semitism than undergraduates, according tohistorian Nitza Rosovsky--were not all in favor ofthe new Hillel either.

Even Harry Austrind Wolfson, the scholar mostengaged in Jewish life, believed Hillel was notall that important for Harvard. When asked how toallocate national B'nai B'rith funds, Wolfsonsuggested a Hebrew grammar book was the bestoption--not new Hillel organizations, according toKrumbein.

The History of Hillel

It was the arrival of Judah J. Shapiro, arepresentative of the national Hillelorganization, that helped spark Hillel's foundingin 1944.

Shapiro was a charismatic, friendly leader.According to Feldstein, Shapiro was something of amaverick within the national Hillel organizationbecause he was not a rabbi; Shapiro's concern asthe chapter's first director was more with thelives of the students than with a specificreligious purpose.

"He was a warm guy," with a "very specialability to relate to young people," saysFeldstein, who worked as Shapiro's assistant."Those of us who got to know him got some familyinvolvement."

Before 1944, a small Jewish organization calledthe Menorah Society existed, but had littlepresence on campus.

While Jewish students felt comfortable atHarvard before Hillel's founding, "they did notflaunt Judaism on campus, because of this Harvardman image," Frost says.

During the summer of 1944, a few studentscorresponded with Shapiro, who helped found Hillelchapters around Boston. Shapiro met with studentsat an office in Copley Square, according toRosovsky's book.

The first Harvard Hillel meeting took place inhis home in Shade Hill Square, says MildredKravitz, who was Shapiro's secretary.

In 1944, of course, most students werepreoccupied with the war, not Hillel.

"It consumed our lives," Moskin says of thewar. "It controlled our lives."