Hillel 818’s Associate Director, Evan Taksar Levental has passed away. She was a former Assistant Director at Camp Alonim. She was announced dead in a statement that read “Dear friends: I am devastated to share the news that Hillel 818’s Associate Director, Evan Taksar Levental, passed away last night after a 6 year battle with cancer. For the past six and a half years Evan was a superstar employee of Hillel 818, but more importantly to me, she was my friend.”
Who was Evan Taksar Levental?
The Associate Director for Advancement at Hillel 818 was Evan Taksar Levental. A San Fernando Valley native, she worked as an Assistant Director at Camp Alonim. Evan received a dual-Master’s Degree in Jewish Professional Leadership and Near Eastern & Judaic Studies from the Hornstein Program at Brandeis University. A graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder (Go Buffs!), Evan was heavily involved in Hillel at CU-Boulder, serving as Vice President of its student board.
Being a fantastic employee of Hillel 818 for the previous six and a half years, Evan was also a devoted friend. Evan grew up at their favourite Camp JCA Shalom with her companion Alayna. Her sister Kyle, parents Alan and Jodi, and husband Misha all loved and appreciated her. She was passionate about politics, movies and television, Hillel, and Jewish summer camp.
During Evan’s six and a half years at Hillel 818, she improved the lives of thousands of students, raised millions of dollars to support the organization, and strengthened, improved, and filled the Jewish future with more goodness and light. She also acted with integrity and for the correct reasons. Evan was eager to aid Jewish students with food insecurity and was particularly pleased of the grocery store gift card initiative we launched during the pandemic.
About Evan Taksar Levental
But more than that, Evan’s work at Hillel, and before that at Camp Alonim, was inspired by a period in grad school where she was made to feel “not Jewish enough” by another student for not understanding a Jewish allusion. Evan firmly felt that one’s behaviour, rather than one’s religious beliefs or level of knowledge, defines one’s status as a decent Jew. by being a decent individual.
And her work here helped create an honest Jewish pride in thousands of students, the consequences of which will be felt for years still to come. She claims that too many cuisine are her favorite food but if she HAD to select she’d answer all things Mexican (including churros from Disneyland!). She began taking tennis lessons this summer in addition to travelling 1,200 miles across the West Coast from Los Angeles to Vancouver. She is most looking forward to bringing all of the students back to Hillel and their new building this year.