The Consulate General of France in New York hosted a cocktail reception in support of HILEL CAMPUS France.

 

HILEL CAMPUS France is the first organization in France to offer a comprehensive range of services and training programs to the Jewish youth of France spanning 4 axes of activity: housing, social assistance, learning, and leadership. The young association is affiliated with HILLEL INTERNATIONAL which provides it with logistics, financial and technical support.

The reception was a great success, with over a hundred participants gathered at the consulate to meet Joël Benhamou, founder, and CEO of HILEL CAMPUS France. Only a part of the crowd consisted of French people living in the USA, the rest were Americans, heads of institutions or of foundations.

In his speech, Joël Benhamou explained that the Jewish community in France has not managed to engage its youth in community leadership. As a result, outside help is needed in order to achieve successful renewal.

Benhamou requests help from the largest Jewish community in the world, for the next 3 to 5 years, the time needed to establish HILEL CAMPUS France as a brand of excellence.

The French Consul General in NY, Anne-Claire Legendre, praised the work of HILEL CAMPUS France which, she says, promotes and facilitates an openness in French youth toward the international realm in general and the US in particular, for example via the HILLEL INTERNATIONAL network.

She invoked Chanukah, and compared the work initiated by the young start-up that is HILEL CAMPUS France to the small vial of oil that miraculously lasted 8 days instead of 1!  Next, two young people delivered their testimonials to the audience, presenting the many opportunities HILEL CAMPUS France was able to open for them. They were followed by Emmanuel Bloch, a HILEL CAMPUS France donor, who wished to explain why he donates to this cause and the extent to which he believes that supporting this initiative is essential to the future of the Jewish community in France.

And finally, Amy Fingerhut, an American francophile and ambassador of HILEL CAMPUS France, recounted that she knows HILLEL well, her husband Eric has been its last President and CEO, and that it is the largest organization in the world working for the future of the Jewish people.

She concluded by announcing that all donations collected that evening amounting $1,000 and above would be doubled by HILLEL INTERNATIONAL!

NewYorkJewishGuide.com was present at this cocktail reception and was able to witness the immense sympathy shown toward the Jewish community of France.

Unquestionably, this high-end reception was a great success, and will hopefully bear fruit in terms of fundraising.

YOU CAN ALSO PARTICIPATE AND SUPPORT HILEL CAMPUS France.

Below is a link allowing you to support HILEL CAMPUS France via HILLEL INTERNATIONAL.

Donations are US tax-deductible.

New York Jewish Guide